GRAPHIC Dead in front of Dunker Church, Antietam

Zuzah

Sergeant Major
Joined
Apr 12, 2012
Location
Denmark
Another one for the Civil War Monitor

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Very nicely done. I have been to that location on the battlefield and their are still artillery limbers on the spot. Fortunately no bodies though!

I do have a suggestion on the limber. The olive drab does not appear to be the proper green and would have covered the ammo box (but not the lid) as well. For the wheels there are portions that would be black and not green. Have a look at this image for an example of paint.

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Very nicely done. I have been to that location on the battlefield and their are still artillery limbers on the spot. Fortunately no bodies though!

I do have a suggestion on the limber. The olive drab does not appear to be the proper green and would have covered the ammo box (but not the lid) as well. For the wheels there are portions that would be black and not green. Have a look at this image for an example of paint.

I was struggling a bit with that aspect, thanks for the link - I'll have to use this in the future instead of the sparse references I had before

Thanks.
 
I was also going to comment that the color of the limber box should probably match the rest of the limber. These were removable though, and since the Confederates didn't always paint their vehicles, or painted them using whatever was available, so this combination is likely possible; nevertheless, it would probably be less distracting if it were all one color. Also, I can state from experience that the darker olive shown in the modern photo does fade to a noticeably lighter shade like in yours.
 
I was also going to comment that the color of the limber box should probably match the rest of the limber. These were removable though, and since the Confederates didn't always paint their vehicles, or painted them using whatever was available, so this combination is likely possible; nevertheless, it would probably be less distracting if it were all one color. Also, I can state from experience that the darker olive shown in the modern photo does fade to a noticeably lighter shade like in yours.

I agree that the color can fade, but when doing a colorization (as Zuzah can attest) if you lay down the proper green to start with the B&W will fade it automatically if it is light in the original. I was actually more at issue with the body of the box not being green and the metal/iron areas of the wheels that should not be olive drab.
 
Has it ever been determined what unit these guys were in?
Not that I know of, only speculations so far, sadly.

That area was criss-crossed by so many different units in the course of the battle it's probably impossible to say, and I think it's likely they're not all from the same unit anyway.
 
Maybe they were line for the bathroom?

On a serious note, were the lids of the limber seethed in copper-probably to prevent sparks?

Later in the war when the South was becoming short of copper, they used a paint/tar covered canvas to waterproof the limber box lids.
It would also appear that someone removed/exchanged their shoes from one of the casualties and left their old ones in the foreground.
 
I think these are supposed to be Confederate
Another one for the Civil War Monitor

25813118206_e6e9042157_k.jpg
Mad (Zuzah), I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Union soldiers depicted in this image. These are Confederate, dead. The Confederates were laid out in zig-zag lines across the field, and then buried in mass graves. Only after the Union took care of their own in individual graves.These bodies are already bloated. Gardner was reported to be taking photos two days after the battle. By his own captions and notes, these were Confederates. Since this was his first time shooting after a large (shockingly so) battle, he was using his tricks of "moving" and setting up scenes with bodies yet. And he was acutely aware that these images were going to be the first the public was ever going to see of actual war and the dead. As such, his Antietam images are very "serene and pastoral" and, of Confederate dead.
 

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I think these are supposed to be Confederate

Mad (Zuzah), I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Union soldiers depicted in this image. These are Confederate, dead. The Confederates were laid out in zig-zag lines across the field, and then buried in mass graves. Only after the Union took care of their own in individual graves.These bodies are already bloated. Gardner was reported to be taking photos two days after the battle. By his own captions and notes, these were Confederates. Since this was his first time shooting after a large (shockingly so) battle, he was using his tricks of "moving" and setting up scenes with bodies yet. And he was acutely aware that these images were going to be the first the public was ever going to see of actual war and the dead. As such, his Antietam images are very "serene and pastoral" and, of Confederate dead.
I appreciate the feedback - although I never put claim to them being Confederate, I simply went with the Richmond Grey jacket which has a grey-blue/blue tinge to it on the majority of them

Also, it's Mads, it's funny you chose to omit the S, as it's the D that's silent in my name. :wink:
 
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