Siege of Boston, 1776
This French map from George Washington's own collection shows the siege lines around Boston in precise detail. American forces, marked in red, are arrayed in three corps ringing the city. The map's most telling feature is what it reveals about Dorchester Heights: the British left it unfortified, a tactical gap that Washington exploited on March 17, 1776, forcing the British evacuation. Published in Paris by the Chevalier de Beaurain, the map exaggerates British fortifications on Boston Neck and Castle William Island. The French cartographer, working from a captured British plan, may have inflated the defenses the Americans had overcome.
- Dorchester Heights on the map. It's shown without British fortifications, the gap that decided the siege.
- The three American corps are marked in red surrounding the city, their positions extending from Cambridge to Roxbury.
- The harbor soundings. Depth markings show where British warships could maneuver and where the water was too shallow.
All prints are high-quality reproductions made from museum-grade scans at 300 DPI. Depending on the original scan dimensions, some prints may include white fill along the edges.