This map is a re-imagined version of Charles Minard's 1869 Russian Campaign map. I created it for the Esri UC "Thematic Mapping" talk, and if you are there, you should attend the talk next week.
Here are some updates I added to this map:
• I updated the colors. I chose a bold advance color, and kept the retreat color pretty similar to the original.
• I oriented the number of troops with the advance and retreat lines. I think this makes it a little easier to see where those values occur.
• I adjusted the temperature chart at the bottom to be in Fahrenheit, and put the dates next to the recorded temperatures on the chart, but kept the actual temperature off since it is on the axis. The chart does not reflect dates at regularly spaced intervals, but rather they are aligned with their geographic occurrence.
• I used pointers for the cities to pull the labels off the chart. Normally, I try to avoid pointers, but I ended up liking this better than having the labels on the path of the soldiers.
• I colored the advance cities to match the advance line, although I’m not entirely certain that some of these cities didn’t play a role in both the advancement and retreat.
• I added a pie graph showing the amount of troops remaining when the Campaign was over.
You can view Minard's original map here.
