Top of page

Places in Civil War History: Tennessee Secession and Fortress Monroe

Share this post:

This is a series of posts documenting the cartographic history of maps related to the American Civil War, 1861-1865. The posts will appear on a regular basis.

In May 1861, several more states formally seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America, including Tennessee on May 16th and Virginia on May 23rd.

Published in 1861, E.P. Dutton’s New map of Kentucky and Tennessee from authentic reports of county surveyors throughout the states… depicts the two states and includes information vital to military planners. The state of Kentucky, located to the north of Tennessee, did not secede from the Union, thereby making the region a potential front line in the conflict. The map shows the locations of post offices, grist and saw mills, mineral and salt works, iron and lead mines, mines and caves, river ford locations and landings, ferries and bridges, roads, plank roads, and both proposed and finished railroad lines in both states.

Dutton Tennessee
“New map of Kentucky and Tennessee from authentic reports of county surveyors throughout the states of Kentucky and
Tennessee with a new key for measuring distances and specifying localities.”
E.P. Dutton, 1861. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.