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This rare Confederate imprint Civil War pocket map was published and lithographed by Evans & Cogswell of Charleston, South Carolina in 1861. Spanning from Savannah to Kingstree and extending westward to Barnwell, the map provides a highly detailed strategic view of this critical theater of war, drawn at a scale of one to five miles. It highlights key locations such as Charleston, Savannah, Ft. Sumter, Beaufort, Summerville, Branchville, and Orangeburg, along with numerous smaller towns and plantations.
Designed for military planning and public information, the map depicts rivers, swamps, railroads, roads, bridges, ferries, churches, post offices, and private residences, illuminating the infrastructure that supported troop movements, supply routes, and defensive positions. The map’s coastal depiction is equally extensive, capturing the intricate network of islands, inlets, bays, and shoals crucial for the Confederate defense and Union blockade efforts. An inset in the lower right focuses on Chatham County, Georgia, near Savannah—a strategic area due to its port and surrounding fortifications.
Evans & Cogswell, originally founded as Walker, Evans & Cogswell in 1821, had a pivotal role as printer and lithographer for the Confederacy. Retained during South Carolina’s Secession Convention in 1860, they produced official documents, currency, bonds, military manuals, and soldier prayer books. Their operations were disrupted when a shell from the Union blockade struck a neighboring bank, prompting a relocation to Columbia, where their facilities were later destroyed in Sherman’s March. Despite these losses, they resumed operations in Charleston after the war, continuing until 1982.
Provenance
- Captain Joseph A. Sladen (1841-1911)
- In the 1920s this map was mounted in an album of other Civil War maps, some of which are noted as having been Sladen's, while at least one bears a contemporary inscription noting that it was O.O. Howard's.
- By descent in the Sladen family.
- Poulin's Auctions, Fairfield, Maine, November 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2023.
Joseph Alton Sladen Civil War Map Collection
This map is from the working collection of Joseph Alton Sladen, aide-de-camp of General O.O. Howard. His collection covered the Atlanta Campaign in great detail, as Howard was a key figure alongside Sherman in taking that city.
