Gardner's Gettysburg - "Harvest of Death" Doctored?

     I've been taking a closer look at "A Harvest of Death". In a previous post I have indicated there are visual clues that lead me to believe the distant tree line in this image has been created in an effort to salvage an otherwise poor photograph. This suggestion has caused a stir amongst those who are looking to solve and/or disprove multiple theories as to its actual location on the battlefield.

Here is the image from Gardner's Sketchbook.

Let's look below at another copy, this time from the

collection of the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.

What do we see, and what do we not see?

The entire upper third of this most famous of Gettysburg images looks to be 

a contrivance by Gardner to create an artistic and poignant print to sell.

No tree line, and no shadowy figures in the distance. Gardner has begun

to create the illusion in the print we have long accepted as fact. Note the

pencil shading within the left and right horizon line. This pencil shading smooths

 out in the final published prints of this image. Click on it for larger viewing.

(Gift of Arthur, Class of 1956, and Marilyn Penn, Class of 1956, Christopher Elliman, David Elliman, and Andrea Branch, by exchange, and through the Overton Endowment Fund. Photography courtesy of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University.) Link here for collection.

This enlargement shows the beginnings of the smears that would become the "standing"

 figures on the right. Note also the darkening of features on the scattered bodies for contrast.

See below for the end result from the Gardner's Sketchbook Plate # 36.

Notice how in the finished product these silhouettes don't match the luminescence of

 the surrounding figures. They have no three-dimensional qualities when compared to the

 bodies on the ground. They are created from pencil, and India Ink wash. They are a work of art.

Here is another "working copy" so to speak from the Library of Congress.

Note the exact same pencil shading on the ground at left and right, and

a very crudely drawn "rider on a horse". The false tree line is beginning

to take shape as well. I have located what Gardner may have likely referenced

  to create the man on the horse, in an earlier photograph of his own, as seen below.

 A strong resemblance when compared to the finished product.

The probable "model", from an 1862 image by Gardner.

From the Library of Congress, the initial rough sketching that would lead to the finished product below. Retouching and rephotographing would produce the famous photograph we have known.

In this detailed enlargement from another copy of the Sketchbook print, it is easy to see the contrast

 difference, and how the figures are actually out of scale to the "real" bodies. The inking of the shadows is quite apparent here also. For nearly 150 years we have taken this photograph as real in all regards. Now it can be seen to be as fake as the moved body in the "sharpshooter's lair" in Devil's Den. A manipulation of a bad negative to yield a marketable work of art to tug the heart strings.

Click on the picture above and get a better view of the brush strokes that make up the riding figure.

Ox Hill - 150 Years Ago Today

     Today marks the Sesquicentennial observance of the final action in the 2nd Manassas Campaign. A small park remains to commemorate the action that left two Union generals dead, and opened the door to Lee's first invasion of the North. Today this field of battle is surrounded by the residential and commercial sprawl of Fairfax County, the area where I grew up. It wasn't until shortly before the developer's machines transformed the ground that I was able to visit the site, around 1987. It sat overgrown in the outskirts of Fairfax City, rarely drawing attention until it became the target of our "modernization". So much has changed in that region from when I was a kid. Between Fairfax and the Manassas Battlefield only small traces remain to mark the vast activity that swept over the land from 1861-1865. Less than one one hundredth of the acreage that comprised the field of battle at Ox Hill remains undisturbed. The Fairfax County government maintains the 4.8 acre park with interpretive signage and two monuments to the commanders in blue who fell in the former farm fields. Here is a link to the official county website: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ox-hill

I recommend for further reading, the current and future work of writer and publisher William B. Styple: http://www.bellegrovepublishing.com/888150.html

 

A fanciful depiction of the moment General Phillip Kearny was killed, as painted by Augustus Tholey, and published by John Smith, 804 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1867.

 

     On October 2, 1915, descendants gathered for the dedication of a monument to General Philip Kearny, killed in action, September 1, 1862. John Watts Kearny, the general's son, stands behind the monument. Great granddaughter Lucy Kearny Hill, stands at right in the front row.

