Nathaniel Michler- Mapmaker Extraordinaire

Funeral memorial books were a common practice in the nineteenth century. They summarized the life of the deceased often with a eulogy and various tributes paid to them. The books were distributed to family and friends, so that their legacy might live on. Archive.org has digitized many of these including one for Nathaniel Michler. It begins with a summary of his life and includes General Orders No. 3, shown below. The order summarizes his career as a cartographer. “During the late Civil War Lieutenant-Colonel Michler served in the field as Engineer Officer, being engaged in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, in the siege of, and battles about, Petersburg, and other engagements of the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted successively from the grade of Lieutenant to that of Lieutenant-Colonel, Corps of Engineers, and received the brevets of Lieutenant-Colonel for faithful and meritorious services in the field, of Colonel for gallant and meritorious services during the siege of Petersburg, and of Brigadier-General for gallant and meritorious services during the Rebellion. Since the war Lieutenant-Colonel Michler has served in making surveys and military maps illustrating the operations and battlefields of the armies of the Potomac and James.” For those of us in the 21st century Michler’s legacy is the extraordinary accuracy of the maps he created in the Virginia theater of the war.

The process of how the maps were made is detailed on the excellent website The Petersburg Project. In addition, they provide links to Michler’s maps relevant to the siege of Petersburg and links to LiDAR images of the Petersburg forts overlaid on their plans. I have provided links below to Michler’s other maps in Virginia.

Fredericksburg battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930619

Chancellorsville battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930621

Mine Run battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930623

Wilderness- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930542

Wilderness battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930601

Spotsylvania- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930540

Spotsylvania battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930603

North Anna- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930564

North Anna battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930617

Totopotomoy- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930566

Totopotomoy battlefield- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930605

Cold Harbor- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/137930607