Union Military Chart

This 1861 patriotic print produced by Magnus & Co. assisted the Northern public as it followed family and friends throughout the war. It features a large 1859 map of the eastern United States, with red overprinting to designate railroad tracks, steamboat routes, and telegraph lines. Below the main map, the print also includes four smaller charts, including a military map of Maryland and Virginia, a map of the Union-occupied Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida, a general map of the eastern seaboard and a map of Northern military movements between New York and St. Louis. Adorning the print are illustrations of different military drills from Hardee’s Tactics, written by former West Point commandant William Hardee. Ironically, Hardee had been commissioned to write his 1855 manual of military tactics by then-Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, and would later fight for the Confederacy. Two female allegorical personifications of Liberty and Justice are included next to a view of the Capitol Building, envisioned with its dome completed.

Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was born Julian Carl Magnus in Germany and immigrated with his family to New York City sometime between 1848 and 1850. During the 1850s, he learned the printing business while working with his brother on a German language weekly newspaper, the Deutsche Schnellpost. He later began his own lithographer firm, producing city views and commercial letterhead designs. During the Civil War, he designed pro-Union envelopes and illustrated song sheets. From Washington, D.C. branch, he also produced small, hand-colored scenes of Union camps and hospitals. Soldiers purchased these picturesque scenes of camp life to send home to calm the worries of anxious family members.

Currently not on view