The Department of the Geographer to the Army is the recreated mapmaking unit of General Washington's Continental Army Staff. While a number of the unit's members have expertise in military engineering, and may be called upon at various events to use that expertise, the Geographers should not be confused with military engineers. Engineers were trained in the construction and reduction of fortifications, while Geographers (cartographers, surveyors, or topographical engineers) specialized in reconnaissance, mapmaking, and surveying distances. In the Continental Army, military engineers were generally recruited from Europe, whereas the geographers were generally able to find skilled surveyors in the colonies.

It is the goal of this unit to give an accurate, authentic representation of a Continental Army staff department, including proper clothing, equipment & instruments, and skills & knowledge of the geographers' profession as well as the theatre of operations and campaigns within (both on a tactical and strategic level).