Original photograph courtesy of the Kearny Town Historian, Kearny, NJ

The same view on July 19, 2010

Ox Hill Battlefield Park, Fairfax, VA

Looking south across the battlefield of September 1, 1862.

The mysterious "Kearny Stump", once thought to mark the

 spot the general died, but long since disproved.

 

Quartz rock placed by Confederate veteran and one time property owner, John Ballard,

to mark where General Isaac Stevens fell during the first Union assault of the day.

The monuments to Generals Stevens and Kearny. The thin band of trees

 beyond masks the development that claimed most of the battlefield.

A view of the Fairfax County park to memorialize the battle

 that ended the Second Manassas Campaign.

Looking southwest across Monument Drive at the battlefield pull off.

At right of center are two Virginia Historical markers, as seen below.

Click the images for enlarged viewing.

"Harvest of Death" Revisited - June 14, 2012

     After thirteen episodes on the website Gettysburg Daily, Garry Adelman and Tim Smith concluded their debunking of assorted theories as to the location of the series of images collectively now described as the "Harvest of Death", taken by the photographic team under Alexander Gardner's employ, specifically Timothy H. O'Sullivan and James F. Gibson. In the final episodes they focused attention on the work of Gettysburg National Park historian Scott Hartwig, and that of myself which was inspired by Hartwig's investigations, detailed on the Gettysburg Park's blog. My work has focused on the opinion that the home of Mrs. Thompson, otherwise known as "Lee's Headquarters", is visible in the upper right hand of O'Sullivan's exposures. This was advanced for the first time in my blog post dated January 12, 2012. My investigations have shown that the images were taken about 190 yards closer to the Chambersburg Road than Scott Hartwig had believed. Further considerations were made over time, also posted on this blog, and after several additional trips to the site, I have concluded what I can realistically produce with the evidence. It must be pointed out that Adelman and Smith focused on my initial investigations and, by the time of their May 10, 2012 posting of their on-site video journals, (filmed in February), they had stood on one that had been changed and corrected in posts during my then ongoing investigations. Furthermore, in Garry's Video #27, he suggests a wartime fence line, running roughly north to south from where he is standing, should have been visible, at least partially in the 1863 view. The only problem with Garry's suggestion is that the wartime fence he speaks of was actually one field further back from where he is. Other fences are a concern to Garry and Tim as well, including the one that would be running along the Chambersburg Road. Due to the issues with depth of field and sharpness of image, that fence, should it still be standing at the time of the images, even if just the posts, would be impossible to make out. Nothing in that background as small as single fence posts would be discernible. This brings to mind another complaint of theirs which is to point out that my theorized Thompson house appears to be too white to be the stone material it is built of. When viewed in the context of the "whiteout" effect of most of the background of this image, we know the trees along the distant ridge would be darker, but they are "bleached out", so to speak, just as the darker stone of the Thompson house is. And, still examining the Thompson house, my assertion that the broad surface of the white picket fence to the left of the structure is visible was challenged. All I can say, and with support of an image taken days later by Matthew Brady, the picket fence was still standing, and due to its broad surface area, would stand out clearly, a simple matter of contrast next to darker surfaces. This whiteout effect takes its toll on the image looking to the south as well. The Brady image of Mrs. Thompson's house is included further down in this post.

     As of this posting I have determined, as best as the current condition of the ground allows one hundred and forty-nine years later, a comfortable approximate location for the series to have been taken, still within the confines of the field identified by Gardner as the one "where Reynolds fell", between McPherson's and Seminary ridges. Click any image to enlarge for better viewing.

The O'Sullivan photograph, said to be taken on the first day's field.

Approximate same view today. Taken October 6, 2012

 

                 

The companion image titled "Harvest of Death", showing the same bodies

 as the previous image but from the opposite direction, nearly due south.

The approximate same view today. Taken October 6, 2012.

 

                

An enlarged and enhanced detail from the O'Sullivan image, of

 the ridge rising toward Chambersburg Road and the Thompson

 House at far right. Garry states this is "far from convincing." Really? 

 

The Thompson House as photographed by Matthew Brady.

Note the large tree to the right and the white picket fence to

the left. Also, note the arbor at center is heavy with foliage.

