The legends of topographical men: the American army and mapmaking in World War I

The skill level of American army mapmakers and draftsmen varied considerably when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Desperate to fill the ranks with qualified personnel, the army turned to civilians who had honed their craft with the U.S. Geological Survey and other professional mapmaking entities. Since the men had but a short period of time to prepare for mapping in wartime conditions, the Americans wisely deferred to the methodologies employed by their allies. The Americans adopted the French system of coordinates, the metric system, and most importantly, they utilized French military survey maps to overlay the latest intelligence, which hastened the creation of maps that were needed for military operations. It would be a mistake, however, to cast the American mappers as mere imitators; rather, they innovated methods of printing, distribution, and intelligence gathering that resulted in accurate maps that were widely and quickly distributed to troops at the front, where detailed and current information held sway over life and death. By the end of the war, the American mapmakers produced more than five million maps, primarily during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, which contributed significantly to the defeat of Germany and the other Central Powers.