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Map of the Battle Field of Gettysburg…First Day’s Battle…Second Day’s Battle…Third Day’s Battle.
Boston, 1876. Three chromolithographs, each 29” x 27.5” plus margins. CONDITION: Very good, light toning and minor stains to margins, reinforced on verso with Japanese tissue. First edition of Bachelder’s set of three maps depicting the topography and disposition of forces at the Battle of Gettysburg, detailing with great authority the battle often described as the turning point of the Civil War. Having spent a year with the Army of the Potomac documenting various battles, John Bachelder arrived at Gettysburg a few days after the battle ended well-prepared for the task at hand. Acting entirely on his own initiative, he went to extraordinary lengths gathering information, touring and examining the battlefield, sketching, interviewing witnesses, and so on. The first fruit of his extensive labor was a large and very impressive isometric view entitled Gettysburg Battle-Field, published later that year. His unrivaled, even obsessive devotion to the history of the battle resulted in the publication of the present maps thirteen years later. Compiled from “official reports, consultations on the field, private letters, and oral explanations of the officers of both armies,” this remarkable series of maps reflects Bachelder’s dedication to accuracy in depicting the Battle. Illustrating troop positions and movements over the course of the three-day conflict, the maps serve as both a vivid record of the events of each day and a testament to one man’s commitment to telling the story of the battle. Each map, drawn at a scale of one inch to 1,000 feet, depicts the same area around Gettysburg and the farmland to its south (about thirty square miles), where the heaviest fighting occurred. The base map—which is also consistent across the series—is rendered in black: it shows topography (with four-foot elevation lines and hillshading), property lines, wooded areas, roads, railroads, rivers, swamps, building footprints, and farmhouses—complete with owner names and building materials. Bachelder’s attention to detail and extensive reliance on firsthand accounts is evident in his inclusion of signal stations, breastworks, and even fence types. Appearing in the lower margin of each map is a list of commanders and two symbology keys—one for military units, the other for Union corps badges. Above the upper border is an additional note further addressing scale and symbology, and detailing the survey process. The Battle of Gettysburg occurred during General Robert E. Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania, launched to capitalize on the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville and keep the Union on the defensive. Major General George Meade, newly appointed and charged with defending Washington D.C., positioned his forces south of Lee’s army. Bachelder’s series narrates the unfolding battle with compelling clarity. For each of the three maps—dated July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd—the positions and movements of Union (in blue) and Confederate (in red) forces are shown according to that day’s events. Individual units are shown in multiple positions—first, intermediate, and evening (or all-day)—with varied symbology to indicate their progression over the course of the day. Directional arrows, often annotated with times, trace their movements, and the commanding officer for each unit is named. On July 1st, Confederate forces marched toward Gettysburg for supplies and overwhelmed an outnumbered Union contingent, which fell back. On July 2nd, the Union defended a hook-shaped line south of the town. Major action occurred at Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, Cemetery Ridge, the Wheatfield (on the Union left flank) and East Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill (on their right). July 3rd saw additional fighting on Culp’s Hill and cavalry skirmishes, but the main action was Pickett's Charge toward Cemetery Ridge, resulting in devastating losses for the attacking Confederates. With that decisive action turning the tide of the battle—and the war—a defeated Lee withdrew across the Potomac. Meade, cautious and newly in command, declined to pursue the retreating Confederate forces, allowing them to regroup and prolong the conflict for another two years. In November 1863, President Lincoln dedicated the site as the Gettysburg’s Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where he gave his famous address. John Badger Bachelder (1825–1894) was a portrait and landscape painter born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. After spending several years teaching in Pennsylvania, he returned to his home state and set up a studio in Manchester, producing some thirty-five town views between 1854 and 1863, which were published as lithographs. In 1862, Bachelder accompanied the Army of the Potomac to the front, collecting data, making views and maps, and recording the history of the major battles, many of which he witnessed. Bachelder’s career as a town view-maker effectively came to an end in 1863, when his interest in the Battle of Gettysburg became all-consuming. He conducted countless interviews with battle participants, produced an important bird’s eye view of the battle (his pièce de résistance) as well as the present set of three maps, commissioned a panoramic painting of the battle and toured the country with it, took a leading role in erecting battlefield monuments, organized reunions, wrote both a guide book and a history of the battle, and served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. Endicott & Co. (operating from 1831–89 under various names) was a New York based lithography firm founded by George Endicott (1802–1848) around 1830. The firm specialized in portraits, landscapes, city views, book plates, natural history illustrations, maritime prints, and sheet music covers. After George’s death, his younger brother William Endicott (1816–1851), and a succession of later owners (including George’s son, Francis), continued to operate the firm. Two devastating fires occurred in 1859 and 1879. Endicott employed a number of lithographers who went on to start their own firms, including Charles Hart, whose memoirs document the history of early lithography in New York. The topography of the Gettysburg maps was “engraved,” i.e. drawn, on the lithographic stone, by Endicott house artist Julius Bien, and the “Positions & Lettering” by Louis E. Neuman. REFERENCES: Grim & Block. Torn in Two (Boston, 2011), pp. 134–137; Stephenson, R. W. Civil War Maps (Washington, 1989), #325; Last, Jay. The Color Explosion: Nineteenth-Century American Lithography (Santa Ana, CA: Hillcrest Press, 2005), pp. 76–77; Reps, John. Views and Viewmakers of Urban America, p. 159 (for Bachelder biography).
Item #9770
Price: $7,500.00
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