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LE ROUGE, Georges Louis (1712-90)
[Québec City] Environs de Québec. Bloque, par les Americains du 8, Décembre 1775, au 13 Mai 1776.
Paris: Chez Le Rouge rue des grands Augustins, 1777. Copper-engraved map, trimmed to plate mark on upper and lower margins, otherwise in excellent condition. Sheet size: 9 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches.
A very fine plan depicting the American siege of Québec City during the Revolutionary War
This finely engraved map of Québec City depicts the American siege of the Canadian capital during the Revolutionary War, which lasted from December 8th, 1775 to May 13th, 1776. The Continental Congress hoped that the French Canadian inhabitants of Québec would support the American cause, and rid themselves of their British rulers, who had conquered Canada from France during the Seven Years War. George Washington dispatched a force under Maj. General Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold. They easily captured Montréal and on December 8th, 1775 arrived to besiege the heavily fortified city of Québec. Although protected by the river and high cliffs, the British remembered that the city was not impregnable, and were now in the ironic position of defending the very city that they had famously taken in 1759.
Montgomery confronted the British troops under Sir Guy Carleton on the Plains of Abraham just outside of the city on December 31st, 1775. During a blinding snowstorm the British won the battle and Montgomery was killed. The site of the battle and the various key attributes of the city are identified by the index that appears on the map. The Americans were forced to retreat to Lévis, a position across the river, where they were relegated to firing usually harmless shells across the water towards Québec's Lower Town. While the city was no longer in danger of falling, Carleton had to wait until the St. Lawrence River thawed in the spring for arrival of re-enforcements, which effectively ended the invasion.
This map appeared in Le Rouge's Atlas Amériquain septentrionale, one of the finest and most important French publications relating to the Revolutionary War. It is directly based on William Faden's map of the Siege of Quebec, printed the previous year.
Kershaw, Early Printed Maps of Canada IV, 1042, pl. 801; Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & West Indies, 610
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#19703 $2,500.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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