Finely executed map of the Maneuver Grounds in Prince William County and Fairfax County, Virginia, drawn by future Brigadier General George R. Spalding, under the directions of Major Edward Burr of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The map was prepared shortly after Spalding's return from the Philippines, during the Spanish American War.
Spalding would go on to become an important officer in the Corps of Engineers, publishing the Manual in Topography, Map Reading and Reconnaissance: Prepared by Major George R. Spalding ... Under the Direction of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army in 1918.
George Redfield Spalding was the son of George W. Spalding, a Scottish Michigander who rose from the rank of private to General.
George Redfield Spalding (GR) graduated from West Point in 1901. United States Army Corps of Engineers commissioned him second lieutenant and assigned him to the Philippines with the 1st and 2d Battalions of Engineers. After earning a promotion to First Lieutenant in April 1903, he returned to Washington D.C. to serve with the 2d Battalion of Engineers at Washington Barracks from December 1904 to June 1905. He also did surveying work in Manassas, Virginia from May 1904 to September 1904.
GR would go on to serve on General John J. Pershing's staff during World War I. While serving on General Pershing’s staff in Europe during WW I, he organized Engineer Corps administration and he was promoted to Colonel. In France, he commanded the 305th Engineers, was Division Engineer of the 80th Division, and served as Chief Engineer with the 5th Corps, First Army, and Third Army. He then was Assistant to the Chief Engineer, American Expeditionary Force. At Trier, Germany, he was a member of the Dickman Board on Organization and Tactics.
Following the war, GR rose to the level of Brigadier General in 1936, retiring in 1938. Recalled in 1941 at the outset of WWII, Brigadier General Spalding served from 1941-1945 as executive officer for the Division of Defense Shipping and Storage Section