Owner Label on Front Cover: Wm. P. Craighill
Precis: First Edition, with unique features, complete, seventeen color lithographed U.S. Civil War large map sheets printed on heavy paper (16 map titles listed below); original atlas covers, front and back with period marbled paper over stiff boards.1/ Original atlas binding, with new leather spine and corners of gilt tooled black leather in the style of those on the book as found and in need of replacement. Lithographs by Julius Bien of extraordinary fine detail, demonstrating his exceptional printing skill and color work.
Provenance:
Historic atlas ownership is identified by the large, period gilt tooled black leather label "Wm. P. Craighill" on the front cover, a unique provenance conferring on this book U.S. Civil War and American civil engineering stature. 2/ William Price Craighill (b. Virginia 1833 -1909 d. Charlestown, W.Virginia), was described as a person who loved books and surrounded himself with them on many subjects 3/. He served as a Union Army officer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as a West Point assistant professor of engineering and wrote the Army Officer's Pocket Companion (1862) 4/ for Civil War officers in the field. After the Civil War, Craighill dedicated his professional life to service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baltimore and the wider Norfolk District region.5/ Ultimately in 1895 Craighill was appointed Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Craighill maintained a relationship as well with Johns Hopkins University and explained in correspondence that the ultimate satisfaction of his work was to see Baltimore and the university flourish as a direct result of improvements to the Port of Baltimore. 6/ His reputation as a leader in civil engineering advances led in 1894 to Craighill's election as president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.7/
Affixed to the inside back cover of Craighill's Military Maps Atlas is a yellow, six-sided paper label that reads "Wm. Minifie & Son Booksellers and Stationers No. 114 Balto St. Baltimore, Md.". The firm is listed at this address in Woods's Baltimore City Directory. 1870. 8/ Five years prior, William Price Craighill had moved to Baltimore for his assignment as Head Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore office. This Military Maps Atlas, First edition, 1869 was thus sold soon after it was published by Wm.Minifie & Son Booksellers on Balto Street, Baltimore, for or to William P. Craighill, Head Engineer U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, Baltimore, for his library.
A different small label is affixed to the inside front cover that reads in cursive ink manuscript "No. 260 On top of "Blanks" case". The Military Map Atlas title page bears a manuscript ink notation "No. 260" suggesting a library catalog number.
Another unique feature of the Military Map Atlas is a period, pencil manuscript notation of the map number and title written on the verso of each large, folded map sheet, lower right corner. This is to assist the reader by identifying the folded, atlas map printed on the front. For example, "No 1 The Wilderness." in pencil manuscript appears on the verso of the book's first folded map, titled The Wilderness. The Atlas Index lists this map as "1.The Wilderness." The bound maps in this book are very large and somewhat unwieldy. The manuscript pencil notations on each map verso permit the reader to search the book and locate the desired page safely by avoiding the need to open, shut and turn every large sheet. This book's customized notations likely account for the good condition of the map sheets. There are no other pencil notations in the book.
I. Description:
This unique example of the large format, Military Maps Illustrating the Armies of the Potomac and James 1869 is the first edition of that title published by the U.S. War Department, Office of the Chief Engineer. 9/ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout the U.S. Civil War was responsible for preparing topographical surveys of the territory through which the Union Armies passed and fought to the successful conclusion of the U.S. Civil War. The Military Maps illustrating the Operations of the Armies of the Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865 are based on surveys prepared in 1867. These 1867 surveys update the compiled survey work conducted during the U.S. Civil War by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, explained fully on the Atlas title page.10/
The exceptional artistry of the Military Maps Atlas lithographs is the work of Julius Bien's lithography firm in New York.11/ The maps published in this Atlas are among his finest printed maps, expressed in an unusually large format, with finely drawn details and 3-dimensional appearing topographic features. The maps represent mastery of line and color expressed with finesse on the lithographer's stone. Please see Section Va. below, list of map titles and Section Vb. nine map details in high resolution images.
