Jedediah Hotchkiss

cartographer educator engineer military topographer

November 30, 1828 (age 70)

New York, United States

In 1846 Jedediah Hotchkiss and several friends made a walking tour of Lyken's Valley in Pennsylvania. There Hotchkiss took his first job, teaching a term of school. When that was finished, his further wanderings brought him to the Luray Valley, part of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There he again took work, first as a tutor to a local family and then as principal of his own Mossy Creek School. In 1859 Hotchkiss with his wife moved to a farm near Churchville, Virginia, where, together with Hotchkiss's brother Nelson Hotchkiss, they opened the Loch Willow Academy. The school was highly successful. It was during these years that Hotchkiss, who still enjoyed the study of terrain, taught himself mapmaking. When the Civil War began, Hotchkiss sided with the Confederacy and in June 1861 entered the Confederate army. His first service came in what was later to become West Virginia. In the Confederate debacle at Rich Mountain, Hotchkiss successfully led a small contingent of Confederate troops in escaping capture at a point when Union forces had them nearly surrounded. Later that summer Confederate general Robert E. Lee arrived in western Virginia. Quickly recognizing Hotchkiss's special skills, he put him to work making a map of Tygart's Valley. By autumn 1861, however, Hotchkiss was suffering from typhoid fever and had to take an extended sick leave. Returning to duty in March 1862, Hotchkiss sought and gained an assignment as a topographical engineer on the staff of Stonewall Jackson. On March 26, Jackson gave Hotchkiss his famous order: "I want you to make me a map of the Valley, from Harpers Ferry to Lexington, showing all the points of offense and defense in those places." Hotchkiss did just that, preparing an accurate, detailed, and easily understandable map for Jackson's use. Using pencils of different colors, he took great pains to make the map clear and easy to grasp, and he frequently briefed Jackson on aspects of the terrain. During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of March and April 1862, Hotchkiss performed invaluable terrain reconnaissance and appreciation duties for Jackson. After the campaign he continued in those duties with Jackson's Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the Virginia campaigns of 1862 and 1863. At Chancellorsville, in May 1863 Hotchkiss was not far from where Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire. The same volley that eventually killed Jackson also killed Hotchkiss's friend and tent-mate, Captain James Keith Boswell. Hotchkiss continued his duties as a topographical engineer with the Second Corps under its subsequent commanders, Richard S. Ewell and Jubal A. Early. He accompanied the Army of Northern Virginia in its invasion of his wife's native state, and he was with Early when the Army of the Valley marched to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in 1864. That autumn, information Hotchkiss provided was a key factor in the Confederates' initial success at the Battle of Cedar Creek. The following spring, Hotchkiss continued to serve in the upper Shenandoah Valley area with generals Thomas L. Rosser and Lunsford Lomax. Upon learning of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, Hotchkiss conferred with Confederate secretary of war John C. Breckinridge before disbanding his small topographical detachment and returning to his home, where he gave his parole to Union forces on May 1, 1865. After the war Hotchkiss taught for several years and then quit teaching to take up engineering full-time. He became an avid promoter of and investor in the development of mining and timber interests in western Virginia and neighboring West Virginia. He composed the Virginia volume - volume 3 - of the set "Confederate Military History" (1899).

Jedediah Hotchkiss

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also known as Jed

cartographer educator engineer military topographer

Background

Jedediah Hotchkiss was born November 30, 1828, in Windsor, New York, United States. He was the son of Stiles and Lydia Beecher Hotchkiss.

Education

Hotchkiss was educated at the prestigious Windsor Academy, where he acquired a burning interest in geography and geology. He spent his free time making meticulous observations about the natural world in a pocket journal. He took a special interest in botany and took extra classes at a nearby girls' school.

Career

In 1846 Jedediah Hotchkiss and several friends made a walking tour of Lyken's Valley in Pennsylvania. There Hotchkiss took his first job, teaching a term of school. When that was finished, his further wanderings brought him to the Luray Valley, part of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There he again took work, first as a tutor to a local family and then as principal of his own Mossy Creek School.

