The Source

Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress

By Michael K. Shaffer · Originally published February 2018 · p. 12

Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress front cover.

This month, continuing our look at various Civil War map sources, we dive into a helpful printed resource, which serves as a great compliment to using the Library of Congress ‘Civil War Maps’ website. Researchers can access this online collection at https://www.loc.gov/collections/ civil-war-maps. Thanks to the work of Richard W. Stephenson and the Geography and Map Division staff at the Library of Congress, publication of the second edition of Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress appeared in 1989. Researchers can adopt the offline/online approach in locating maps helpful to their work. The printed book contains descriptions of over 2,500 maps and atlases, including maps Federal cartographers created, along with Confederate-drawn maps.

Albemarle page. The book begins with a bibliography of various maps of the United States. Following this section, one will find each state, listed in alphabetical order. While the book contains images of several maps (see Port Hudson sample), the real value of this source rests in assisting researchers in mining the vast online collection. This writer discovered—after a most helpful conversation with the staff at the Library of Congress—a simplified-search method, which allows one to conduct searches using the reference numbers printed in the book. As our example, we will use a map of Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The respective page listing Albermarle Sound, shown, indicates 306.7 as the reference number for this map. Once at the LOC website, https://www.loc.gov/collections/ civil-war-maps, enter the following search terms in this exact fashion: “LC Civil War Maps (2nd ed.)” 306.7. A tip at this point for additional searches. Before initiating the search for the Albemarle map, copy and paste the search terms just entered. This technique will simplify other searches, as one can paste the search terms, only changing the index number at the end each time. Also, remember to bookmark this site for quick reference in the future. The search results produce the map shown. Users can download the maps, in various resolutions, for future use. Stephenson and team also included two special collections in their printed work. The first, and the largest of all Confederate map sources at the LOC, is the ‘Hotchkiss Map Collection.’ Jedediah Hotchkiss served as a topographical engineer with the Army of Northern Virginia, and 341 of his maps reside in the LOC. The book also includes 210 maps from the ‘Sherman Map Collection;’ various maps Major General William T. Sherman used during and after the American Civil War. The listings in both of these sections contain special prefixes—‘H’ in the section for Hotchkiss, and ‘S’ in the Sherman Collection. Researchers will search online as described before, simply including the appropriate prefix in their search. Searching, for example: “LC Civil War Maps (2nd ed.)” S47, will yield Sherman’s map of the fortifications at Augusta, Ga., shown. Please note, this search method sometimes produces multiple hits, and users may need to scroll through the search results to locate the specific map they seek. Remember to check WorldCat http://www.worldcat.org/ for help in finding this book in a local library. This source, used in tandem with the website, will assist researchers in locating maps pertinent to their specific studies. Continued good luck in researching the Civil War!

Albemarle, N.C. Map 306.7.

Augusta, Ga. Map S47.

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and instructor, who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at [email protected], or to request speaking engagements via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @ michaelkshaffer.