“Harvest of Death”: The Aftermath of Battle | Crossroads of War

“Harvest of Death”: The Aftermath of Battle

November 1, 2011 By admin

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The photographers wagon sits in the background of this photograph of dead Confederate soldiers near the Emmitsburg Road (July 5, 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

Wooden boards mark the mass grave of dead Confederate soldiers (July 1863, Timothy O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

A Confederate sharpshooter killed by a shell (July 1863, James F. Gibson, photographer; Library of Congress)

A sharpshooter on the right of the Confederate line (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A Confederate sharpshooter found at the foot of Round Top (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A Confederate sharpshooter lies dead in the "Devils Den" (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A dead Confederate sharpshooter among the rocks at the Devils Den (July 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

Dead Confederate soldiers remain where they were slain in the "slaughter pen" at the foot of Little Round Top (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

Bloody fighting occurred in the woods at the foot of Round Top, as can be seen by the corpses left throughout the area (July 1863, James F. Gibson, photographer; Library of Congress)

Four dead soldiers repose in the woods near Little Round Top (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

Rows of Confederate dead have been positioned at the edge of the Rose woods (July 5, 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

A different angle of the previous photograph (July 5, 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A different angle of the previous photograph (July 5, 1863, Timothy H. O' Sullivan; Library of Congress)

Union soldiers killed on the battles first day remain on the field near the McPherson woods where General Reynolds was mortally wounded (July 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

Onlookers observe a field sown with dead Union soldiers (July 1863, Timothy OSullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

Confederate dead are posed at the edge of the Rose woods (July 5, 1863, James F. Gibson, photographer; Library of Congress)

Near the center of the battlefield, Confederate soldiers remain in the same positions where they were killed (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A row of Confederate corpses (July 1863, Timothy O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

A group of Confederate dead gathered for burial at the edge of the Rose woods (July 5, 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

This broad view encompasses the hill where General Weed was killed ("Slaughter Pen") and the ravine that the Unions 3rd Corps wrested away from the Confederates (July 1863, Alfred R. Waud, artist; Library of Congress)

A sketch of "Devils Den" (Joseph E. Shuery, artist; Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, August 22, 1863; Courtesy of Princeton University Library)

Slain soldiers remain unburied in a wooded section of the battlefield's right side (Harper's Weekly, August 22, 1863; NPS History Collection)

The wheat field where General Reynolds was shot during the first day of battle at Gettysburg (Harper's Weekly, August 22, 1862)

The barn in which Union General John Reynolds is believed to have died after being wounded in the Gettysburg battle (Harper's Weekly, August 22, 1863; NPS History Collection)

An embalming station set up after the battle of Gettysburg (from http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=2110)

Slaughtered animals and a destroyed fence outside of the Trossel house are a testament to the battle that raged in Gettysburg for three days (July 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

Dead horses from the 9th Massachusetts Battery of Light Artillery litter the Trossel barnyard (July 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

Horses are sprawled around artillery equipment along a grove of trees on the first day after the cessation of fighting (July 4, 1863, Edwin Forbes, artist; Library of Congress)

A dead mule remains tethered to a broken artillery caisson on the battlefield (July 1863; Library of Congress)

A view of Camp Letterman, the Union Armys principal medical hospital set up in Gettysburg after the battle. The boughs of cedar on each tent helped ward off insects. (September 1863, Tyson Brothers, photographers; from http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=906)

A view of Camp Letterman just to the right of the previous photograph (September 1863, Tyson Brothers, photographers; from http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=906)

A view of Camp Letterman just to the right of the previous photograph (September 1863, Tyson Brothers, photographers; from http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=906)

A view of Camp Letterman just to the right of the previous photograph. Gettysburg can be seen in the distance on the upper right of this image. (September 1863, Tyson Brothers, photographers; from http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=906)

An amputation being performed at Camp Letterman (U.S. Army Military History Institute)

A field hospital in Gettysburg (National Park Service)

A detail of the previous image

A detail of the previous image

The Gettysburg Theological Seminary was used as a hospital both during and after the battle (c.1868-1880, Tipton & Myers, publishers; Library of Congress)

The seminary is near where General Reynolds' and General Longstreet's forces battled on the first day (July 1, 1863, Alfred R. Waud, artist; Library of Congress)

A Sister of Charity tending to a patient (Harper's Weekly, September 6, 1862; NPS History Collection)

The headquarters of the United States Sanitary Commission that was set up in Gettysburg after the battle (Harper's Weekly, February 13, 1864; NPS History Collection)

A photograph of the Sanitary Commissions camp in Gettysburg, from which the previous image was drawn (U.S. Army Military History Institute)

A detail of the previous image

Sanitary Commission members in Gettysburg (U.S. Army Military History Institute)

A detail of the previous image

A Confederate convalescents camp near Gettysburg (U.S. Army Military History Institute)

A detail of the previous image

A "Cook-House" operated by the Sanitary Commission it Gettysburg (Harper's Weekly, February 13, 1864; NPS History Collection)

The offices of the U.S. Sanitary Commission at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

Union soldiers getting rations of hard tack (F. H. Bellew, artist; The New-York Illustrated Newspaper, August 8, 1863; courtesy of Princeton University Library)

Damage to the gatehouse of the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg (July 1863; Library of Congress)

A slightly different view of the damage to the gatehouse of the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg (July 1863; Library of Congress)

General Robert E. Lees headquarters for the Battle of Gettysburg, along the Chambersburg Pike. This was the home of Mary Thompson. (July 1863; Library of Congress)

Another view of the Thompson home. (July 1863; Library of Congress)

A detail of the previous image

Damage to the fencing of the Thompson home (July 1863; Library of Congress)

A view of Lee's headquarters published c.1903 (c.1903, Detroit Publishing Co., publisher; Library of Congress)

A woman stands in the doorway of the house used as General Lee's headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg (c.1913, William H. Tipton, photographer; Library of Congress)

Union General George Meade made his headquarters in the home of Lydia Leister on Cemetery Ridge (1863; Library of Congress)

A detail of the previous image

Another view of the Leister home (July 1863, Alexander Gardner, photographer; Library of Congress)

A view of the Leister property in November 1863 (Library of Congress)

Another view of the Leister home in November 1863 (Timothy H. Sullivan, photographer; Library of Congress)

General Meade's headquarters, c.1903 (Detroit Publishing Co.; Library of Congress)

Abraham Brian's home was situated along the line of the Pickett-Pettigrew charge on July 3, and the house and farm suffered extensive damage. Brien was a free African American who owned property. He left the farm before the battle and returned and continued to farm this property for many years after the war. (July 1863; Library of Congress)

This project has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, Frederick Community College, and others. See Credits page for full list.

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