For my portion of the final project, I worked at mapping Linn’s journal entries from February 12 – March 12, 1862 spatially using arcGIS online. To accomplish this goal, I used a combination of period maps and in-text research to sketch out a basic view of Linn’s travels, and then digitized my results. The section of journal I worked on primarily concerned the Battle of Roanoke Island, and the various logistical work done before and after the battle. Almost all of Linn’s travel by foot occurs on Roanoke Island, as the only other place he visits is Elizabeth City, during a short supply run.
These maps proved incredibly helpful for me, as Lynn mentions many place names that were temporary, or too insignificant to warrant marking on a larger map. Still, even with this help there were numerous locations I was unable to identify. Some of these locations, like the location of the Cossack was approximated to a general area based on other knowledge in the text. Other issues I encountered were some of the fort names, which confused me at first, until I realized that after being taken for the Union, all the forts were renamed. Fort Hugher became Fort Reno, Fort Blanchard became Fort Park, and Fort Bartow became Fort Foster. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t find the location of ‘Fort Russel’, as it wasn’t labeled on the maps, and there were too many generic gun batteries without names to be sure.
The island of Roanoke seems to be fairly small, as after taking it, Lynn traverses it fairly frequently, visiting most it’s various forts and ruins during his time there. Given the closeness of the various points on the island, I thought it would be too hard to read if I put in a line that traced his journey, as I was missing a few points, and he often doubles back and criss-crosses his previous paths. Instead I used the line tool to give a rough approximation of the Ship’s journey, based on the natural landmarks described by Linn, such as Stumpy Point, and Ocracoke Inlet.
The goal of this digital mapping was to provide a potential viewer with an interactive visual to help aid in their spatial understanding. I though this was especially important given the intermittent mentioning of place names like Ashby’s Landing, and Neuse River that are most likely to be unfamiliar to a casual observer. Although it was a little too complicated, I would have liked to incorporate the feature of being able to click on a location, and then going to the place in the journal where the location was referenced. This would have allowed a potential user to gain more access to the surrounding content, as well as providing an excellent way of bringing someone who might just be looking at maps, into reading the actual journal itself.
I really enjoyed being able to work on this part of the project, as I have done work with GIS before, and even work with historical GIS, but I have never recreated a map based on primary source data. It was also cool to work with a figure in local history, the rest of whose personal documents exist at the university I go to! I hope this provides a good addition to the site, to be expanded and modified in the future, as I think it is an excellent option for more visual learners, as well as being a cool graphic that can provide a more interactive counterpoint to the text transcriptions.
