Fortress Cave B&W Then and Now

Gettysburg Greg

First Sergeant
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Location
Decatur, Illinois
fort cave bw.jpg

Black and white then and now of Gardner's photo dubbed "Fortress Cave" by William Frassanito. This area was apparently occupied by Confederate soldiers on July 3rd as it is out of the line of sight of Union troops on LRT. The vertically stacked firewood may have been gathered by the soldiers to boil their coffee. Also, seen in the photo is a dead soldier laying with his head towards the camera wearing a typical slouch hat. The rock wall is the border of the Tri-field. In addition, under magnification, the Timbers' barn can be seen in the distance.
 
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Black and white then and now of Gardner's photo dubbed "Fortress Cave" by William Frassanito. This area was apparently occupied by Confederate soldiers on July 3rd as it is out of the line of sight of Union troops on LRT. The vertically stacked firewood may have been gathered by the soldiers to boil their coffee. Also, seen in the photo is a dead soldier laying with his head towards the camera wearing a typical slouch hat. The rock wall is the border of the Tri-field. In addition, under magnification, the Timbers' barn can be seen in the distance.

I guess you mean the wall across the middle distance of my photo? If so, was it taken from this side or the opposite side?
 
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Black and white then and now of Gardner's photo dubbed "Fortress Cave" by William Frassanito. This area was apparently occupied by Confederate soldiers on July 3rd as it is out of the line of sight of Union troops on LRT. The vertically stacked firewood may have been gathered by the soldiers to boil their coffee. Also, seen in the photo is a dead soldier laying with his head towards the camera wearing a typical slouch hat. The rock wall is the border of the Tri-field. In addition, under magnification, the Timbers' barn can be seen in the distance.
Thanks for sharing these views!
 
The large rectangular rock located just under the "C" in Greg's Fortress Cave verbiage is the original location of the body moved to Sharpshooter Nest.

Note the stone wall ends just above the "T" in Fortress. You can easily follow that stone wall to find both the Fortress Cave and the rock where Gardner first took the dead body photo before dragging the body to the nest.
 
I would have never known it was there wow. I will be their in 3 weeks I just bought William Frassanito's book plan to bring it with me.
I'm hoping to be there around the second week in April myself, if things go right! Frassinito's book helped me find locations of photos taken by Alexander Gardner of the dead Confederates here in and near Devil's Den the last time I was there.
 
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Thanks for posting this Greg! I arrived in Gettysburg today to check on some improvements done on my house on Baltimore St. Remembering your post, I drove to the Den to look for Fortress Cave to look for it. I saw what looked like it but wasn't sure. The ground looked impassable from the sharpshooters nest. So I walked to the Bennings Brigade marker and found a foot path down to the trolley line, then walked NW until I saw what I thought was it and hiked uphill to it. There it was! I forgot to bring a camera! Then I returned uphill to the sharpshooters nest which from that view looked less impassable than from above.
 
View attachment 179958
Black and white then and now of Gardner's photo dubbed "Fortress Cave" by William Frassanito. This area was apparently occupied by Confederate soldiers on July 3rd as it is out of the line of sight of Union troops on LRT. The vertically stacked firewood may have been gathered by the soldiers to boil their coffee. Also, seen in the photo is a dead soldier laying with his head towards the camera wearing a typical slouch hat. The rock wall is the border of the Tri-field. In addition, under magnification, the Timbers' barn can be seen in the distance.
OK guys, um, I am completely and totally fascinated and intrigued by this. I have NEVER seen this photo before. I've been personally studying Gettysburg since 1991. For the life of me, after reading all the back and forth, I absolutely am completely confused on where exactly this spot is. I've been on this ALL DAY! Obsessed! LOL! :wink: PLEASE help clearly locate! Modern Photos? Anyone? Exact location? Anyone? Excited to hear and find out where this absolutely amazing spot is. Thank you!
 
OK guys, um, I am completely and totally fascinated and intrigued by this. I have NEVER seen this photo before. I've been personally studying Gettysburg since 1991. For the life of me, after reading all the back and forth, I absolutely am completely confused on where exactly this spot is. I've been on this ALL DAY! Obsessed! LOL! :wink: PLEASE help clearly locate! Modern Photos? Anyone? Exact location? Anyone? Excited to hear and find out where this absolutely amazing spot is. Thank you!
Thanks for your comment. This photo can be found in Frassanito's books, both Journey and Early Photography. The location is the edge of the Tri-field down the slope from the Sharpshooter's nest. I hope this map helps showing the location in proximity of the SS nest. let me know if you have any other questions.
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Thanks for your comment. This photo can be found in Frassanito's books, both Journey and Early Photography. The location is the edge of the Tri-field down the slope from the Sharpshooter's nest. I hope this map helps showing the location in proximity of the SS nest. let me know if you have any other questions.
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Yaaaaay! Woo Hooo! Woot Woot! lol! (My version of the Rebel Yell!) THIS is SO amazing! I haven't been this excited in over 30 years of Civil War study. Finding out about a photo I never saw, that I had never seen, AND a Southern Soldier that, may God rest his soul, is shown within that cave rock. Wow. Just. Wow. Now, this is part of my bucket list! OK, so, I'd like to ask the team here, the following question. I may be opening a can of worms, but just itching to ask you all: So, the sharpshooters pen is part of the walking/driving tour of this Gettysburg Park. In my humble opinion, I believe that it's a travesty, that THIS cave rock doesn't have equal attention. In other words, if I could throw a tantrum, I would yell out, "This spot should be manicured, maintained, with a park provided paved path, AND a now and then photo and description just like the sign posted at the Sharpshooter nest we all know and love"! Ok, comments everyone! (I'm so excited for the above picture, thank you SO MUCH!) - Kenny.
 
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