Map makers and topographic engineers.

[DixieRifles]

Like this Confederate map:

For real??!! That is a nice map.

 

[19thGeorgia]

For real??!! That is a nice map.

Yes, the Confed's had some talent too...

From "Map Battle of Murfreesboro"

 

[19thGeorgia]

Here's another Confederate map "Published and Lithographed by W.R. Robertson 30 Dauphin St. Mobile, Ala" (Lithography - another method to reproduce maps though more expensive). It is dated ca.1862. Note that it shows "Fort Pillow" which was constructed in 1861.

 

[19thGeorgia]

Detail from a Confederate map signed by Col. S. H. Lockett and Nicola Marshall-

 

[Rhea Cole]

Wow, is this ever the article all of you all have to read! The map Lee used during the Gettysburg Campaign was drawn up at Jackson's order by his highly skilled cartographer.

It was, however, a map of the entire northern operations area. On Lee's map the word "Gettysburg" covered practically all of the battlefield.

Who knows that, "1,050 horse paces equal a mile" or that counting them was used for map making? The content of this article is very enlightening.

Link:

Maps: Lee's Real Enemy at Gettysburg?

Can poor planning and bad maps explain the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg?

www.historynet.com

 

[Rhea Cole]

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


View attachment 546137

I have discovered a highly detailed & enlightening source. Lee did not have access to this 1855 map. The map he did use was on such a large scale that the word "Gettysburg" covers almost the entire area of the battlefield.

This article is filled with detailed references. Who knew that "1,050 horse paces equal a mile" & that counting them was a map making technique?

The author goes into great detail about why maps were vital for more than just getting from point to point.

You are going to like this a lot.

Link:

Maps: Lee's Real Enemy at Gettysburg?

Can poor planning and bad maps explain the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg?

www.historynet.com

 

[USS ALASKA]

THE NATION BUILDERS A SESQUICENTENNIAL HISTORY OF THE CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS 1838-1863
Frank N. Schubert Editor
OFFICE OF HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA
1988

In executing a wide variety of duties, the Topographical Engineers contributed significantly to the concept of the modern professional soldier. They believed they were servants of the state and looked to Congress and the Secretary of War for guidelines and policies. The power of the Topographical Engineers rested in their professional engineering expertise. This power was substantial in a period when Army Engineers had a virtual monopoly on the engineering skills so desperately needed by the developing nation. Today, of course, such expertise is shared with private and public engineers around the country.

https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/portals/76/publications/engineerpamphlets/ep_870-1-37.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Journal Article
Civil War Maps and Mapping
JAMES BERTON RHOADS
The Military Engineer, Vol. 49, No. 327 (January-February 1957), pp. 38-43
Society of American Military Engineers

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44603242

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).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[MilesHai]

Toward the end of the Civil War, the Union was reproducing maps through the use of photography.

Here's an Alexander Gardner photo from March 0f 1865, showing the setup for photographing maps at the quarters of the Engineer Corps photographers in front of Petersburg, Va.

Library of Congress LOT 4172-H, no. 11

Miles Hai
seeingthecivilwar.com

 

[USS ALASKA]

Journal Article
Civil War Photo Maps: The happy union of photography and cartography during the first of the "modern" wars
William Gladstone
Military Images, Vol. 4, No. 2 (September-October 1982), pp. 16-19

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44031528

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).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[A. Roy]

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).

Thanks for this reminder!
AR

 

[Rhea Cole]

This History of Field Mapping in the Civil War / guide to the Library of Congress collection of Civil War maps is an extremely valuable tool. The description of the map making done by the Army of the Cumberland is succinct & provides links to the maps described.

Link:

Field Mapping | History of Mapping the Civil War | Articles and Essays | Civil War Maps | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

Although all successful field commanders realized the necessity of clearly understanding the lay of the land over which they were moving or fighting, some placed a higher value on mapping activities than others. Two eminent commanders that fall in this category are Generals William T. Sherman...

www.loc.gov

 

[USS ALASKA]

Journal Article
Union Mapping in the American Civil War
A. Philip Muntz
Imago Mundi
Vol. 17 (1963), pp. 90-94
Imago Mundi, Ltd.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1150355

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).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA