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1890 Vorzet Map of the Battle of Warrenton, Virginia, U.S. Civil War

Warrenton-vorzet-1890
$175.00
Environs de Warrenton (Virginie). - Main View
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1890 Vorzet Map of the Battle of Warrenton, Virginia, U.S. Civil War

Warrenton-vorzet-1890

Emergence of 'the Grey Ghost'

Title


Environs de Warrenton (Virginie).
  1890 (undated)     10.25 x 14 in (26.035 x 35.56 cm)     1 : 350000

Description


This is Ernest Dumas-Vorzet's 1890 map of Warrenton, Virginia and environs, prepared for his Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amérique. It relates to the 1863 American Civil War (1861 - 1865) Warrenton Junction Raid, one of the first significant actions of 'the Gray Ghost', Confederate commander John S. Mosby and his eponymous Mosby’s Rangers.
A Closer Look
The map covers from the Bull Run Mountains in the north to Fredericksburg and Orange in the south, and as far east as the Potomac River. Roads, rail lines, rivers, creeks (runs), courthouses, churches, mills, and other features are labeled throughout, often with individual buildings denoted. Elevation is indicated with hachures. Warrenton Junction sits at center towards top-right.
The Warrenton Junction Raid
The Warrenton Junction Raid was conducted by Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby and his 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion (Mosby’s Rangers) on May 3, 1863. The raid targeted Union supply lines at Warrenton Junction, Virginia, a strategic railroad hub along the 'Orange and Alexandria Railroad'. Although initially successful, Union reinforcements counter-attacked and drove Mosby away, inflicting enough casualties that the battle is often considered a Union victory (Mosby later recounted that he had attacked rashly without proper intelligence, which could have led to a disaster). The raid was part of Mosby's guerrilla warfare campaign, in which he and his Rangers conducted fast, small-unit operations behind Union lines. The experience contributed to the development of more effective tactics, as well as Mosby's legendary reputation as 'the Gray Ghost.' A fascinating character, despite his Confederate alliance, Mosby opposed slavery and Secession and, after the war, became a Republican in the Grant administration.
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.

CartographerS


Ernest Dumas-Vorzet (18?? - 18??) was a French line and letter engraver active in Paris in the late 19th century. He engraved the lettering on nautical charts for the Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine. His later work is often associated with Émile Delaune (18?? - 19??) and Hachette et Cie. He is likely the father of Edouard Dumas-Vorzet, a French publisher and cartographer. More by this mapmaker...


Frédéric Louis Charles Wuhrer (1844 - 1925) was a French cartographer, engraver, and artist. He lived in the town of Buc, France, where he purchased the former Town Hall. Wuhrer is better known as a landscape artist, with a strong record at auctions. Little is known of his engraving work, but the Bibliothèque nationale de France has over one hundred pieces in their collection attributed to his name. Learn More...


Louis-Philippe-Albert d'Orléans, Comte de Paris (August 24, 1838 - September 8, 1894) was a French prince, scholar, officer in the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), and unofficially King of France (February 24, 1848). Louis-Philippe-Albert was the grandson of French king, Louis Philippe I of the house of Orléans. With the advent of the French Second Republic (1848 - 1852), Louis-Philippe-Albert and his family fled to the United States. Louis-Philippe-Albert became an outspoken journalist who, when the Civil War broke out, volunteered to serve in the Union Army, being instantly appointed assistant adjutant general under General George McClellan with the rank of captain. During his service, he used the abbreviated name Philippe d'Orléans. He served in the Peninsular Campaign, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater, but resigned from service in July 1862. Later, he wrote a History of the Civil War in America, published in 1875. He returned to Europe in 1864, where in England, he married his paternal first cousin, Princess Marie Isabelle d'Orléans (1848–1919), Infanta of Spain. In 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War and the downfall of Napoleon III, they were allowed to return to France, and many of their properties were restored. He renounced all claims to the French throne in 1873 but was still considered by some Orléanists as Philippe VII of France. In 1886, the prince and his family again went into exile in London, where he died in 1894. Learn More...


Michel Lévy (1821 - May 4, 1875) was a French publisher and founder of the Michel Lévy Frères publishing house. Born in Phalsbourg in the Moselle to a bookseller (colporteur), he began selling books in Paris at the age of fifteen under the name Michel Lévy Frères. Although his brothers Kalmus (Calmann) and Nathan were sometimes involved in his business, Michel was the primary bookseller and later publisher. Initially, Lévy focused on works relating to the theater, but later expanded into literature, periodicals, and other fields. By the 1860s, Michel Lévy Frères was one of the major publishers in France, putting out works by the likes of Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, and Victor Hugo. Michel Lévy was inducted into the Légion d'Honneur in 1873, but died unexpectedly two years later. Afterwards, his brother took charge of the firm, then renamed Calmann Lévy (sometimes as Calmann-Lévy), and it continued its success as a leading publisher in France. In 1893, Calmann turned over the business to his three sons, Georges, Paul, and Gaston, who ran it until the Second World War, when Gaston was interned by the Nazis and the publishing house was renamed Editions Balzac. After the war, the firm continued and still exists today as a subsidiary of Hachette. Learn More...

Source


Orleans, Louis-Philippe-Albert d', Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amérique, par M. le comte de Paris, (Paris: Michel Lévy) 1890.    

Condition


Very good.

References


LC Civil War Maps (2nd ed.), 80. Library of Congress G1201.S5 P3 1890. OCLC 877854490.