During the Vietnam War, Long Binh Post was the U.S. Army’s largest base located in the former South Vietnam. It was situated between Bien Hoa, the location of a large American airbase, and Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The Geography and Map Division holds a map from the war that was printed and created …
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. On July 21, 1861, Federal forces and Confederate troops converged near Manassas Junction, the junction of the Manassas Gap Railroad and the Orange and Alexandria Railroads. …
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. At the conclusion of the Civil War, the U.S. War Department published numerous detailed battlefield maps and atlases to document significant military engagements, such as those …
Robert S. Bond was a forward artillery observer for the 6th Armored Division in World War II. He landed with the division in Normandy, France, and advanced into Germany. Along the way, he participated in the fighting in France, Belgium, and Germany, including the Battle of the Bulge. In 1945, while in a single-propeller reconnaissance …
Historically, “cartographer” has commonly been a profession wearing many hats: artist, craftsman, communicator, documentarian, entrepreneur, and pioneer (among many others). To celebrate cartographers who embraced these multitudes of roles to achieve success, it is worth remembering their stories. Today, we recognize Grafton Tyler Brown, a trailblazing African American cartographer of the Pacific Northwest. Brown was …
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 …
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. As the nation moved towards an increasingly inevitable “war between the states,” both Union and Confederate forces continued to mobilize. Northern Virginia, today a bustling suburban …
In World War I, the detail and accuracy of maps improved rapidly over the course of a few years and greatly enhanced the power of military forces. Maps, however, were only as good as those interpreting them, and failures in map usage resulted in massive casualties, which ranged from tens to hundreds of thousands. An …
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. As both land and sea clashes between Union and Confederate forces occurred with more frequency, it became clear that, at least in the early stages of …