3D GIS Visualization of the Resaca, Georgia Battlefield

Geographic Information Systems for
Civil War Battlefield Preservation


 

I. Why GIS for battlefield preservation?

This Web site addresses the application of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to the preservation of Civil War battlefields.   First, why save Civil War battlefields?  In 1993 the federal Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (CWSAC) argued that

Protecting these battlefields preserves an important educational asset for the nation because:

·         Seeing the battlefield is basic to an understanding of military campaigns and battles while the latter are crucial to comprehending all other aspects of the Civil War.

·         To be upon a battlefield is to experience an emotional empathy with the men and, in fact, the women who fought there.

·         Clashing convictions and the determination to defend them cost the nation 620,000 lives.

·         The values tested and clarified in that great conflict are what continue to bind the nation together today.

The CWSAC’s full explanation of the need to preserve Civil War battlefields is available here.

GISs are computer systems designed to input, store, display, and analyze spatial information and associated attribute information.  The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a good, brief introduction to GIS technology.

GIS technology is useful for battlefield preservation in multiple ways.  First, GIS can be used to inventory and track a variety of battlefield features.  When combined with global positioning system (GPS) technology, GIS be used to accurately locate and track historic, interpretive, natural resource, and other types of battlefield features.  Trimble Navigation maintains an excellent GPS tutorial.

Second, GIS is an important management tool for maintaining the infrastructure and natural systems of any extended area of land.

Third, GIS is becoming an innovative and exciting method for interpretation of the battlefield.  GIS allows storage of much more information than can be displayed on a single map or series of maps.  In the future, battlefield visitors will be able to request custom maps with only the specific layers of information or geographic areas of interest to them.  GIS services can also be provided via the World Wide Web, enabling persons around the world to conduct virtual multimedia battlefield tours across the Internet.

Fourth, GIS can provide important assistance in historical research.  By integrating historic battlefield maps with modern GIS databases the locations of entrenchments, historic structures, and other features can be inferred.

Last, GIS can be a vital planning tool for developing battlefield preservation priorities and protection plans.  GIS allows multiple layers of data to be overlaid and combined in order to determine those areas of the battlefield that are of great military significance, high integrity, immediate threat, and currently unprotected.  It is these areas that should become the highest priority for preservation initiatives.
 

II. Interactive Web-based GIS Applications

The Arc Internet Map Server (from Environmental Systems Research Institute) allows a Web browser to interactively explore GIS datasets across the Internet.  If possible, use the latest version of Internet Explorer you have available.  If you are connecting to the Internet via modem, it may take one or two minutes to load a refreshed screen.

Your browser must have JavaScript enabled to use these interactive GIS applicatioins.

To enable JavaScript with recent versions of Internet Explorer select

          Tools, Internet Options, Security, Medium

To enable JavaScript in Netscape select

          Edit, Preferences, Advanced, Enable JavaScript  

Click here for a description of the various tools in the ArcIMS toolbar.

Click here for an explanation of ArcIMS hyperlinks or hotlinks.

 

ArcIMS Applications

1. 1864 Atlanta

Available Layers for 1864 Atlanta

·        Transparent 1864: 1864 Atlanta from Orlando Poe map with transparent background for overlay with modern map

·        1864 Atlanta: 1864 Atlanta from Orlando Poe map

·       Modern Atlanta: Atlanta area from recent Delorme map of Georgia

2. Battle of Peachtree Creek

Available Layers for Battle of Peachtree Creek

·        Hotlinks:  Hotlinks to

Historical markers (orange stars),
Primary source material (red stars),
Secondary historical account of the battle by Albert Castel (purple star), and
Song, The Battle of Peachtree Creek (blue star)

·        Attacks: lines of Confederate and Federal attack

·        Troops: beginning and ending troop positions

·        Aerial Photo: 1998 aerial photograph

·        Terrain: color, shaded terrain with topographic map features

3. Battle of Resaca

Available Layers for Battle of Resaca

·        Trenches: Entrenchment positions from American Battlefield Protection Program map

·        Battle Area: Core and Study areas of battle from American Battlefield Protection Program map

·        Troops & Terrian:  Conservation Fund map with enhanced terrain shading

·        1998 Aerial Photo:  Color Aerial photograph from 1998

·        1992 Aerial Photo:  Black and white aerial photograph from 1992

 

4. Battle of Ringgold Gap

Available Layers for Ringgold Gap

·        Hotlinks: Web links Official Records reports, soldier accounts, photographs, engraving, other primary source materials, and existing historic resources

·        Troop Movements:   Regimental positions and movements across the battlefield

·        Official ABPP Map:   Map of the battle from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program

·        Conservation Fund Map:   Map of the battle from the Conservation Fund Guide to Civil War Battlefields (with enhanced terrain shading)

·        Peter Cozzens Map:   Map of the battle from Peter Cozzens’ book The Shipwreck of Their Hopes (with added color shaded relief)

·        Topography: color shaded relief with topographic map features

·        Aerial Photo:  1993 aerial photography

 

5. Chancellorsville Related Areas Database

The related areas database is a compilation of historical material for historically significant areas outside the Chancellorsville battlefield boundaries.  For an explanation of the digital version of the RAD, click here.

