Lot 189: BLODGET, SAMUEL

A Prospective-Plan of the Battle near Lake George, on the Eighth Day of September, 1755. with an Explanation thereof: Containing A full, tho' short, History of that important Affair. Boston; New-England: Printed by Richard Draper, for the Author, 1755

8vo (9 3/8 x 6 3/4 in.; 238 x 172 mm.). Four leaves, paginated: [2], 5 pp., 1 blank page; without the plan, a few small marginal tears mended, small tear in outer margin of p. 3, a few stains, all leaves loose and inlaid in later brittle paper which is frayed at edges.

PROVENANCE

Inscription on final blank page dated "1758"

LITERATURE

Evans 7363; Wheat & Brun 320; Shadwell, American Printmaking no. 22; Sabin 5955

NOTE

The very rare pamphlet issued to accompany his Plan of the Battle of Lake George.

Samuel Blodget (1724-1807), serving as sutler in Johnson's force, had viewed the conflict at Lake George from his position near the English cannon. When Blodget returned to Boston in late October or early November, he had his sketches of the battle engraved by Thomas Johnston, and his explanatory notes printed by Richard Draper. Blodget announced in the Boston Gazette, that the plan exhibited "to the eye a very lively as well as just representation" of the two engagements. Jefferys, the English publisher of the 1756 version, referred to the print as "the only piece that exhibits the American method of bush fighting." It was the first engraving produced in the colonies that illustrated an American battle plan.

En route to Fort Frederick, Johnson's troops were ambushed by the French, who had been forewarned of their approach. As the English troops marched down the road, the hidden French fired on them, as illustrated in a bird's-eye view in the Plan. Blodget wrote that the enemy "became invisible to our Men, by Squatting below the under-growth of Shrubs, and Brakes, or by concealing themselves behind the Trees." Suffering heavy losses, Johnson's troops retreated and barricaded themselves.

Later that day, the French advanced to Lake George. The British knew that their regular formations, "drawn up in Order, and beginning their Fire in Platoons," were ineffective on the frontier and "went into the Indian Way of Fighting, squatting below the Shrubs, or placing themselves behind the Trees." The French approached and fired from three lines, also shown in the Plan. As each line discharged, its soldiers moved to the rear. More than two hundred sixty French soldiers were casualties. The British regarded it as a victory; within four months of the battle, the Plan was advertised for sale in American newspapers.

Also included is a pamphlet essay by Samuel Abbot Green, Blodget's Plan of the Battle on the Shores of Lake George... Remarks made before the Massachusetts Historical Society, March 13, 1890 (Cambridge: John Wilson & Son, 1890)., containing a facsimile of the Blodget plan.