This detailed pictorial map illustrates the battlefield of the Crimean War, as drawn contemporaneously by a "French Engineer" on the ground as the text in the lower margin explains accompanied his map sent to Louis Napoleon with a clay model of Sebastopol "for which he received a Diamond Snuff Box." The publisher further explains that "The Chart can be relied upon as the most truthful, instructive and comprehensive Map of the War Ground that has been published in this country of Europe." The reference to "this country" is to the United States.
A small inset map titled "New Map of the Crimea" appears as a detailed geographical map of the Crimea. In the Engineer's Map, a References key lists twenty-nine military locations of the French and English armies and navy, Turkish redoubts, where Russian vessels have been sunk and the route of the Sardinians between Balaklava to Simpheropol and Tchorguna among others. A smaller table presents the distances between places in miles of the cities, towns and villages of the Crimea.
The illustrated aspect of the large scale map includes tents and caravans of the various national armies, pennants fluttering from the peak of each tent. Ships are drawn in the Black Sea and grouped to represent the relative strength and location of the different national fleets. The railroad from Kamiesh Bay and Sevastopol is shown. Topography is drawn in linear elevations and mountain ranges are drawn graphically. The telegraph line is drawn and labeled. In Sevastopol, an area is labeled as "Town & Ships Destroyed by the Russians". Distances between camps and other military locations are measured in miles and labeled. The Monastery of St. George on the Black Sea is labeled and its location at 618 feet above the Black Sea noted. Several large plateaux in the Crimea are also drawn, labeled and heights noted as a range of measurements.
The recent history of battles is also noted on the map by date and location from two years prior. The map is a war map that provides detailed battlefield history.