In 1861, the French civil engineer Charles Joseph Minard published maps on Napoleon’s Russian campaign of 1812 and Hannibal’s campaign into Italy. In two dimensions, Minard’s maps convey the campaigning army’s location, direction and dwindling size, as well as the local temperature. Each map plots the course of the campaigning army on a geographical map with the width of the line depicting the size of the army at any given period. The tan line represents the offensive campaign, while the black line represents the retreat. The results are often cited as brilliant examples of the visual display of statistics. I enjoy them for another reason. There are dozens of maps and publications describing the weaponry, tactics, and leaders of the two campaigns. However, through Minard’s map, we are presented a different and rarer vision of war, determined as much by infectious disease and injury, as by gun, general, or siege.
Napoleon’s 1812 Campaign into Russia
Hannibal’s Campaign into Italy
Click the images to see the full maps.
P.S. Posters of the Napoleon map can be purchased here.
UPDATE: Commenter Timothy Jiggens points out last week’s economist has a great article on the power of data visualization. Check it out here (subscription possibly required).