Colton’s New Topographical Map of the Eastern Portion of the State of North Carolina with Part of Virginia and South Carolina from the latest and best authorities.

Description

This chart is an exceedingly rare first edition map of eastern North Carolina, with a large section of Virginia and part of South Carolina. It extends north-south from Richmond, Virginia, down to Wilmington, North Carolina, with areas of today’s Myrtle Beach, and east-west from Pamlico Sound and Jacksonville to Raleigh. The map depicts important coastal forts, cities, towns, county boundaries, township boundaries, roads, railroads, swamps, and watersheds in remarkable detail.

An essential contemporary document of the American Civil War, this large-format map depicts the Union blockade of the North Carolina coast with the illustration of eighteen ships. Along the bottom of the sheet, a secondary map, Plan of the Sea Coast from Virginia to Florida, offers an overall picture of the Atlantic seaboard during the war.

The Union blockade was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the blockade in April 1861, the year this map was published.

The map depicts the initial phase of the blockade, in which Union forces concentrated on the Atlantic Coast. The November 1861 capture of Port Royal in South Carolina provided the Union with an open ocean port and repair and maintenance facilities in good operating condition. It became an early base of operations for further expansion of the blockade along the Atlantic coastline. The Navy gradually extended its reach throughout the Gulf of Mexico to the Texas coastline, including Galveston and Sabine Pass. Overall, the Union blockade was a powerful weapon that seriously damaged the Southern economy.

Colton has embellished this stunning map with ornate lettering and an elaborate floral and wheat-themed border.