1890 Vorzet Map of Shiloh, Forts Henry and Donelson, U.S. Civil War

This sheet includes three highly detailed 1890 Dumas Vorzet maps of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh, Tennessee, sites of early battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was issued to illustrate the scarce atlas volume of the French edition of Philippe d'Orléans' Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amérique.

A Closer Look

The maps, set at different scales and orientations, display the sites of three important early battles in the U.S. Civil War, all taking place in the Western Theater, which was generally a bright spot for the Union compared to the fairly disastrous operations in Virginia around the same time. The namesake forts and towns are illustrated in considerable detail and were situated at strategic points along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Topographic features, roads, buildings, foliage, fortifications, and other elements are recorded throughout.

The Union capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862 resulted from effective coordination between Ulysses S. Grant and naval officer Andrew Hull Foote. Their relatively quick and easy seizure opened up a waterborne route of advance into Tennessee. These victories helped bring Grant to the attention of his superiors and earned him a reputation as a capable commander of large operations. These Union victories set the stage for the Battle of Shiloh (discussed below), an important if costly Union victory that shocked contemporaries with the high numbers of casualties on both sides.

The Battle of Shiloh (April 6 - 7, 1862)

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was fought in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. The battle occurred in southwestern Tennessee and pitted the Union Army of the Tennessee under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885) against the Confederate Army of Mississippi under General Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 - April 6, 1862). Grant and his army were marching south toward the Confederate stronghold at Corinth, Mississippi, when the Confederate Army surprised them at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6. Fierce fighting ensued, and stiff resistance from a handful of Union troops allowed the rest of the Union force to regroup and withstand the attack. The following day, April 7, Grant and his army counterattacked. This attack forced the Confederates to retreat and ended any Confederate hope of blocking the Union advance into northern Mississippi. The Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest battle of the war up to that point and saw 13,047 Union casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) and 10,699 Confederate casualties. Today, the battlefield is preserved as the Shiloh National Military Park. Despite winning the battle, Grant faced negative publicity at the time (planted by his rivals in the Union ranks), in large part because the public was horrified at the number of casualties from the battle, the highest in any battle on American soil to that time, though considerably less than some large battles later in the conflict (especially Gettysburg).

Publication History and Census

This map was drafted by Ernest Dumas-Vorzet, engraved by Louis Wuhrer, printed by Becquet, and published by Michel Lévy in Paris for the 1890 French edition of Philippe d'Orléans' Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amérique. The atlas supplement, of which this map was part, was issued only with the 1890 French publication and not included in any of the earlier English editions. The entire work, in this edition, is uncommon in institutional collections, with only 3 being identified in OCLC, and is scarce to the market. Most examples lack the atlas, which in OCLC appears only at the Boston Athenaeum. Very little market history.