The image below is annotated to point out these

features within the earlier O'Sullivan photograph.

Above, the Tate, Sheads, and Dustman houses, are seen from right, closest to furthest

 in this photograph by Frederick Gutekunst, taken from west of intersection with Springs

 Avenue, looking up the Chambersburg Road, toward the railroad cut at left of

center. The Thompson house is obscured in the view by trees on the rise at

 far left, along the north side of  the Chambersburg Road. Photo courtesy GNMP.

Your blog host, and National Park Service historian Scott Hartwig at right,

 met to further discuss the series of images during the June 14th investigation.

James Gibson's exposure showing Union burial crew, and

in the middle distance the location of Confederate burials.

                 

 

 Enlarged area of Gibson image, where Confederate grave markers are visible.

They are the short, white strokes just above the fence remnant. They are even

more clearly discernible when viewed in the original stereo format.

Here, highlighted for clarity, are the positions of a portion of the grave markers.

See my post regarding a similar line of crudely marked graves at Chancellorsville,

by clicking here.

Here is a detail section of the 1874 Warren map showing the surrounding

 area, including fences, trees, and orchards, based on 1863 information.

     I will conclude here in stating that I consider both Garry and Tim my friends, as they say of me in their postings. This debate is not one of anger, it is differences of opinion and an exercise in learning. I anticipate their reply, and again extend a desire to sometime walk the ground in question with them, in greater depth.

Members of the 23rd U.S.C.T.s Visit Petersburg Battlefield - June 23, 2012

     Members of the 23rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops toured the Eastern Front portion of the Petersburg National Battlefield on Saturday, June 23, 2012. Guiding the group were National Park Service historians Emmanuel Dabney and Chris Bryce.

     From left to right, members of the 23rd, Hashmel Turner, Steward Henderson, John Cummings, and historian Emmanuel Dabney at the U.S.C.T. Memorial near Battery Number 8. Confederate Battery 8 was captured by the 1st and 22nd Regiments of United States Colored Troops and renamed Fort Friend for the nearby Friend House, on June 15, 1864.

     The tour visited the site of the Crater, which was exploded on July 30, 1864, and later attacked by members of the Union 9th Corps, including the 4th Division under General Edward Ferrero, which sustained heavy casualties. Left to right, Hashmel Turner, Chris Bryce, Steward Henderson, Emmanuel Dabney, and John Cummings, your blog host.

     A view looking into the remains of The Crater, originally 170 feet long, 100 to 120 feet wide, and at least 30 feet deep. Casualties from both sides during the engagement here totaled 5,289, killed, wounded, missing and captured, nearly three quarters of which were suffered by the Union attackers.

     Outside the Eastern Front Visitor Center, the group hears an introduction from historian Emmanuel Dabney. Left to right are James Anderson, Hashmel Turner, Chris Bryce, Emmanuel Dabney, and Steward Henderson. 

     A view toward Confederate Battery Number 5.  It was the first to fall on June 15, 1864 during the opening engagement at Petersburg, along the Dimmock Line, the ten-mile Confederate defensive work around the city, built by slave labor in 1862 to protect the backdoor to Richmond. U.S.C.T.s played a significant role in its capture.

Journalist Ramona Martinez Visits Spotsylvania For Research On Future Project

     Recently, Ramona Martinez, our friend over at National Public Radio, visited the Spotsylvania area to discuss battlefield preservation, tourism, and the Civil War Sesquicentennial observances for a future, independent project. Readers of this blog will recall she had done an investigative piece on a soldier's photograph with initials carved in the stock of a rifle he held, an image from the Liljenquist Family Collection in the Library of Congress.  We met at Stevenson Ridge, to beat the early summer heat inside the "Spy House", one of seven, finely appointed, antique structures moved to the property by owners Dan and Debbie Spear. There, we talked for about an hour before she continued her investigation by heading over to Chatham Manor in Stafford County, to talk with historians of the National Park Service.

                  

Photographs by James Anderson.