Available Layers for Chancellorsville

·        Related Areas Database: Hotlinks to text and graphic material for each Chancellorsville battlefield area outside the Park boundaries with substantial historical significance

·        Interpretive Markers:   Photographs and text for all Chancellorsville interpretive markers (from summer 2000)

·        Michler map:    1867 battlefield map by Nathaniel Michler

·        Hotchkiss map:   Partial 1863 battlefield map by Jedediah Hotchkiss

·        Official Park Map:   Park map from the NPS Harpers Ferry Center for interpretive media (http://www.nps.gov/hfc)

·        Troop Position Map:  One of a series of 12 maps showing troop positions for the battle of Chancellorsville

 

 

6. Civil War Charleston, SC

 

·        Water Features:  Modern ivers, streams, and shorelines

·        Roads:   Modern roads

·        Battle of Secessionville: Conservation Fund map of the Battle of Secessionville

·        Fort Sumter:  Conservation Fund map of Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter

·        Official Atlas Plate 4: Federal map of Civil War Charleston showing fortifications and battles

·        Official Atlas Plate 131: Confederate map of Civil War Charleston showing Confederate fortifications

·        Delorme Map: Modern Delorme map of Charleston area

 

 

7. National Register of Historic Places

 

 

This application is a GIS version of the National Register of Historic Places.  The original data is from the National Register Information System (http://www.nr.nps.gov/nrdown1.htm).  It was processed to convert 1927 datum UTM coordinates to 1983 datum longitude and latitude, translated into ArcView shapefiles, then joined to a selection of attribute data.

 

There are a number of errors in the spatial coordinates of original data, which become especially obvious when the boundaries of historic districts are displayed.  The displayed data has not been corrected.

 

The data is displayed as points, with different shapes and colors for buildings, historic district centroids, objects, sites, and structures.  Historic district boundaries can be  shown in dark green.  National Register data for the entire U.S. is included. 

 

The to examine the accuracy of Atlanta-area entries, the user can turn on a high-resolution background map of the Atlanta-DeKalb county area, and a lower-resolution background map of Georgia.  The remainder of the U.S. shows state and county boundaries, and major roads. The basic legend is shown below.

 

 

 

III.  Papers and presentations

These are Web versions of papers and conference presentations done by Bill Drummond.

GIS for Battlefield Planning.  A paper presented at the 1998 Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in Pasadena, California.  This paper illustrates how the method of land suitability analysis can be applied to battlefield planning.

Visualizing Terrain with 3D GIS and Embedded Hillshading. A paper presented at the 1999 Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in Chicago.  This paper discusses 3D GIS and presents ARC/INFO GRID techniques for generating high-quality embedded hillshading within various types of images.

Historical GIS.  This analysis utilizes county-level data for 1860 and 1870 to visually explore the devastating economic impact of the Civil War.

Animated Atlanta Campaign.  A large (20 meg) Powerpoint animation showing the army movements in the Atlanta Campaign.  The slides were developed from an ARC/INFO application using temporal dynamic segmentation to show the army movements.

Animated Battle of Ringgold Gap.  A large (7 meg) Powerpoint animation showing regimental movements for the Battle of Ringgold Gap, November 27, 1863.

 

IV.  3D GIS Visualization

Dramatic visual effects can be produced by draping GIS datasets over a 3D terrain model.  The model can then be viewed from any direction and any elevation.  Fly-throughs and fly arounds can also be conducted.  These images were generated from models built using the Environmental Systems Research Institute 3D Analyst Arcview extension, and the Erdas Virtual GIS package.

  • Atlanta Campaign, Georgia: major battle locations in 3D GIS images
  • Siege of Atlanta, Georgia: 3D GIS images of the siege of Atlanta and the Georgia Tech campus
  • Chickamauga, Georgia: set of six 3D GIS visualizations
  • Resaca, Georgia: set of 3D GIS visualizations using aerial photography
  • Peachtree Creek, Georgia: set of 3D GIS visualizations with topography and aerial photography
  • First day of Chancellorsville, Virginia: 3D GIS views combining historical and modern information, and locations of the proposed Fredericksburg outer connector.
  • Third day of Chancellorsville, Virginia: several 3D GIS views of the third day of Chancellorsville
  • Ringgold Gap: 3D GIS views based on current topographic maps and Peter Cozzens’ troop position map from The Shipwreck of Their Hopes.

V. Links to Other Web Sites of Interest


 

VI. Credits

This site was created by Dr. William J. Drummond of the Graduate City Planning Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Martin Rose, a Georgia Tech planning student assisted in development of the database for the CWSAC application.  Clint Stancil, a Georgia Tech undergraduate, did the investigative and photographic work for the 1864 Atlanta application as part of an independent study course supervised by Bill Drummond and Bob McMath, a history professor at Georgia Tech.
 

For more information about these pages please contact Bill Drummond.