Stones River, a battle that took place during the Civil War, was the map I found. I had originally started a version of it for Stephen Sear\u2019s Lincoln\u2019s Lieutenants,<\/em> an excellent history and a must read if you are interested in the American Civil War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am very pleased with the results of my Stones River map. It is a relatively obscure western battlefield. The significance of the battle: the relative victory came at a low point in the Union\u2019s fortunes and Lincoln in gratitude thanked General Rosecrans, the Union Commander, saying that had it been a Union defeat<\/em> instead of a Union victory<\/em> the nation could scarcely have lived over it. Later in the war Lincoln mentioned the victory at Stones River and General Grant scoffed that it was no victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For Grant, victory meant flags being\nsurrendered, armies being disarmed and marching off the field. But when an Army has endured a long string of\nstinging defeats, an outcome only slightly better than a stand-off can seem\nlike a moral victory, a turning of the pages, a new lease on life. For Lincoln, whose political senses were\nfine-tuned, the equivocal outcome of Stones River, was to a despondent Union\npublic, a comparative victory at a point in time when an actual, outright\ndefeat, could have been a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are cotton fields in the map which are always a treat to do. Many pine trees \u2013 always a nice effect. And corn fields, my absolute favorite embellishment\u2014delightful corn stalks with little yellow kernals\u2014dot the map. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is always nice to bring attention\nto the western battlefields which tend to be overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other map I finished was\nBastogne. Bastogne was a town that\nfigured heavily in World War II. Family friends asked me to do a map of a battle\nwhere their father had fought. He was a\nman I knew and greatly admired. I was\nthrilled. But I didn\u2019t want to commit\nuntil I knew I could do it. He\ndocumented his service during the battle. Mapping the area in which he saw\nbattle will take a little more research on my part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the mean time I decided to do\na study. Reason being\u2014the weather, how\ndoes one do a map and depict the weather. \nThe winter weather was notorious during the Battle of the Bulge and had\nan impact on the battle. But how does one, or should one, depict that in a\nmap. In the end, on my study at least, I\nopted to go for a green terrain. \nWeather, at least in my home base western NY and I\u2019m betting Belgium as\nwell, changes every hour, but the terrain\u2014fields take seasons, trees take\nyears, river courses takes centuries (and can sometimes dramatically change)\nand those beautiful mountain take eons to take hold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently on the map table: <\/strong>The finishing touches on a small map of Stones River, TN, the research for the second Bastogne Map, and a very interesting one for me\u2014a local map of my parish and two other local parishs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And on another table, at least for a\ncouple of days \u2013 parts of my small collection of Rock memorabilia. My son\u2019s co-worker is a fan of that era, the\nmusic and the rock and rollers. It was treat\nfor me to bring it all out\u2014especially my short arm Rickenbacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just completed two maps: the Civil War battle of Stones River, TN and a study for the World War II Battle of the Bulge site of Bastogne, Belgium. Continue reading ![\"Stone](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcelfreshmap.com\/tammynoriepress\/wp-content\/uploads\/62A52977-6249-4A07-A192-699EEB0EA565.jpeg?resize=584%2C438&ssl=1\")
Bastogne Belgium Map<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Bastogne](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcelfreshmap.com\/tammynoriepress\/wp-content\/uploads\/4069D46B-E07C-41B2-8DD4-67EA1A848E6A.jpeg?resize=584%2C438&ssl=1\")
And on a Completely Different Note<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Headstock](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcelfreshmap.com\/tammynoriepress\/wp-content\/uploads\/5FAE40FD-2362-4EF7-8E64-1F628C1DECF6-e1552084585476-768x1024.jpeg?resize=584%2C779&ssl=1\")