Civil War Requiem - Images of the dead at Petersburg, Virginia, April 1865

The Petersburg Campaign began on June 9, 1864, and would last nearly ten, destructive months. On April 2, 1865 Union forces broke through along the thinly defended Confederate works surrounding the city. Inside fallen Fort Mahone, photographer Thomas C. Roche documented the aftermath in a graphic series of images, offering grim testament to the human cost that war exacts. Some of those scenes are compiled in the video above by Dave of Shorpy.com. Created from high resolution scans of the original glass negatives in the Library of Congress collection, the video details the mud caked bodies of the fallen southern defenders, strewn across the landscape. Visible amongst the human wreckage are the numerous elements of war debris. Empty cartridge papers, frantically discarded in the heat of battle, carpet the ground in one close-up. A pile of coal, used by the fort's occupants for warmth in the cool evenings preceding the battle, is featured in another.

All Roads Lead To Spotsylvania

     When students of the nineteenth and twentieth century visualize our nation's past, it generally resides in black and white or sepia toned images of captured light and shadow. The photographic process was largely limited to such monochromatic renderings until the past fifty years or so. The three photographs included here are from the collection of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The first was taken just three years before the establishment of the park, and probably depicts one of the simple, dirt farm lanes that led to the interior of the main battlefield, land still owned at the time by subsistence farmers such as the Landram family who had tilled the soil since long before the Civil War. My personal belief is that this shows the lane that came off of Brock Road, approximately one and a half miles from the Spotsylvania Courthouse area, shortly before a now removed entrance and exit of Anderson Drive, one of the park access roads built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid 1930s. Clear traces of this lane still run through the woods, bisecting the final Confederate line as it did in May 1864. 

Back of image states, "Spots. field 1924"

     "Brock Rd looking N.W.", dated December 1935, taken just before the Kodachrome process made color photography more accessible, although relatively expensive, for the general public. This view shows the slight bend in the road before the Trigg Farm, beyond the trees on the left. Brock Road had retained much of its old time character in this area, still a narrow, two lane connector between neighborhoods, not far from its utilitarian appearance in 1864. 

     This view, also dated December 1935, shows the intersection on Brock Road, of Shady Grove Church Road, now known as Robert E. Lee Drive. When visited today, the new, "Courthouse Bypass" crosses Brock Road along the horizon line at right.

NPR Story Made Critical Error In Quest To Identify Soldier

Click here for the NPR followup correction dated April 17, 2012

This morning (April 11, 2012), National Public Radio delivered a very well thought out human interest story with some in-depth research, but... one technical misunderstanding threw the whole story out the window. It all begins with a Civil War photograph from the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, a recent gift to the Library of Congress. NPR reporter Ramona Martinez was curious about one particular image showing what appears to be a member of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment. Her interest arose from a set of initials carved into the butt stock of the rifle musket held by the soldier. Tom Liljenquist had suggested that what appeared to be the initials "T.A." could be a clue as to the man's otherwise unknown identity. Martinez set off on a journey to see if she could discover the soldier's identity based on the initials and the probability that he was a member of the 14th Brooklyn as suggested by historian Mike McAfee. After much digging and a well thought out process of elimination, she concluded that the soldier in question must be Thomas A. Ardies. Please click this link to read and/or listen to the story. The NPR site contains several images to illustrate the research methods. The running error regarding the image was most likely sustained by the reporter not revealing the underlying interest in the initials, having advanced queries to Mr. McAfee strictly on the uniform identification, and soliciting the further assistance from the folks at The Horse Soldier, who were helping to establish the soldier's height in comparison to the identifiable weapon. I am confident that Mr. McAfee, and the Horse Soldier staff both, would have advised the image was mirror reversed had this been brought up. (See NPR reporter Ramona Martinez's response to this in the update added at the end of this post.)

Here then is the error that mars this otherwise intriguing tale. The image, as presented, is a tintype, a photographic method that produces a mirror image of the subject. Thus, the initials that look to be "T.A." are actually "A.T.", leaving a still unknown man who, if indeed correctly identified as a member of the 14th Brooklyn, could be one of the following:

August Thiery

Andrew Thomas

* Alonzo Thompson * Click here for the NPR followup correction dated April 17, 2012

Albert Tibal

Alfred Tickner

Augustus Ticknor

Andoniram Tucker

Andrew Turley

Below is the image as it appears when viewed in its case. The Library of Congress provides the following: quarter-plate tintype, hand-colored ; 11.1 x 9.5 cm (case).

