Raynors HCA 2016-10
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/21/2016
Issued from Tullahoma, Tn., From Engineer Office, May 10, 1863, broadside, 12-1/4” x 13-1/4” old fold lines. Red and black ink, backed on slightly later paper, minor loss at some folds, light soiling and dampstaining. A highly important Confederate manuscript map of the area to the north and east of Shelbyville, Tennessee, located about twenty-five miles south of Murfreesboro, executed in the midst of the Civil War. This map was made a month before the Tullahoma Campaign in late June and early July, in which the Union pushed the Confederacy out of Middle Tennessee, opening the way to the capture of Chattanooga. The map is signed by C. Meister, one of the Confederacy's draughtsman deployed in the field with Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. Bragg headquartered his army at this time in Tullahoma, anticipating any attack would come through Shelbyville. Bragg's troops were spread across a wide front which encompassed most of the territory shown on this map. Union General Rosencrans was headquartered in Murfreesboro, just to the north. The map shows Christiana to the north, Pocahontas and Manchester to the east, and Tullahoma on the southern edge of the surveyed area. Roads have been marked in red, with rivers and streams delineated in blue, and the railroads and towns marked out in black ink. Meister has included key details such as bridges (noted as being in "good order"), mills and other landmarks, and occasionally mileage between points. The map is noted as "No. 32" in the bottom left corner. With the outbreak of the Civil War there was a surge in demand for accurate and up-to-date maps. The Union had field presses and several government surveyors employed in creating maps. The Confederacy, however, was in short supply of everything, including surveyors, proper equipment, and the means to print. As a result, Confederate survey parties were sent into the field to draw maps, which were later traced into multiple copies. Although time consuming, this method was significantly cheaper than any method of printing available to them. A wonderful exemplar of Confederate cartography, showing a key piece of ground covered by the Army of Tennessee, essential to the Tullahoma Campaign.
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