Military Map Showing the United States Forces under Command of Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman U.S.A. during the years 1863, 1864, 1865

Uncommon variant showing Sherman’s epic March to the Sea.

This fabulously detailed map of the southeastern United States is bordered approximately by the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, the Atlantic Ocean, and (almost) the Gulf of Mexico. It presents the area of operations for Union forces under the command of Major General William T. Sherman, best known for his devastating march of pacification through the Confederacy near the conclusion of the American Civil War.

This incredible expedition is one of numerous actions between 1863 and 1865 presented by an array of colored lines (solid for infantry, hashed for cavalry movements). Static fortifications for Union and Confederate forces are shown with blue and red bars, respectively. Other strategic features of interest include the railroad network, regional topography, and navigable waterways.

The map was drawn by Captain William Kossak and John B. Muller of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and published in St. Louis, Missouri (headquarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi) in 1865. An impressive list of references is cited in the lower right. This example is one of several editions, all apparently from 1865, signed variously by the American Photo-Lithographic Company, Julius Bien & Co., Ferdinand Mayer, and H.C. Evans & F. Courtenay of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The American Photo-Lithographic Company imprint (lower right) is one of the scarcest, though it omits the orange route of Stoneman’s Cavalry Corps present on the War Department version (presumably the last that was issued).

Examples at the Leventhal Map Center; Mississippi Department of Archives & History;