MAP illustrating the seige of ATLANTA, GA, by the U.S. Forces, under the Command of MAJ. GEN W.T. SHERMAN

Published 1864. One of the many rare maps available for viewing online at the University of Georgia's Hargrett Library.

The New York Times had a piece yesterday, "News of the Wired," on how technology -- the telegraph, in particular, but also that was associated with the use of maps like this one -- affected the way the Civil War was fought, and, more importantly, transformed the way the war was understood.