Mapping During the War-- Part 2: "The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War"

Continuied  from September 21, 2017.

Ironically, Jedidiah Hotchkiss was born in New York, became a teacher in Pennsylvania and traveled extensively in Pennsylvania before moving to the Shenandoah Valley where he joined Jackson in 1861.

Many of the areas of the South, where most of the fighting would occur had been inadequately mapped before the war.

Both the Union and Confederate leaders relied on their "topography" staffs.  Many of these maps were compiled after the war into "The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War."  It was compiled between 1891-1895 under a board of directors and credited to Captain Calvin D. Cowles, 23rd U.S. Infantry.

It consists of 821 maps, 106 engravings )mostly of fortifications and 209 drawings of weapons, logistical equipment, uniforms and federal corps flags.

It was tied to the Official Records War of the Rebellion, Union and Confederate.

--Old secesh