Map makers and topographic engineers.

[Sheltowee]

I took 20 to 25 hours of cartography, aerial photo interpretation, photogrammetry, etc. as electives to my geosciences degree. We enjoyed the vantage point offered by aircraft and spy satellite photography. However, we did utilize field exercises where we were dropped off on foot in Mark Twain National Forest and assigned to rough in a topo map from visual observation. It was the mid-70s and almost every skill I acquired was replaced by computers within five years after I graduated. Many of those who completed their degree in the field ended up working at Defense Mapping Agency in St. Louis. I imagine accurate topo mapping was very difficult for those cartographers back in the mid-19th century.

Yep- majored in Geography with a minor in Cartography. But we never got the field experience with topo creation, as you did. We focused on thematic cartography.
Not much career options- although I was offered a GS-5 position with the USGS. Opted to work in an auto plant........ worked out well enough, but I sometimes play "what if".
All I hear about today is GIS?

 

[Rhea Cole]

I remember having to survey a small park outside Cape Girardeau when I was minoring in Geology at Southeast Missouri State back in the 60s. Now, after studying and writing about Stephen H. Long I have decided to get back into reenacting and do a Topographical Engineer. Has been interesting so far.

There is a group in Georgia that does a very impressive survey & engineering impression.

 

[Rhea Cole]

One of the factors that made the A or the C's maps so effective was the nascent Signal Corps. From the platform 60' up a huge tree at the Fort Transit Station on Pilot Knob, Rosecrans' left flank, a 360 degree 60 mile sweep was under observation. Nashville, 41 miles away, could be signaled with turpentine torches directly.

An observation sixty miles beyond Rosecrans' flank could be fixed on a map & that information be put on his desk in Murfreesboro in a matter of minutes. Rosecrans could then send an order or alert that his subordinates could put a finger on a copy of the same map his commanders, Signal Station of Observation or scout was using.

When that subordinate issued orders for a movement, his map contained notations of springs, utility of roads, distances between crossroads & the names of families that owned the houses marked on their maps. Take a look at the quick maps in the Official Atlas. Compare them with the crude hand drawn map General Polk was using… there is a world of tactical advantage right there on the page.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I have studied this & presented programs about the maps & Signal Corps in the A of the C for two decades. I had a conversation with a fellow living historian & was surprised he did not know something I assumed everyone knew. Here is where the rubber hit the road.

George Thomas was very much the driving force behind the A of the C's revolutionary topographic success. Thomas had an atlas that he referred to when analyzing intel, planning & the orders he issued. This atlas of Middle TN was constantly being up graded. As maps with notations from the field were returned, Thomas' atlas was updated. No general in history had access to anything like Thomas' atlas.

Fortunately, in Rosecrans Thomas had an army commander who would knock you flat running out the door to implement a better idea. The entrepreneurial spirit of the A of the C sets it apart from other CW armies. In Chattanooga, the Armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee, Potomac & James got to compare notes. The cross fertilization was what made Sherman's army group so very formidable. One element of the mix stood out. Sherman stated that he would never attempted the Atlanta Campaign or March to the Sea without his maps.

 

[Yankeedave]

The confederacy had the benefit of armies of men in the area they operated in. If one needed to head some way just ask. I have read that around the time if Antietam Lee wanted a map made of Gettysburg. It doesn't mean Jed Hotchkiss personally went and mapped it. I would guess and have read of various sorts being sent out to reconsider. Stuart would head north out of the valley that fall. He would cut east north of there and move south just west of D.C. then cut west back into the valley. He would follow this path in reverse in the summer of '63.
Hooked had incredibly detailed maps going into Chancellorseville.
I have read of men in the ranks having maps and compasses, charting their progress. For what it's worth.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The other threads we have on this gent didn't quite seem to fit so parked this article here...

Journal Article
Ambrose Bierce, Civil War Topographer
Paul Fatout
American Literature
Vol. 26, No. 3 (Nov., 1954), pp. 391-400
Duke University Press

Ambrose Bierce, Civil War Topographer on JSTOR

Paul Fatout, Ambrose Bierce, Civil War Topographer, American Literature, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Nov., 1954), pp. 391-400

www.jstor.org

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Funny guy...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Number 49
Fall 2004
cartographic perspectives
Civil War Topographical Engineering in the Shenandoah
Brooks C. Pearson
Department of Geosciences
State University of West Georgia

This study advances knowledge concerning military topographical engineering in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during 1861 and 1862 operations. It examines representative historical maps, Union and Confederate official reports, the wartime journals of James W. Abert, Jedediah Hotchkiss, and David Hunter Strother, and a detailed post-war reminiscence by Thomas H. Williamson to illuminate the typical experience of the topographical engineer in early war operations in the Shenandoah. Evidence indicates that Civil War topographers mostly performed the tasks one would expect of them: mapmaking, reconnais-sance, and orienteering. They were occasionally required to perform other duties tailored to their individual talents. There is evidence that the role of Confederate topographical engineers was more specific than that of Union officers.

View of Civil War Topographical Engineering in the Shenandoah

cartographicperspectives.org

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Longstreet had no map or guide to find Bragg at Chickamauga when Longstreet arrived...

Neither did Longstreet have maps of the area of Knoxville and his route to Knoxville when he left Chattanooga. Longstreet requested maps from Bragg, along with an officer who was familiar with the area, but Bragg failed to produce either.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Neither did Longstreet have maps of the area of Knoxville and his route to Knoxville when he left Chattanooga. Longstreet requested maps from Bragg, along with an officer who was familiar with the area, but Bragg failed to produce either.

There is good reason to assume that Bragg did not have a map of the Sequache Valley & Knoxville.

This is General Polk's map of Middle Tennessee. It was drawn by Edward Sayers, chief engineer of Polk's corps. He was an Irish civil engineer.

It was laboriously hand drawn. It was not reproduced for use by Polk's subordinates. The fold marks were where it was fitted into a map pocket in the tail of Polk's coat.

This is General Rosecrans' map of the same area. Copies were printed & distributed to officers. They were ordered to make notes & corrections that were collected to improve subsequent editions.

This a rather ghostly looking image is of a map made with a sun powered copy machine. The Army of the Cumberland cranked out (+/-) 20,000 of them, many in three colors.

Army of Tennessee maps were produced like medieval manuscripts, drawn one at a time. General Longstreet was reduced to utilizing the Mark One Eyeball.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

There is good reason to assume that Bragg did not have a map of the Sequache Valley & Knoxville.

View attachment 545562

This is General Polk's map of Middle Tennessee. It was drawn by Edward Sayers, chief engineer of Polk's corps. He was an Irish civil engineer.

It was laboriously hand drawn. It was not reproduced for use by Polk's subordinates. The fold marks were where it was fitted into a map pocket in the tail of Polk's coat.

View attachment 545564
This is General Rosecrans' map of the same area. Copies were printed & distributed to officers. They were ordered to make notes & corrections that were collected to improve subsequent editions.

View attachment 545565
This a rather ghostly looking image is of a map made with a sun powered copy machine. The Army of the Cumberland cranked out (+/-) 20,000 of them, many in three colors.

Army of Tennessee maps were produced like medieval manuscripts, drawn one at a time. General Longstreet was reduced to utilizing the Mark One Eyeball.

Thanks, Rhea.

 

[Lubliner]

There is good reason to assume that Bragg did not have a map of the Sequache Valley & Knoxville.

View attachment 545562

This is General Polk's map of Middle Tennessee. It was drawn by Edward Sayers, chief engineer of Polk's corps. He was an Irish civil engineer.

It was laboriously hand drawn. It was not reproduced for use by Polk's subordinates. The fold marks were where it was fitted into a map pocket in the tail of Polk's coat.

View attachment 545564
This is General Rosecrans' map of the same area. Copies were printed & distributed to officers. They were ordered to make notes & corrections that were collected to improve subsequent editions.

View attachment 545565
This a rather ghostly looking image is of a map made with a sun powered copy machine. The Army of the Cumberland cranked out (+/-) 20,000 of them, many in three colors.

Army of Tennessee maps were produced like medieval manuscripts, drawn one at a time. General Longstreet was reduced to utilizing the Mark One Eyeball.

I would also like to point out that Longstreet was possibly blind to much of Tennesse terrain. In 1862 and early 1863 Bragg had successfully maneuvered all through Tennessee and Kentucky, but Longstreet having come into Georgia from Virginia was lost from the very start, almost bumping into Union cavalry.
Lubliner.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I would also like to point out that Longstreet was possibly blind to much of Tennesse terrain. In 1862 and early 1863 Bragg had successfully maneuvered all through Tennessee and Kentucky, but Longstreet having come into Georgia from Virginia was lost from the very start, almost bumping into Union cavalry.
Lubliner.

I gotta ask, have you ever been to the Sequachie Valley? It is five miles wide, two hundred miles long & 1,000 to 1,500 feet deep. Longstreet was unlikely to get lost as long as he knew north from south.

 

[Lubliner]

I gotta ask, have you ever been to the Sequachie Valley? It is five miles wide, two hundred miles long & 1,000 to 1,500 feet deep. Longstreet was unlikely to get lost as long as he knew north from south.

