Executed in brown ink on laid paper. 19x23.5 cm (7½x9½"), encapsulated.
Rare hand-drawn map of a key area of the western theater of the war, where the Battle of Shiloh was fought, bisected by the Tennessee River, crossed by several railroads. Identified are roads, rivers, river towns, railroad lines, rail stations, and cities. A significant number of distances between points of strategic interest are indicated, with some distances noted as to whether by land or water. Among the towns located are Savannah (on the Tennessee River), Waterloo, Cerro Gordo, Lexington, Corinth, Waterloo, Saltillo, Pittsburg, Hamburg, Henderson, etc. Although Shiloh is not named on the map, it is in the area covered by the map, northwest of Hamburg. We conclude that the map was most likely produced by a Confederate draughtsman as Union forces were usually accompanied into the field with commercial grade presses, which allowed the production of better quality maps than those that were hand-drawn by Confederate cartographer/ draftsmen. These maps were most likely used to familiarize troop commanders with the geography of an area where imminent battle action was anticipated.
Card of the encapsulator, preservationist David Lloyd Swft, affixed to the back of the map.