Mississippi River [Sheets No. 2 – 6]

An important collection of Civil War-era maps of the Mississippi River.

This incredibly detailed collection of five Civil War-era maps captures approximately 90 miles of the Mississippi River along the Missouri–Illinois border. The mapped segment is bracketed roughly by Price’s Tow Head in the south and the town of St. Genevieve, labeled “St. Mary’s,” to the north. A sailing line with accompanying mileage numbers provides a recommended course, while numerous islands, shoals, snags, and other river hazards are carefully outlined. The adjacent shorelines are depicted with stunning topographic detail, noting forests, plowed fields, buildings, and a rudimentary transportation network of wagon roads, ferries, and waterways—with no railroads yet shown. Larger towns along the mostly rural stretch include Chester, Thebes, Cape Girardeau, protected by a series of forts, and Liberty.

The maps were surveyed by F. H. Gerdes for the United States Coast Survey under the direction of Alexander Dallas Bache. Lithographed by Charles G. Krebs and R. F. Bartle, the complete set of six was published in 1865 on three sheets. Unfortunately, the first chart, depicting the Mississippi around Cairo, is lacking here. Text on that sheet indicates that the charts were prepared for the use of the Mississippi Squadron under the command of Acting Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, U.S.N.