The U.S. War Department in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published the 1869 Military Maps illustrating the Operations of the Armies of the Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865 for two major reasons: to document for the archives of the War Department the final survey work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of this extraordinary Civil War in its critical final year 12/ and to make available to the public a large, but manageable volume with maps of the decisive battles of the Union Army and Confederate Army that ended the war. The scope of these 1867 surveys by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is specifically in the region between Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and the Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
The War Department's comprehensive documentation of the entire Civil War was published from 1891 through 1895, with its Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.13/ That atlas is a comprehensive compilation of facsimiles of the War Department's Civil War map archive prepared by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and printed by Julius Bien. Those archived maps do not provide fine topographic details or large scale mapping as found in the 1869 Military Maps Atlas illustrating the Operations of the Armies of the Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers task of updating and preparing field surveys of the Civil War battle field operations once the Civil War had ended was itself a massive, multi-year undertaking. And the preparation of these surveys for printing as color lithographed, large scale maps was as well. The surveyors' progress can be followed in the War Department's Annual Reports of the Chief of Engineers14/ that typically include at the end a special report by Major of Engineers, Brevet Brigadier General N. Michler on the progress being made on these field surveys under Major Weyss. In his reports, Michler reiterates the difficult working conditions throughout these years, commenting specifically about inclement winter weather. He makes repeated budget requests for additional funds to hire an adequate engineering staff. Please see the Report of the Chief of Engineer of 1868.
The Military Maps illustrating the Operations of the Armies of the Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865 is an excellent teaching tool for examining the physical setting of the U.S. Civil War. These rare, large format maps are both topographic surveys of the finest detail, and military strategy maps that illustrate in color the battle formations of the Union and Confederate troops. The Julius Bien lithographs present an almost 3-dimensional view of the topography, landscape features, and obstacles faced by both armies. Elevations of strategic cliffs and river banks are noted. Place names, towns and cities and in some cases land owners are named. Railroads are labeled. Forts, cemeteries and depots are shown and identified.
William Price Craighill's legacy, beyond this individual book, is his 19th and 20th c. civilian and military civil engineering research, design and oversight of construction prior to during and after the U.S. Civil War that upgraded East and West coast ports and navigation of our major rivers. His legacy continued well into the 20th century. Thus Craighill's own library example of the Military Maps Atlas as the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bears his name on, within and beyond its covers.
II. Atlas Contents:
There are sixteen (16) map titles in the Atlas. One map consists of two large sheets.Thus the Index lists seventeen map sheets. Certain Index map titles differ slightly from the corresponding printed map title. Sheets 12 and 13 in the Index are the top and bottom sheets of the regional map. All but one map are full sheet, color lithographs: North Anna is a half sheet print. All maps are photographed. And nine maps have close up photographs of details. See V.a. and V.b. below
Index of Maps 1.-17. :
1. The Wilderness
2. Spottsylvania Court House
3. North Anna
4. Totopotomoy
5. Cold Harbor
6. Petersburg & Five Forks
7. Richmond
8. Jetersville & Sailor's Creek
9. High Bridge & Farmville
10.Appomattox Court House
11. Antietam
12. Gettysburg & Appomattox Court House
13. Dto Dto Dto
14. Bermuda Hundred
15. Chancellorville
16. Harper's Ferry
17.Fredericksburg
Military Maps Atlas, Map Titles 1-16 and map sheet dimensions:
1.The Wilderness (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
2.Spottsylvania Court House (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
3.North Anna (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 7/10" H x 17 7/10" W
4.Totopotomoy (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
5.Cold Harbor (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
6.Petersburg and Five Forks (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
7.Richmond (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
8.Jetersville and Sailors Creek (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
9.High Bridge and Farmville (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
10 Appomattox Court House (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
11.Antietam (1867) From Surveys [Maryland] - sheet : 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
12.Map of the Region between Gettysburg, PA. and Appomattox Court House, VA. exhibiting the connection between the Campaign and Battle-Field Maps (1869) -
sheet 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
13.[no title], bottom half of Region between Gettysburg, PA. and Appomattox Court House ,VA. exhibiting the connection between the Campaign and Battle-Field Maps -
sheet : 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
14.Bermuda Hundred (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
15.Chancellorville (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
16.Harper's Ferry (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
17.Fredericksburg (1867) From Surveys [Virginia] - 23 11/16" H x 35 1/2" W
III. Notes:
1. Rumsey, citing Stephenson, identifies two editions: 1869 First Edition in color lithograph and 1872 Second Edition, primarily black and white. First edition - Military maps illustrating operations, Armies of the Potomac & James. / U.S. War Department ; Weyss, John E. / 1869 on the Craighill Atlas title page.