Below, I have mirror reversed the image to correct the error, and present the soldier as he should appear if he were standing before you.

Below, the original mirror image gives the casual viewer the impression the initials are "T.A."

Below is an image I created by writing the initials on clear tape and applying them to the butt of a similar rifle musket. The image has been deliberately mirror reversed here for illustration purposes.

Below is the same image as it is correctly photographed, demonstrating that the initials are indeed "A.T."

Update of April 11, 2012

After posting this morning, I received an email from the NPR correspondent:

Hi, John. I did the piece on NPR that you wrote your blog post about. Your points are completely valid, and we’re looking into the ATs right now. I did want to let you know one thing though regarding your blog post: "I am confident that Mr. McAfee, and the Horse Soldier staff both, would have advised the image was mirror reversed had this been brought up." In fact, all of the people consulting to do the story, including the Library of Congress photography staff who’s interview ended up on the cutting room floor, believed the image to be T.A. We’re all doubling back and looking into it, but people seem to be split fifty fifty on the issue for whatever reason. That being said – your evidence was compelling enough that we’re investigating the A.T.s and going to try and fix the error if it is indeed wrong.  It just seemed in the piece that I only asked the Horse Soldier and Mr. McAffee about specific things, but in fact they were consulting about all aspects of the photo. It’s just that since it was a 4 minute piece, not everything could be included. Thank you for your interest in the piece however and pointing out the possibility that it may in fact be A.T. We’re looking into it, so you may very well be responsible for setting this soldier’s story straight! I’ll be sure to let you know the result.

Kind regards, Ramona

My reply follows below:

Hello Ramona,

I really enjoyed your article, and your methods were solid, but I was surprised by the lack of visual comprehension regarding the mirror imaging, even more so now that you indicate no one else picked up on it during the investigation. I am confident that my illustrations in the blog post provide the correct translation. Hopefully the "A.T." will bring you to a solid conclusion. All these men deserve remembrance. It is a shame that so many have gone through the passage of time without lasting identification. Thank you for all your efforts to put a name to the face in this case.

Sincerely,

John Cummings

Further Update! April 12, 2012

At 12:12 this afternoon, NPR reporter Ramona Martinez posted a comment on the NPR site acknowledging the error, and promising further information on the subject in the near future:

"We are in fact looking into the initials, and probably a week or so we'll have information on who the 'A.T.' soldier would be, how the mistake was made in the first place (and a little more about tintypes and their orientation) and answers to more of your historical questions that didn't make it in the piece due to its length. Stay tuned! In the meantime, do me a favor and remind people we're working on it in case this gets eaten by the comments board! - Ramona"

Quantico's Marine Basic School Visits Chancellorsville Battlefield, 3-22-12, A Photo Essay

     The current class of newly commissioned United States Marine Corps officers visited the Chancellorsville Battlefield on March 22, led by one of the expert historians from the Marine Corps University. During the twenty-six week long Basic School, or TBS, the new officers are provided with extensive classroom, field, and practical application training on subjects ranging from weapons and tactics to leadership and protocol. The TBS mission statement explains they will "Train and educate newly commissioned or appointed officers in the high standards of professional knowledge, esprit de corps, and leadership in order to prepare them for duty as company grade officers in the operating forces, with particular emphasis on the duties, responsibilities and warfighting skills required of a rifle platoon commander."

 After their tour the class had an opportunity to relax and check out the Visitor Center.

Many visited the site of General Stonewall Jackson's mortal

 wounding and associated monuments and markers.

They were particularly interested in the circumstances that led

 to Jackson being accidentally fired on by his own men.

The discussions continued on the front lawn at CVC.

Support vehicles followed the convoy of six buses, as seen below.

The Visitor Center picnic area served their needs at lunch time.

They were very impressed with the battlefield and the park's interpretive signs.

This display of Civil War artillery projectiles got a lot of attention.

Around 1:30 PM, it was back to the bus convoy for the return trip to Quantico.