Chickasaw Bayou: Poison Spring w/Body

huskerblitz

Major
Joined
Jun 8, 2013
Location
Nebraska
Can anyone confirm that the image indicates a body laying just beyond the wheel in the photo? If so this may be the only battlefield photo taken shortly after the battle. The date is given as Feb. 1864 but nothing of interest was happening at that time so it may just be the publication date.

Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield Photo.jpg
 
It does look like an arm and hand.

The stumps are pretty uniform in height which suggests being cut down vs downed by artillery. However they don't appear to be fresh cut. Perhaps they had been cut in earlier years for some purpose ???
 
It does look like an arm and hand.

The stumps are pretty uniform in height which suggests being cut down vs downed by artillery. However they don't appear to be fresh cut. Perhaps they had been cut in earlier years for some purpose ???
I do know Confederates cut the trees to 3-4' and threw the tops around them to create a web to slow the Union advance. Not saying that is the case here but that was done in the area.
 
Interesting find! Looks like he moved (or was moved?) for the second photo (the piece of wood on his head most obviously, its hard to tell with other things because of the change in perspective):

Chickasaw2.jpg

Looks like they could have tried to make it more authentic by putting a random piece of debris on his head.
 
Last edited:
The more I look at it, the more it looks like the hand is in the same position in the two photos. Spooky. Maybe he is dead?

There also looks like there might be something written on the piece of what I presume to be wood on his head. A grave marker?
 
The more I look at it, the more it looks like the hand is in the same position in the two photos. Spooky. Maybe he is dead?

There also looks like there might be something written on the piece of what I presume to be wood on his head. A grave marker?
Maybe, but looking at where the writing is seems it would be something already written on it, like maybe a crate or something?
 
Okay....really odd. If you look at the branches from the limb in the foreground and where it crosses the body, they are different. In the one I posted it crosses over the upper back by the shoulders.

One posted later (with the different hand position) that limb is crossing the lower back. The brush is also obscuring the hat in the first image and it's not in the second.

The body has been moved....or the guy is not dead at all and this is a staged photo.
 
Back
Top