James Henry Waddell

James Henry Waddell (1833–1884) was an American surveyor, cartographer, and educator associated with the Virginia Military Institute. A graduate of VMI in 1855, he served in the Civil War with the 26th Virginia Infantry before returning to the institute as Assistant Professor of Drawing. In this role he worked closely with Matthew Fontaine Maury on the Physical Survey of Virginia, preparing maps that illustrated the survey’s findings and contributed to the geographic education of VMI cadets.

Waddell’s cartographic output includes several important works of the late 1860s and early 1870s. These include the Map of Virginia and West Virginia (1869), the Map of Virginia (1871), and a Map of the United States constructed on the rectangular tangential projection, all issued with Maury’s endorsement. His maps combined scientific projection methods with detailed regional surveys, providing valuable geographic references during the postwar years. Waddell died in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1884, leaving a small but notable body of work tied to the intellectual life of VMI and Maury’s ambitious geographic projects.