Military Maps, 1532-1815

January 28, 2020 7:16 AM

George III's collection of military maps comprises some 3,000 maps, views and prints ranging from the disposition of Charles V's armies at Vienna in 1532 to the Battle of Waterloo (1815). They are now available online. The index map viewer is here. [Story via The Guardian]
posted by carter (7 comments total)

Ok. Awesome.
posted by dazed_one at 9:09 AM on January 28, 2020

Very cool. I'm currently listening to the Ron Chernow Washington biography, and I've just reached the siege of Yorktown. Couldn't be more timely, to me.
posted by hwestiii at 9:24 AM on January 28, 2020

Holy jumping Jesus, I had no idea George III was still king through the Napoleonic Wars. To me that is just a different time frame entirely from the American Revolution.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:57 AM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

``I Wish, Dr. Slop,'' quoth my uncle Toby (repeating his wish for Dr. Slop a second time, and with
a degree of more zeal and earnestness in his manner of wishing, than he had wished it at first) ---- `` I wish, Dr. Slop,'' quoth my uncle Toby, ``you had seen what prodigious armies we had in Flanders.''
posted by doctornemo at 10:23 AM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's rich stuff, carter. Thank you.
posted by doctornemo at 10:29 AM on January 28, 2020

Flagged as fantastic. Gorgeous maps, easy-to-use interface, satisfying information, just made for me to wallow around in. Thank you!
posted by theatro at 10:55 AM on January 28, 2020

I once viewed an exhibition of Napoleonic-era French military maps which were smuggled into England by spies (a whole other story about an English Catholic defector who defected back). They were quite large (wall-size or very large table table-size) but cut into foot-long squares and held together with lace mesh for transport. As seen in maps of this time, the cartographers were trying to convey the topography of the terrain with artistic expressions.
posted by ovvl at 8:24 PM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]