Merrill, William Emery | Presentation copy of this Civil War field map, printed and used during the Atlanta Campaign by General Sherman’s chief engineer, E. M. Poe

Merrill, William Emery, Captain

Map of 1st. Distrt. Campbell Co. Georgia, South of the Cherokee Boundy. Line. Compiled… from the notes of a captured Rebel Engineer & State-map… Official Issue. Autographed and Printed in the Field. Chattanooga, May 23^d, 1864

Lithographed field map printed on cloth (455 x 520 to the neatline). Manuscript annotations in ink on recto and verso, old folds from use in the field, creasing, dampstaining in the lower left corner, a few small instances of spotting or staining. Matted and framed.

Presentation copy, inscribed: “Compliments of O.[rlando] M.[etcalfe] Poe Capt. Engr. Chf. Engr. Mily. Div. Miss.”

A rare Civil War map printed and used in the field during General Sherman’s Spring-Summer 1864 Atlanta Campaign by Captain Orlando Metcalfe Poe (1832-1895). As the Military Division of the Mississippi’s chief engineer, Captain Poe would have used field maps such as this every day—his responsibilities included surveying, reconnaissance, demolition and various construction projects. Poe was a cartographer himself, responsible for a number of Civil War maps that were printed during and after the war.

A graduate of West Point, Captain Poe fought at Second Bull Run and Fredericksburg, before being sent to the defense of Knoxville, where he was instrumental in constructing the city’s defenses. Just days after this map was printed, he served with Sherman at the battles of New Hope Church and Dallas, a few miles to the north of the area shown on this map. After Sherman captured Atlanta, Poe was charged with the burning and demolition of the city. During Sherman’s March to the Sea, Poe’s road and pontoon building units kept the army moving. When the war ended, he was breveted to brigadier general, and after the war went on to design and construct many of the early, “Poe style” lighthouses on The Great Lakes, as well as the Soo locks connecting Lake Superior and Huron. 

The map shows part of Campbell County, Georgia, about 12 miles west of Atlanta, at a scale of 2 inches to a mile. The part of map showing the area north of the Chattahoochee River is based off notes taken from a captured Rebel engineer. It includes detailed topography, as well as roads, ferries, churches, settlements, a distillery, certain property owners’ names, and more. The part of the map showing the area to the south of the river is based on state maps and is far less detailed. Maps such as these were printed on cloth so that they would be durable, foldable, portable, even washable. 

This map was printed in Chattanooga by W. F. Merrill, Chief Topographical Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland. Merrill’s innovations in military mapmaking played a key role in the Union Army’s war effort, providing the Generals with accurate and up-to-date information. In Chattanooga, he had his own complete establishment for map production—a printing press, lithographic presses, and draftsmen. Equally importantly, Merrill's assistant Sgt. N. Finnegan developed an extraordinary body of intelligence, drawing on spies, prisoners, refugees, peddlers, itinerant preachers and scouts, what Merrill called "his motley crew." All this information was digested by Merrill day by day, until he was notified that the campaign would begin within the week. At this point, they would print the maps and distribute them to field commanders down to the brigade level. In five months, Merrill and his men had produced a group of remarkably accurate maps of country that mostly lay behind enemy lines.