A New Map of Spain and Portugal [...] requisite for the Intelligence of Military Operations

Monumental four-sheet map of Spain and Portugal produced by William Faden, Geographer to King George III, for use by British military officers during the Peninsular War. Particular emphasis is given to the terrain, mountain passes, and roads, all of which were crucial for planning a military campaign.



Manuscript notations on the case identify the original owner as Major John Duffy of the 43rd Light Infantry. Further manuscript notations on the map itself mark the route of the Allied campaign of 1812 in pursuit of the retreating French armies from Ciudad Rodrigo on the Portuese border to Bayonne.



Major (later Major-General) Duffy served in virtually every theatre of the Napoleonic Wars - West Indies (1796), Netherlands (1796), Egypt (1807), Copenhagen (1807), and the Peninsula (1808-1814). He was wounded at Vittoria and was mentioned several times in Wellington's dispatches, particularly for his brave conduct leading the assault on Fort Reynard, an outpost of Ciudad Rodrigo.



A remarkable piece of military history, unusual in that it was actually used in the field by an identified British officer.



Original hand-colour. Folded in four sections with original slip case. [SP2058]