JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
This might be an odd thread, just stark photos with no real plan behind it other than the photos. That's the point to me, anyway. It gets to you, more and more, the reality of what our ancestors went through in their seperations, their genuine sacrifices for whatever reasons. Unless we have letters, no one knows why each of these men went to war, North and South- we can guess based on our own perspective 150 years later, am betting we'd be wrong if we were able to ask each one. I wonder how wrong we'd be to guess about their wive's unhappiness at saying goodbye, especially if any of these photos were taken during a leave or maybe after recovering from a wound, their men going back to war. They'd already been restored to them alive, now the long wait for another miracle, his return home.
They are just haunting, that's all. Even if the men survived the war ( and you know not all pictured here did ), all are long, long gone, their stories closed. Some of that story we'd give an awful lot to hear in their own words is somewhere behind the eyes staring at the camera, patiently waiting for those seconds to elapse, the photographer to say it's done now. Then they thanked him, shook his hand, walked home or climbed in their wagon, the husbanc drove them home. Their life kept happening after those few seconds, how shocking a concept both would have found it, 150 years later we're looking at them in our seconds and minutes wishing they would speak to us. They kind of can.
It's not everyone's kind of thread, no real point other than keeping them company.
They are just haunting, that's all. Even if the men survived the war ( and you know not all pictured here did ), all are long, long gone, their stories closed. Some of that story we'd give an awful lot to hear in their own words is somewhere behind the eyes staring at the camera, patiently waiting for those seconds to elapse, the photographer to say it's done now. Then they thanked him, shook his hand, walked home or climbed in their wagon, the husbanc drove them home. Their life kept happening after those few seconds, how shocking a concept both would have found it, 150 years later we're looking at them in our seconds and minutes wishing they would speak to us. They kind of can.
It's not everyone's kind of thread, no real point other than keeping them company.