Topographical Maps of Portugal, Spain, and France

@Robert Burnham I do georeference historical maps and sketches using Google Earth Pro and QGIS SW. It is excellent for campaigns, battles and sieges analysis, and to produce our own battle maps.

To see the benefits of georeferencing historical maps please read this article:

Georeferencer: Crowdsourced Georeferencing for Map Library Collections

Christopher Fleet (2012)

And examples of Ciudad Rodrigo sieges with A.K. Johnston map, with Google Earth in 3D (view from the East) and with 50% transparency.

(Oblique view)

(almost vertical view)

If you want I can share a kmz file to explore.

I have not found yet my Paradise in historical topographical maps. But I have some approaches ... and always looking for improvement.

Large scale maps (1:5,000 to 1:25,000) are adequate for tactical situations: sieges, combats, battles.

Small scale maps (1:50,000 to 1:1,000,000) are adequate for operational situations: campaigns, retreats, troop mouvements.

However, a topographical map without the possibility to extract the modern manmade features is of limited use for historical analysis. New roads, highways, train lines, dams, cities, etc., changed dramatically the terrain features of the campaigns regions and battle sites.

In principle, only terrain and water features endured, and even that was changed by man (e.g. big dams).

It is said that, when Wellington, saw the Butte du Lion in Waterloo, two years after its completion, proclaimed, 'They have ruined my battlefield.', the sunken roads were no longer there. Also. the road taken by some of Ney columns to attack the Bussaco ridge, near Sula windmill, is no longer there, it was destroyed and replaced by a different layout mid-XIX Century.

Saying that in case I do not have access to professional topographical tools (like ArcGIS) which tend to be very expensive, I use the following free websites for topographical mapping:

1. for large scale: https://maps-for-free.com/

2. for small scale and unit overlays: https://www.map.army/

And of course, I always cross-reference with maps in existence in 1808-1815, mainly for information like roads, bridges and villages.

This is an example of a topographical map of the Iberian Peninsula using https://maps-for-free.com/:

And this is the Bussaco ridge (North of the River Mondego) and the Alva position (South of the River). Both positions occupied on the 27th of September 1810, with the same SW.

You can find a lot of XIX Century cartography to download here:

http://bndigital.bnportugal.gov.pt/project/cartografia/