Robert Aitken Maps the War

Posted on October 29, 2025

Robert Aitken Maps the War

In the early months of the Revolution, much of the military action happened in the north, with American troops besieging the British in Boston and beginning a campaign in Canada. But the Revolution wasn’t confined to the northern colonies. The Continental Congress oversaw the war from Philadelphia, then the largest city in America. People throughout the middle and southern colonies followed the war’s progress, taking in the news of battles in places they’d never seen.

One of the sources a Philadelphian could find information was The Pennsylvania Magazine: Or, American Monthly Museum. This short-lived magazine, published between January 1775 and July 1776, was the only magazine in the colonies for much of its run. It was the brainchild of printer Robert Aitken, who also served as printer to the Continental Congress. For its editor, Aitken hired Thomas Paine, soon to be famous for his pamphlet Common Sense.

In his October 1775 issue, Aitken included a description of the Lake Champlain region and its military forts. To accompany the article, Aitken engraved this map, titled “A Map of the Present Seat of War on the Borders of Canada.” The map shows a slice of the Lake Champlain region from “Ticonderoga, or Carolong” in the south to Montreal in the north. The illustrated title box shows a Native American man to the left of the title; to the right is one of the earliest depictions of an American soldier, who wears a linen hunting shirt.

Readers of the magazine had likely never had access to a map this detailed of Lake Champlain and its environs before. The map brought the war and the region to life for those who had never seen it, helping them understand the terrain American soldiers navigated and the obstacles they faced en route to Montreal. Some of these readers and their loved ones would soon see the sights on the map in person. Four Pennsylvania regiments traveled to Canada in the spring of 1776, then retreated south to garrison duty at Ticonderoga and Crown Point.

Learn more about the map (object ID 1992.16, photo by Gavin Ashworth, © Fort Ticonderoga) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29569