2. William Price Craighill, West Point class of 1853, was commissioned to the Corps of Engineers as a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served as an officer in the U.S. Civil War, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He rose in rank throughout his career, in 1897 retiring at the rank of Brigadier General. Craighill is notable as a Virginian who served as a Union officer during the U.S. Civil War. Other Virginians, such as Craighill's wife's sister and her husband, joined the Confederacy. See, Clements Library, Crittenden family papers, 1837-1907 (majority within 1849-1889) - University of Michigan William L. Clements Library - University of Michigan Finding Aids_ Craighill was made Division and Department Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working on defenses of San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and New York City. In 1870, Craighill was promoted to Head Engineer of the Baltimore Office, serving until 1895. In 1895, President Cleveland appointed Craighill Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1897, Craighill retired with the rank of Brigadier General. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters > About > History > Commanders
3. Kanarek, at p.5, "Throughout his life he surrounded himself with books and he read avidly.'His love of home, books and family kept him apart from club life,' the Baltimore Sun observed on his death on January 18, 1909, "and his chief hobby was his work - military engineering."17
4. Craighill taught at the U.S. Military Academy. He is the author of Army Officer's Pocket Companion: A Manual for Staff Officers in the Field (1862). This book was distributed during the Civil War to Union Army officers as part of their training and education on the field of battle.
5. In 1865, following the end of the U.S. Civil War, Major William P. Craighill was assigned to Baltimore as District Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to resume the 1856 initiative by the Corps and the City of Baltimore to dredge the Patapsco River to permit large vessels to navigate Baltimore Harbor and serve Mid-West commerce and trains. This is named the Craighead Channel Upper Range. Prior to the Civil War, Craighill gained extensive experience in port development and fortification. By the 1870's, under Craighill's management of the Baltimore District Office, Baltimore Harbor grew to be the second largest port on the East Coast. From 1870-1895, Craighill was Head Engineer, Baltimore Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the major development and fortification of the Baltimore Port and managing what became later known as the Norfolk District. please see Kanarek. The Craighill Channel Lower Range was dredged to allow ships traveling from the south into the Chesapeake Bay. Craighill also sat on the U.S. Lighthouse Board 1889-1892. See Chesapeake Chapter United States Lighthouse Society cheslights.org to describe the channel lighthouses.
6. Johns Hopkins University archives, Craighill correspondence. 01_10_31.pdf
7. Craighill visited France to study the use of movable wicket dams invented in 1852 by Jacques Chanoine for the French Engineers Corp. He brought that technology back with him and modified it for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on major river projects beginning in 1875, on the Kanawha River in West Virginia, and next in the Ohio River. For an excellent article, with photographs please see Kanawha Locks & Dams
8. Woods' Baltimore City Directory 1870.Baltimore Printed and Published by John W. Woods
9. see note 1, supra. Richard W. Stephenson compiled Civil War Maps: an annotated list of maps and atlases in the Library of Congress. Washington: Library of Congress, 1989.
10. full title: "In addition to the Surveys and Maps made previous to, and during the Operations, extended and detailed Surveys were made upon the cessation of hostilities in the several theatres of operation, and the Maps partially prepared by order of Lieut. Genl. U.S. Grant, commanding the Armies of the United States. These Surveys and Maps were executed under the direction of Bvt. Brig.Gen. N. Michler, Major of Engineers, and Bvt. Lieut. Col. P.S. Michie, Capt. of Engrs. The Maps were subsequently prepared for publication by Bvt. Brig. Genl. N. Michler, by direction of the Chief of the Corps of Engineers, under the authority of the Hon. Secretary of War. The Surveys and Maps relating to the Battle fields of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna, and Totopotomoy, were made by authority of the Hon. Secretary of War, under the orders of Brig. & Bvt. Maj. Genl. A.A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers, and made under the direction of Bvt. Brig. Genl. N. Michler, Major of Engineers, in 1867."