In 1859 Hotchkiss with his wife moved to a farm near Churchville, Virginia, where, together with Hotchkiss's brother Nelson Hotchkiss, they opened the Loch Willow Academy. The school was highly successful. It was during these years that Hotchkiss, who still enjoyed the study of terrain, taught himself mapmaking.

When the Civil War began, Hotchkiss sided with the Confederacy and in June 1861 entered the Confederate army. His first service came in what was later to become West Virginia. In the Confederate debacle at Rich Mountain, Hotchkiss successfully led a small contingent of Confederate troops in escaping capture at a point when Union forces had them nearly surrounded. Later that summer Confederate general Robert E. Lee arrived in western Virginia. Quickly recognizing Hotchkiss's special skills, he put him to work making a map of Tygart's Valley. By autumn 1861, however, Hotchkiss was suffering from typhoid fever and had to take an extended sick leave.

Returning to duty in March 1862, Hotchkiss sought and gained an assignment as a topographical engineer on the staff of Stonewall Jackson. On March 26, Jackson gave Hotchkiss his famous order: "I want you to make me a map of the Valley, from Harpers Ferry to Lexington, showing all the points of offense and defense in those places." Hotchkiss did just that, preparing an accurate, detailed, and easily understandable map for Jackson's use. Using pencils of different colors, he took great pains to make the map clear and easy to grasp, and he frequently briefed Jackson on aspects of the terrain.

During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of March and April 1862, Hotchkiss performed invaluable terrain reconnaissance and appreciation duties for Jackson. After the campaign he continued in those duties with Jackson's Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the Virginia campaigns of 1862 and 1863. At Chancellorsville, in May 1863 Hotchkiss was not far from where Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire. The same volley that eventually killed Jackson also killed Hotchkiss's friend and tent-mate, Captain James Keith Boswell.

Hotchkiss continued his duties as a topographical engineer with the Second Corps under its subsequent commanders, Richard S. Ewell and Jubal A. Early. He accompanied the Army of Northern Virginia in its invasion of his wife's native state, and he was with Early when the Army of the Valley marched to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in 1864. That autumn, information Hotchkiss provided was a key factor in the Confederates' initial success at the Battle of Cedar Creek. The following spring, Hotchkiss continued to serve in the upper Shenandoah Valley area with generals Thomas L. Rosser and Lunsford Lomax. Upon learning of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, Hotchkiss conferred with Confederate secretary of war John C. Breckinridge before disbanding his small topographical detachment and returning to his home, where he gave his parole to Union forces on May 1, 1865.

After the war Hotchkiss taught for several years and then quit teaching to take up engineering full-time. He became an avid promoter of and investor in the development of mining and timber interests in western Virginia and neighboring West Virginia. He composed the Virginia volume - volume 3 - of the set "Confederate Military History" (1899).

Achievements

Jedediah Hotchkiss was one of the greatest men to serve the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He is known as one of the first great American cartographers, whose maps were drawn with amazing precision and impeccable craftsmanship. He was an invaluable asset to generals "Stonewall" Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jubal Early. Hotchkiss's maps provide a unique chronology of the Civil War from early 1861 through March 1865. Many of his wartime maps were included in the "Atlas of the War of the Rebellion." He also wrote the Virginia volume of the "Confederate Military History" (1899).

He was the founder of the two Virginia schools: the Mossy Creek Academy and the Loch Willow School for Boys.

Works

$Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson\'s Topographer Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson\'s Topographer$

book
- Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson's Topographer 1973

Religion

Jedediah was for many years active in the Second Presbyterian Church.

Interests

Geography, geology, botany

Connections

Jedediah had two daughters by his marriage on December 21, 1853, to Sarah Ann Comfort.

Father:: Stiles Hotchkiss
Mother:: Lydia Beecher Hotchkiss
Wife:: Sarah Ann Comfort Hotchkiss
Daughter:: Nellie Hotchkiss McCullough
colleague:: Stonewall Jackson
colleague:: Robert E. Lee
colleague:: Jubal Early

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