Animated Battle Maps

Credit: County of Chester, PA

Over the past 4 years, an amazing thing has been happening in Chester County — an unprecedented number of grants funded by the National Park Service’s American Battlefields Protection Program (ABPP) have been awarded for Revolutionary War sites. Foremost of these are Chester County and Municipalities who have worked together with local historic preservation groups and historians to bring modern technology to assist and illuminate the actions of the Philadelphia Campaign within Chester County. The initial grant was for GIS mapping of the Battle of Brandywine. It involved not only GPS information but detailed studies of the roads, viewscapes, and historical resources existent in 1777 and later. Each municipality had Historical Commission volunteers re-identify structures for GIS mapping as part of the County’s award-winning Historic Resource Atlas program.

ABPP approved a third grant, for the “Battle of the Clouds!” Spearheaded by the County of Chester departments, the Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Paoli and now the Battle of the Clouds project manager is Sean Moir, a County employee and independent GIS Consultant. In 2011 a separate ABPP grant was awarded to the Chester County Planning Commission for multiyear preservation plans related to the Philadelphia Campaign. And East Pikeland Township was granted an ABPP grant to study the Continental Powder Works at Snyder’s Mill near Phoenixville. This was the first Congressionally approved gun powder manufacturer and a prime target of General Howe’s Army, who utterly destroyed it.

We encourage you to visit Sean Moir site consultant webpage to view other multilayered animated maps including his Overview of the Philadelphia Campaign. These maps can be viewed on his link and the visitor can access the interactive layering, (different features such as 1777 roads and towns, modern roads, aerial views, important fords and historic sites) and see the troop movements (Blue = Continental and Red = British) on an animated time line. Click on the “Backgrounds/Layers +” to access features. It is incredible! Sean will be working with the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund in developing new features to help inform the public of these historic events.

One of the many benefits afforded by the Battle of Paoli ABPP study is a more accurate definition of the boundaries of this significant battle that extend far beyond the 60+ acres preserved on the National Register of Historic Sites. It helps form the basis of our future applications for National Historic Landmark status. Please consider donating to our Landmark Campaign which will help preserve historic resources beyond the core fighting area of the battle.