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by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
WASHINGTON OFFERS MAPMAKER POSITION TO ERSKINE
On Jul. 28, 1777, General George Washington offered the position of the Army’s “geographer” or mapmaker to Robert Erskine. The Continental Army’s commander also asked Erskine “to let me know without delay the conditions on which it will suit you to undertake it and shall be glad to see you as soon as possible at Head Quarters to fix the matter upon a proper footing.” Five days later, the 37-year-old Scotsman replied he “shall be happy to render every service in my power to your Excellency.”
Six years earlier, in June 1771, Erskine, a capable and respected hydrological engineer, had immigrated to America to manage iron mines in northeastern New Jersey. By 1773, he was an esteemed civic leader and perceptive observer of the growing unrest in America. Siding with the Americans, he organized and outfitted his ironworkers into a militia company, becoming its captain in August 1775. Once the war came to New York City in the summer of 1776, Erskine designed a tetrahedron-shaped obstacle to obstruct British access to the Hudson River.
In late January 1777, Washington wrote to Congress “The want of accurate Maps of the Country…has been of great disadvantage to me. I have in vain endeavoured to procure them, and have been obliged to make [do] with such Sketches as I could trace out from my own Observations, and that of Gentlemen around me.” The American commander wanted “Gentlemen of known Character & probity [to] be employed in making Maps (from actual Survey) of the Roads-The Rivers and Bridges and Fords over them-the Mountains and passes thro' them.” This he concluded “would be of the greatest Advantage.”
Meanwhile, Erskine had started working on such a map. In late 1776, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee of the Continental Army asked Erskine to make a sketch of the area west of New York City. Although Lee was captured before the sketch’s completion, the Scotsman visited the army’s winter camp at Morristown in late March and apparently showed Washington his work. Washington asked Erskine to expand the work to include the area south toward Philadelphia. Gathering some materials from Maj. Gen. William Stirling, Erskine began developing a map of the area between New York City and Philadelphia. By mid-July, he had completed the map and presented it to General Washington. Measuring 24½ inches by 38½ inches, the map so impressed the commanding general that he carried it on his person for much of the war, even annotating it in sixteen places.
On Jul. 19, Washington asked Congress for permission to appoint “a good Geographer to Survey the roads…[to]…take sketches of the Country where the Army is to Act.” He went on to recommend Erskine as “thoroughly skilled in this business” and “uniformly supported the Character of a fast friend to America.” On Jul. 25, Congress granted Washington permission. Three days later, Washington conveyed the confirmation to Erskine, and five days later, Erskine accepted.
For the next three years, as Surveyor General of the Continental Army, Erskine and his surveyors developed more than 275 maps and sketches that covered the northern sector of the war. These products accurately showed roads, rivers, mountains, fords, and marshes, providing important terrain and planning information for Washington and his Continental Army.
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| Date Taken: | 07.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.29.2025 10:02 |
| Story ID: | 544104 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
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