1862 – Map of the Battle-Fields of Harper’s Ferry and Sharpsburg
from Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Map courtesy of the Library of Congress
The Map
This official government map of the Battle of Antietam shows the roads, farms, topography, and other features of the Sharpsburg area, along with the position of the Union and Confederate troops on September 16-17, 1862.
Note that the map on the left-hand side is entitled Map of the Battle-Fields of Harper’s Ferry and Sharpsburg, with Position of Troops, Routes of Army &c., and that it was drawn in 1864 by S. Howell Brown, who at the time was a 1st. Lieutenant in the Confederate Army.
On the larger map to the right, note the red line at the lower left that shows the Confederate Line of Retreat across the Potomac River at Boteler’s Ford (Packhorse Ford) towards Shepherdstown, where the wounded and others were cared for by the local residents.
The Mapmaker
Compilation of the records of the American Civil War began in 1864. This map of the Battle of Antietam was published by the War Department as part of a series known as The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. When finally published, the Records included 138,579 pages, with 1,006 maps and diagrams assembled in 128 books, organized as 70 volumes grouped in four series. This map is found in a companion volume, the Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, which was published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1895. It included maps of military operations (175 plates), a topographic map of the area of operations (26 plates), and some drawings of weapons, uniforms, insignia, and flags.
