Map - Original at the Library of Congress.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (officially, the Corps of Discovery) was the young republic's most ambitious federal effort to gain an understanding and to record the vast territory the United States had purchased from France, in the Louisiana Purchase. Two Army officers and their team charted mountains and rivers, described wild life, wrote intelligence reports about the land, and reported on the indigenous tribal population and competing world powers in the new territory. This map is based on William Clark's original drawing and was first printed in 1814. It displays the location and relationships between mountains and rivers - vital knowledge needed for transcontinental trade and the Westward migration of settlers.

Map - One of a series of 14 maps based on surveys of the Antietam Battlefield showing military positions during the course of the battle. The originals are located at the Antietam National Battlefield.

These maps were created in response to a congressional mandate to document significant Civil War battlefields. The purpose was to gain a greater understanding of the movement of troop, artillery and cavalry units as they maneuvered to win an advantage. In the end, the opposing forces became bogged down ending in a stalemate. Information is depicted on this map just as modern day Geospatial Intelligence products are used today.

The NGA Professional Military Education CD - available from USGS - contains the entire series of maps, the current map and imagery plus data viewers allowing them to be displayed on a personal computer. Click here for more information.

Map - Original at the St. Louis Soldiers Memorial, St. Louis Missouri

American military mapping truly came of age in the First World War. For the first time, American cartographers worked closely with their Allied European counterparts to produce maps that could be shared. This map shows the placement of all forces on Armistice Day, 11AM, November 11, 1918. American positions are shown in relation to the entire Western Front, as well as the Order of Battle. This portrayal of different combinations of information is typical of Geospatial Intelligence products.

Map - Online at the Library of Congress map site http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html

This site has the entire series of HQ Twelfth Army Group situation maps depicting the position of the 12th Army Group and adjacent Allied Forces and of the German units for each day from D-Day (6 June 1944) thru 26 July 1945.

Image - US Army Center for Military history http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/normandy/Pictures.htm

Map - Original at the National Archives, Washington D.C.

P-47 fighter-bombers, along with other planes such as the Hawker Typhoon, formed an intimate partnership with allied ground forces during the Normandy Campaign. Through close communication with mobile air-ground control posts known as "contact cars" that accompanied leading armored forces, aircraft pilots were kept informed of enemy and friendly ground locations. This information exchange helped pilots execute precision air strikes on waiting German forces and significantly reduced the chance of allied troops falling victim to friendly air fire.

Image - P47's flying in patrol formation from US Air Force photo collection, background image from http://www.web-birds.com. (Taken from an A-20 during the invasion). This site was established by veterans and contains information about WW2 units, missions and equipment.

Map - Captured Japanese Map - Original at the National Archives, Washington D.C.

This map shows the totality of air and sea battles during the second Philippine campaign, when the US regained control of the islands from the Japanese. The map displays the Japanese routes the Americans had to cut to achieve victory.

Image - U.S.S. Hornet from US Navy Site http://www.navy.mil. The site contains histories and photos of Navy ships. Aircraft from the Hornet were used for photo reconnaissance prior to the invasion of Okinawa.

Map - Original at the USMC Museum Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C.

This map of Iwo Jima shows the original invasion plan, and includes handwritten updates. Aerial reconnaissance was used to locate and identify many of the Japanese defensive positions.

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