DAN MILLER

11 GETTYSBURG HISTORICAL GIS

2013

I built a troop movements database, conducted historical battlefield research, and contributed to the publication of an accompanying interactive map with Professor Anne Kelly Knowles at Middlebury College. I digitized and vetted thousands of troop movements taking place during the Battle of Gettysburg. Using hand drawn brigade position maps, testimony, and historical accounts, Anne and I depicted the battlefield at 24 moments and situated troop movements within both battle and battlefield landscape context.

Motivating the project was the question of the significance of sight during the course of the battle. Deploying detailed, georeferenced historical elevation data, we determined sightlines of soldiers at six decisive moments using viewshed analysis. The resulting visualization, built in collaboration with ESRI and International Mapping, explores the importance of visibility and rethinks an extensively documented historical event. The work was published in Smithsonian Magazine upon the 150th anniversary of the battle. Professional Surveyor Magazine and the Associated Press also covered the project.

Collaborators:
Tools:
Link:

Anne Kelly Knowles, ESRI, International Mapping, Smithsonian Magazine
ArcGIS, Adobe Suite
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/A-Cutting-Edge-Second-Look-at-the-Battle-of-Gettysburg-1-180947921/

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