STEDMAN, Charles (1753-1812).
The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War
London: for the author, 1794.
First edition.

Comparable: Christie's, William Reese Sale, 2022 - $11,300.Two volumes.

Quarto (10 1/4" x 8 1/8", 260mm x 208mm). [Full collation available.] With 15 engraved plates, of which 11 are folding. Bound in modern tan half-calf over marbled boards. At the edges of the calf, a gilt fillet. Smooth spine in six panels. Author and title gilt to the second panel, number gilt to the fourth, imprint gilt to the foot. Top edge of the text-block gilt. Edges of spine and fore-corners rubbed. Worn at the fore-corners. Light tanning around maps, else quite fresh (perhaps washed).

"The finest collection of plans assembled by an eyewitness" (Revolutionary Hundred). Stedman's History of the Revolution is generally considered the best contemporary account written from the British side.

Charles Stedman (1753-1812) was a British loyalist, born in Philadelphia. His knowledge of German, likely learned from colonists in Pennsylvania, was helpful in dealing with the Hessian auxiliary soldiers and leading German troops. He served as an officer under Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis. Stedman was twice taken prisoner and once sentenced to hanging as a rebel, but escaped each time. He was also seriously wounded twice. At the end of the war in 1783, he retired to England, where he reported to Lord Rawdon, Earl of Moira, and settled loyalist claims for the British Government. Stedman's History is considered the best contemporary account told from the British point of view, establishing the cornerstone of Revolutionary War literature. His first-hand knowledge of major campaigns from Savannah to Yorktown, as well as the people involved, makes this an indispensable account of the War of American Independence. Howes S 914; JCB II:3695; Lowndes IX.2504; Sabin 91057; Winsor VI, p. 518.