This is part of 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.
From the early years of the Civil War, field and harbor surveys, topographic and hydrographic surveys, reconnaissances, and road traverses conducted by Federal cartographers led to the publication of countless thousands of manuscript maps. In his annual report for 1862, the Superintendent of the Coast Survey noted:
upwards of forty-four thousand copies of maps, charts, and sketches have been sent from the office since the date of my last report–a number more than double the distribution in the year 1861, and upwards of five times the average annual distribution of former years. This large and increasing issue of charts within the past two years has been due to the constant demands of the Navy and War Departments, every effort to supply which still continues to be made.
By 1864, the number of maps and charts printed during the year reached 65,897, of which more than 22,000 were military maps and sketches. Large numbers of maps also were compiled and printed by the Army’s Corps of Engineers. In 1864, the Chief Engineer reported that 20,938 map sheets were furnished to the armies in the field, and in the final year of the war this figure grew to 24,591.