1863 Colton's Railroad and Military Map of the United States, Mexico, the West Indies &c.
DESCRIPTION
An exceptional Civil War map of the United States, combining the political division of the country, its rapidly expanding railroad network, military geography, slavery statistics, and the changing territorial boundaries of the American West on a single monumental sheet.
Published by the Colton firm in New York and dated 1863, the map extends across the United States and much of Canada and Mexico, supplemented by numerous inset maps and statistical tables. Originally intended as a practical reference for following the war, it provides an unusually comprehensive picture of the country at one of the most consequential moments in its history.
A Nation Divided by Civil War
The map's applied color makes the sectional division of the United States immediately visible, distinguishing Free or Non-Slaveholding States, Border Slave States, and Seceded or Confederate States. A separately applied explanation along the lower margin provides the population and area represented by each group, while the large 1860 Census tables at left record free and enslaved populations state by state. Particularly significant are the Border States, where slavery remained legal despite their continued allegiance to the Union. Across these political divisions runs an extensive network of existing and proposed railroads, an increasingly important feature in a war in which control of transportation routes was essential to moving armies, weapons, provisions, and information.
A Map Caught in Transition
The rapidly changing geography of the American West provides one of the map's most fascinating features and helps identify this as a transitional 1863 state. Arizona and New Mexico are lettered according to the new east-west arrangement created when Arizona Territory was formally organized in 1863, yet the applied color continues to follow the earlier territorial configuration when Arizona appeared below New Mexico.
Farther north, the enormous new Idaho Territory, created by Congress on March 3, 1863 from portions of Washington, Dakota, and Nebraska territories, is already delineated between Washington, Oregon, Dakota, and Utah but remarkably remains unnamed. The combination suggests a map being updated in stages as Colton attempted to keep pace with territorial changes occurring during the war. New boundaries and names were added to an existing plate while portions of the earlier geography and coloring remained. The result preserves two successive stages of western territorial organization on the same sheet.
Insets, Statistics, and the Geography of War
Surrounding the principal map is an impressive collection of nine inset maps, demographic tables, and explanatory material designed to help contemporary viewers understand and follow the conflict. Insets provide enlarged coverage of strategically important areas including Washington, Manassas, Harpers Ferry and Baltimore; Charleston, Port Royal and Savannah; Richmond and Petersburg; Wilmington; Beaufort; New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta; Mobile Harbor; and Key West and the Tortugas. Another substantial inset depicts the Americas, Africa, and part of Europe, placing the United States within the wider Atlantic world.
The accompanying 1860 Census tables compare populations of free and slaveholding states and record the number of enslaved people in individual states, while forts, harbors, railroads, cities, and transportation routes provide additional information directly relevant to following military events. The documented Bacon issue of the map likewise contains nine insets and population tables for 1850 and 1860.
Colton's Map for a British Audience
The map was produced by the prominent New York cartographic firm of J. H. Colton, but this example was prepared for the British market as part of G. W. Bacon's series of American Civil War maps. Bacon's London series repackaged Colton's American cartography for British readers eager to follow the movements of Union and Confederate armies; the documented edition of this map formed No. 2 in a six-map series devoted to the war. David Rumsey Map Collection The advertisement preserved inside the case promotes Bacon's Shilling Series of American War Maps, emphasizing their usefulness for tracing military movements. The British issue adds an important dimension to the map: it documents not only how Americans understood the geography of their divided country, but how the conflict was being followed from across the Atlantic.
The map is dissected into 32 sections and mounted on linen, and retains its original embossed cloth case, now detached so the map can be easily framed. The green cover label advertises the map's Civil War content and preserves its original British pricing of 5 shillings in sheets, 9 shillings in case, and 10 shillings on rollers. The original case and interior Bacon advertisement provide an important record of the map's British publication and marketing.
CONDITION
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