This is the enlarged first temple of Trinity Church in New York City, after it was burned in the Great Fire of 1776, during the Independence War, and before the evacuation of the British troops in 1783. Title: An original sketch of the ruins of Trinity Church N. York, taken by an English officer during the Revolution. Source: New York Public Library.
According to Stokes (Iconography of Manhattan Island, ... 1915), the author of this watercolor sketch on paper was perhaps Lord Rawdon (1754-1826). Below, more comments from Stokes on this watercolor:
«This
sketch must have been taken between September 21, 1776, when the great fire
occurred in which Trinity Church was destroyed, and 1784, when the ruins of the
tower were torn down (...). In all probability, as it was drawn by an English
officer, it was made before the evacuation in [November] 1783.
The cupola shown on the right is evidently that of the City Hall on Wall Street.
The original inscription on the back of this sketch, written in a contemporary hand, has faded almost beyond recognition. It has been rewritten on the back as well as added under the view by Dr. Emmet.
The Emmet Collection contains three other interesting wash drawings (...), purchased at the sale of the effects of the Marquis of Hastings, a grandson of Lord Rawdon, who is supposed to have been their author. The technique and colouring are very similar to those of the view here reproduced, which is doubtless by the same hand. Lord Rawdon was, at this time, an officer on the staff of Lord Cornwallis. One of these sketches represents the landing of the British forces in the Jerseys and shows the Palisades with the soldiers making the ascent from boats; of the other two, one was — drawn just previous to the landing of the English Army at Gravesend on Long Island, and the other just after the Battle of Long Island, as is stated in faded manuscript on each. The first depicts a night scene with indistinct shore-line; the second shows five of the British ships-of-war, Governor’s Island, and a part of the Long Island shore.
Mr.
Percy R. Pyne, II, owns a charming early lithograph of the ruined church, very
similar in composition to the drawing here reproduced, but taken from the
north-west instead of from the south-west. It shows one corner of the tower
still standing, probably the portion which was ordered demolished on May 18,
1784. (...) This lithograph was originally in the collections of the late
William F. Havemeyer and is the only impression known. It measures 12 x 103%
inches, including border and title and has the following inscription: “Ruins of
Trinity Church./ As seen after the memorable Conflagration of Septr.
21st. 1776, by which Four hundred and ninety three buildings
comprising about a sixth part of the City of New York was laid in ashes.—From a
sketch taken on the Spot by the late Thomas Barrow, Esqe. one of the
Vestry of said Church. On Stone by J. Evers. Litho. & Published by J. Childs, N.
Y.”
The lithograph was probably made from an original water-colour drawing presented to the Corporation of Trinity Church by James Barrow in 1841. This drawing now hangs in the Corporation Room at 187 Fulton Street. The view is reproduced in Valentine’s Manual, 1861, p. 694.»
