Burnside’s Expedition Map

Ambrose Burnside was made a brigadier general in the Union army following his performance at the First Battle of Manassas in 1861. In charge of what would later become the Army of the Potomac's Ninth Corps, he battled gale-force winds, seasickness, and knee-deep swamps to seize and occupy Roanoke Island and the North Carolina sounds, victories that helped to solidify the Union navy's blockade of the Atlantic coast. This map, published in Boston in 1862, depicts the geography of the coastal area, including the location of major forts. Roanoke Island is just below the opening of Albemarle Sound, between the mainland and the barrier islands.