Original Mitchell Map XII ca.1886
Texas
Galveston Insert Map
Battle of Galveston Harbor (1862)
On January 1, 1863, a Confederate force under Magruder attacked Galveston and defeated the Union forces defending it in the Battle of Galveston. Renshaw was killed by an explosion while scuttling the Westfield, and Harriet Lane was captured; the Confederates regained control of Galveston.
Ringgold Barracks
Atop a river bluff from which two nations are visible, army engineers in 1848 established Camp Ringgold. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Mexican government was forced to give up its claims to territory in Texas and the Southwest. Acting upon Mexican requests, the U.S. Army built forts along the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Eagle Pass. Camp Ringgold, later Ringgold Barracks, was named for Major Samuel Ringgold, who was killed at the battle of Palo Alto in 1846. Nearby stood the settlement of Rancho Davis, later renamed Rio Grande City. During the Civil War, Ringgold changed hands several times, starting in 1861when it was occupied by Confederate forces. Late in 1863, Union troops re-entered the Rio Grande Valley and seized the camp, only for it to be seized again by rebels led by Colonels John S. “Rip” Ford and Santos Benavides. Because of their efforts, the post stayed in Confederate hands until the end of the war. After 1865, the post was renamed Fort Ringgold and was updated with permanent brick buildings. African-American troops, including Civil War U.S. Colored Troops and later segregated African-American U.S. regulars (the so-called “Buffalo Soldiers”) were quartered here until the early twentieth century, protecting border communities from border unrest.
Battle Site Texas Revolution Shown:
The Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836) was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes. Santa Anna was captured the next day After being held for about three weeks as a prisoner of war he signed the peace treaty that dictated that the Mexican army leave the region, paving the way for the Republic of Texas to become an independent country.
Battle Sites U.S.-Mexican War
Showing the battle sites of Battle of Palo Alto & Resaca de la Palma
On May 8, 1846, shortly before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) defeated a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto. The battle took place north of the Rio Grande River near present-day Brownsville, Texas.
The battle of Resaca de la Palma was the second engagement of the Mexican War. It was fought on May 9, 1846, a few miles north of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the day after the retreat of the Mexican army at Palo Alto.
The map is undated but by studying the Texas county configurations, the map would date no later than 1886.
(For example: The map does not show Brewster County which was created from Presidio County on Feb. 22, 1887 (Texas Laws 1887, 20th leg., reg. sess., ch. 4/p. 4).
The maps was carefully removed from:
Mitchell's Modern Atlas
Publisher
E. B. Butler & Company
Philadelphia
1888
(Atlas cover and title pages are not part of the sale but for documentation only.)
Sizes:
Page: 11.9" x 9.3"
Map Image: 10.7" x 8.2"
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792-1864) was a renown American geographer. Born in Connecticut he worked as a geography teacher but soon realizing there were only poor quality geographical resources available to teachers he turned to publishing. He moved to Philadelphia, a major center for publishing at the time, around 1830 and founded his company. An early adopter of steel plate engraving and with J.H. Young as his principle engraver his company became one of the leading map and atlas publishers of the nineteenth century. His son S. Augustus Mitchell become owner in 1860.