The Seven Years War (1756-63)
Manuscript and printed maps and views, correspondence and journals from the first global war
Map of Raystown, 1758 (Fort Bedford, Pennsylvania, USA) 40°01'11"N 78°30'13"W
1758 or laterPencil, pen, ink and watercolour on paper; laid down on linen | Scale: 1:4,800. | RCIN 732071
A map of the fortified positions at Raystown, 1758. French and Indian War (1754-63). Oriented with north to top (cardinal points).
The five fortified posts are shown, with the encamped regiments of Col. Montgomery; Marylanders; North Carolina; 1st, 2nd and 3d Battalions Pennsylvania; Col. Washington's; Royal Americans; Provincial Train; Indian camp; also shown in the area where Col. Bouquet exercised the troops marching in columns and forming in line of battle. Fort Raystown was renamed Fort Bedford, after the Duke of Bedford (John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford 1710-71) later in 1758.
The Colonel Bouquet referred to in the note on the map was the Swiss-born Lieutenant-Colonel in the 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal American Regiment) Henry Bouquet (1719-65). He had been responsible for the construction of Fort Raystown.
There is no record of J.C. Pleydell having been in North America and so this map must have been copied by him from another, perhaps at a much later date. Pleydell's style of cartography reflects his experience on the Military Survey of Scotland (1747-55) which he joined in the 1750s.
John Cleeve Pleydell (1736-1816) (draughtsman) [bottom left:] J.C. Pleydell.
Subject(s)
Army-USA-American Colonial forcesArmy-GBWatermark: Fleur-de-lys in crowned shield, a ‘4’ suspending the letters L V G below; countermark: I VILLEDARY
Mark, stamped: 857
Condition: five fold lines; formerly separated into two pieces because of wear along central vertical fold; now repaired by linen backing
Scale: 1:4,800. Scale bar: Scale, 400 Feet to an Inch [98 mm =].
39.8 x 72.0 cm (image and neatline)
42.7 x 75.0 cm (sheet)
Manuscript title:
Plan of the / Environs, Fort, and / Encampment of Raystown. [bottom right]
Additional text:
[bottom right, below title, a key, 1-19, to the details on the map:] References.
Annotations:
George III heading: Encampments at Raystown 1758.
Other annotations: (Recto) [top left, black pencil:] 1758; [bottom right, ink, eighteenth-century hand?]: Col. Bouquet was encamped at Raystown in July 1758. (Verso) [bottom, right of centre, red pencil, partly obscured by linen:] [10]/53 [and in black pencil, a number:] XII/7[1]; [bottom, right of centre, black pencil, erased:] XVI/[?].
George III catalogue entry:
Encampment A drawn Plan of the Environs, Fort and Encampments at Raystown 1758: by J.C. Pleydell. [The same entry appears under the heading Raystown.]
Subject(s)
Fort Bedford, Pennsylvania, USA (40°01'11"N 78°30'13"W)
Page revisions
3 November 2024
Current version