11. Julius Bien is a German born, American lithographer who opened his lithograph studio in New York in 1850. Bien worked extensively for the United States government printing maps, atlases, scientific illustrations and privately worked on color lithographed art work. His work spanned both the 19th and early 20th century and set the standard for color lithography in the United States.
12. [1868 Chief's annual report]; Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1868 - p16021coll6_1694.pdf, at page 1199-1200.
13. Atlas of the war of the Rebellion giving Union and Confederate armies by actual surveys by the Union and Confederate engineers, and approved by the officers in command, of all the maps herein published | Library of Congress
14. A list of the completed maps and drawings was furnished in my last annual report, to which those above enumerated, drawn on a scale of four inches to the mile, are now added. The entire portfolio now numbers 186 sheets of antiquarian, comprising general and detailed maps of campaigns, sieges, and battle-fields, with numerous drawings of forts, redoubts, batteries, and mines. An examination of the maps exhibits the great detail with which the surveys were made and the beauty of their execution. Major Weyss and his assistants are deserving of the greatest credit for the rapidity and accuracy with which the work has been accomplished.
Respectfully submitted,
N.MICHLER, Major of Engineers, Brevet Brigadier General
[1868 Chief's annual report]; Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1868 - p16021coll6_1694.pdf
More research is needed to confirm the total number of copies printed. Typically government runs for reports with maps are small. For example, Congress specified in 1845 that 100 copies of each volume of the U.S.Ex.Ex. Reports be printed, one for each state and the balance for sale.
IV. Bibliography:
Craighill, William P., First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Assistant Professor of Engineering at the U.S. Military Academy.
The Army Officer's Pocket Companion; Principally Designed for Staff Officers in the Field. Partly translated from the French of M. de Rouvre...with additions from standard American, French, and English authorities. New York, D. Van Nostrand 1862.
Kanarek, Harold, K., A Monument to an Engineer's Skill: William P. Craighill and The Baltimore Harbor, Baltimore District, Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland nd; A monument to an engineer's skill : William P. Craighill and the Baltimore Harbor - A_monument_to_an_engineer's_skill-_William_P._Craighill_and_the_Baltimore_Harbor_-_USACE-p16021coll4-12.pdf
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection | Julius Bien, Master Printer and Cartographer
With special reference to Bien's Military Maps Illustrating the Operations of the Armies of the Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865, citing examples that illustrate the "extraordinary level of Bien's printing skill.
Stephenson, Richard W., Civil War Maps in the Library of Congress, 518.
U.S. War Department, Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Published under the direction of Hons. Redfield Proctor, Stephen B. Elkins, and Daniel S. Lamont, Secretaries of War, By Capt. Calvin D. Cowles 23rd U.S. Infantry, Washington, [D. C.] Government Printing Office, 1891-1895, Julius Bien & Co. Lith. NY
V.a Photographs of Atlas cover, contents and maps - see photo files (16) map titles et al.
V.b Close-Up Photographs of Nine (9) Military Map Details - see photo files
1. Map No. 2 Spottsylvania Court House (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H approx.
2. Map No. 3 North Anna (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2"W x 10" H approx.
3. Map No. 5 Cold Harbor (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H approx.
4. Map No. 6 Petersburg and Five Forks (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2"W x 10" H approx.
5. Map No. 7 Richmond (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H approx.
6. Map No. 9 High Bridge and Farmville (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H
7. No. 11 Antietam (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H
8. Map No. 14 Bermuda Hundred (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H
9. Map No. 16 Harper's Ferry (1867) From Surveys - close up dimensions: 13 1/2" W x 10" H