 This
rare map is an extraordinary achievement. It was
hand drawn by Cadet Henry Sill, Class of 1832, during
the course of his studies in his third year at the
United States Military Academy. The entire map is
ink on paper, and of such fine quality that a magnifying
glass is needed to discern the individual pen strokes of
the map. The shorelines, for example, appear
closer and closer together until the eye can barely
discern the lines, yet under magnification it's clear
that they are separate and distinct. The amount of
time, patience and skill necessary to make such a map,
especially considering the early time period when the
map was made, and the fact that there is not one
mistake--which would have been irreversible when drawing
with India ink--is astounding.
Like the sketch of the
Hudson from Trophy Point drawn by Irvin McDowell as a
cadet (IAS-00130),
this map demonstrates the high quality of training and
education received by cadets at the military academy in
preparation for their future service as officers in the
Army. These skills would be instrumental in the
success of the officer corps during the Mexican-American
War and, later, the American Civil War.
Unfortunately, after graduating seventh in his class of
45 cadets in1832, Henry Sill was commissioned sent on
the Black Hawk Expedition, and subsequently was assigned
to topographic duty in Washington D.C., where he
tragically fell ill and died just three years after
graduation.
 Maps of this type were
produced by all cadets as part of their training
requirements, though few survive. I am aware of
one done by Cadet Thomas Swords in 1828 held by the
Smithsonian, and another done by Henderson Yoakum, a
classmate of Henry Sill, which is in the library
collection at West Point. Seth Eastman, a graduate
of the Class of 1829 and instructor at West Point from
1833 to 1840, published his Treatise on
Topographical Drawing (New York: Wiley and Putnam,
1837) which provides diagrams and instruction on the art
of producing topographic maps such as this, though
precisely how cadets could achieve such extraordinary
results in practice is still a wonderful mystery. The
Rare Flags collection is fortunate to have a copy of
Eastman's book in the collection to accompany this rare
map.
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A foldout from Seth Eastman's Treatise on
Topographical Drawing, copy previously owned by
Cadet H. B. Field, 1839. IAS-00070 |
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