Yes, I have known it from South Pittsburgh to Jasper to Whitfield from Battle Creek, and from Nickajack to Powell Crossroads, and up Suck Mountain (Walden's Ridge) and Whiteside. I have once been through to Tullahoma, and another time out from Soddy Daisy past Arnold's Air Force Base, and back through Estill Springs. I have never been into Dunlop nor Pikeville. I have known Cotton Port and Athens (Tenn.) and Decatur on the east side of the river, which Longstreet would have made his way up to Knoxville by. I can't say I ever heard of Longstreet exploring the Sequatchie Valley though. Weren't all his movements along the east side of the river and never crossing Walden's Ridge to the west?
Lubliner.

 

[DixieRifles]

In Dr. Timothy Smith's book "Bayou Battles and River Campaigns, part of Vicksburg Campaign series, he points out General Grant had no maps of the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River, south of Vicksburg. This was in April 1863, when Grant was committed to marching south thru Louisiana to bypass Vicksburg.
I can understand why he didnt have maps, because that area had multiple wandering bayous to cross and some roads were impassable due to the rains and the flood waters resulting from Grant blowing the levee. How could anybody survey such a place as that??!!

 

[Rhea Cole]

In Dr. Timothy Smith's book "Bayou Battles and River Campaigns, part of Vicksburg Campaign series, he points out General Grant had no maps of the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River, south of Vicksburg. This was in April 1863, when Grant was committed to marching south thru Louisiana to bypass Vicksburg.
I can understand why he didnt have maps, because that area had multiple wandering bayous to cross and some roads were impassable due to the rains and the flood waters resulting from Grant blowing the levee. How could anybody survey such a place as that??!!

At that same time when Lee entered Pennsylvania there were no maps of the entire state except for electoral districts. Not even the governor had a road map of the state.

Individual counties published maps. Lee sent scouts into Pennsylvania to purchase county maps.

Union commanders complained about how hard it was to find their way to Gettysburg.

Note: Sheltowee had responded with a Pennsylvania state map, albeit one eight years out of date by 1863. Begs the question why there are so many references to a dearth of maps.

 

[Sheltowee]

At that same time when Lee entered Pennsylvania there were no maps of the entire state except for electoral districts. Not even the governor had a road map of the state.

Individual counties published maps. Lee sent scouts into Pennsylvania to purchase county maps.

Union commanders complained about how hard it was to find their way to Gettysburg.

By 1855, Thomas Cowperthwait and Co had published their map of Pennsylvania- showing roads, rail lines, canals, etc.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Yes, I have known it from South Pittsburgh to Jasper to Whitfield from Battle Creek, and from Nickajack to Powell Crossroads, and up Suck Mountain (Walden's Ridge) and Whiteside. I have once been through to Tullahoma, and another time out from Soddy Daisy past Arnold's Air Force Base, and back through Estill Springs. I have never been into Dunlop nor Pikeville. I have known Cotton Port and Athens (Tenn.) and Decatur on the east side of the river, which Longstreet would have made his way up to Knoxville by. I can't say I ever heard of Longstreet exploring the Sequatchie Valley though. Weren't all his movements along the east side of the river and never crossing Walden's Ridge to the west?
Lubliner.

All of the references state that Longstreet had a single highly inaccurate map. As he approached Knoxville Bragg's engineer who had built Knoxville's defenses came to advise Longstreet.

Even that proved tragically inaccurate. Fort Sander's ditch not knee deep, it was 6' deep. The attack was a lopsided slaughter.

Link:

Longstreet Goes West, part nine: The November of our discontent - Emerging Civil War

Part Nine in a Series Both Bragg and Longstreet – indeed every Confederate from Richmond on down – understood that to be successful, any movement into East Tennessee must be conducted quickly, and in sufficient strength. The idea was to deliver a rapid knock-out blow against Ambrose Burnside...

emergingcivilwar.com

 

[Rhea Cole]

By 1855, Thomas Cowperthwait and Co had published their map of Pennsylvania- showing roads, rail lines, canals, etc.


View attachment 546137

That is interesting. Wonder why there are numerous references complaining about the dearth of maps on both sides.

 

[19thGeorgia]

By 1855, Thomas Cowperthwait and Co had published their map of Pennsylvania- showing roads, rail lines, canals, etc.


View attachment 546137

They needed more detail than those type maps would show - secondary roads, creeks, more topography, etc.

Like this Confederate map:

 

[Sheltowee]

They needed more detail than those type maps would show - secondary roads, creeks, more topography, etc.

Like this Confederate map:

View attachment 546141

Understood/ agree. But this is in reply that no maps with roads existed. They certainly did.