Gettysburg Panorama Two Weeks After Battle

[Gettysburg Greg]

Mathew Brady took this two plate panorama that shows us what the town looked like just two weeks after the battle. As you can see from all the labels, the image is full of interesting battle related sites. From the first few tents of Camp Letterman visible on the left to the welll known 90' tulip poplar on the right, Brady captured the town as it began recovering from the effects of the battle. Brady's camera appears to have been in an elevated location and indeed, it was. Between the Sheads house and the Thompson house was the two story Dustman house that had a 2nd story porch. On this upper porch is where Brady placed his camera to capture this amazing photograph. The second photo below clearly shows the Dustman house standing between the Sheads and the Thompson house which is blocked by the trees.

 

[Doug5861]

Love your photos Greg, I love now and then photos. I grabbed this off Google Earth of the Sheads house looking West towards the Dustman site. towards the

 

[JOHN42768]

Great stuff

 

[EJ Zander]

Cool pic. Fence rails mostly pulled down on fences to left of railroad and along the pike in the right foreground. Yet the rails on the fence behind the Shead's house in the center of the pic are virtually untouched.
Shadows of the orchard trees says it was taken in the late afternoon.

 

[Drew]

Thanks for this. A random poplar tree is really significant to Forum readers, especially when identified at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

 

[Gettysburg Greg]

Thanks for this. A random poplar tree is really significant to Forum readers, especially when identified at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Not just a random poplar tree. Drew. This is the 90' landmark tree across from the Cemetery Gatehouse seen in many post battle images.

 

[Tom Elmore]

I think the Perry J. Tate home on the Chambersburg Pike is obscured by Shead's in this image, but to the left of Shead's in the distance can be seen an outbuilding of Tate's, between the pike and railroad bed. In the railroad bed at that point, and extending towards the town, was where Davis' three battered regiments (55 NC - 42 MS - 2 MS) were posted from sunset until just before midnight on July 1. Then they proceeded west down the railroad bed, in the direction of the viewer, on the way to Herr's woods. From this position, at midnight on July 1, you could have seen the men of these regiments passing along the cut to your left in the moonlight.

 

[Package4]

The Sheads' House is back in the family, Tim and Debbie Sheads purchased the house, when it was up for sale some years ago. They both retired from public service and operate S&S Sutlery from a building out back. Tim is an avid collector of uniform pieces and Debbie is a wizard at minor conservation of original dresses and uniforms of the period. The Horse Soldier and Union Drummer Boy have employed Debbie to perform repairs on various uniform pieces to preserve their integrity.

 

[Package4]

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Mathew Brady took this two plate panorama that shows us what the town looked like just two weeks after the battle. As you can see from all the labels, the image is full of interesting battle related sites. From the first few tents of Camp Letterman visible on the left to the welll known 90' tulip poplar on the right, Brady captured the town as it began recovering from the effects of the battle. Brady's camera appears to have been in an elevated location and indeed, it was. Between the Sheads house and the Thompson house was the two story Dustman house that had a 2nd story porch. On this upper porch is where Brady placed his camera to capture this amazing photograph. The second photo below clearly shows the Dustman house standing between the Sheads and the Thompson house which is blocked by the trees.

As always a very informative post; please keep them coming!

 

[kevikens]

What I find most interesting is that without all those trees and buildings in the way one can see that Culp's Hill really was a dominating eminence whose occupation gave great value to the northern edge of Cemetery ridge.

 

[W117Monte]

I love the gingerbread look of the Sheads house.
Slightly off topic, but are there any pics of the poplar tree up close?

 

[Gettysburg Greg]

I love the gingerbread look of the Sheads house.
Slightly off topic, but are there any pics of the poplar tree up close?

There sure are. I did an entire slideshow using only pics of that tree. Here are three that I particularly like. The first one is a sketch done for Harper's Weekly depicting the National Cemetery during the dedication in November of 1863. The second pic was taken in July 1863 from right in front of the gatehouse, and the third was taken from the Cemetery in 1865.

 

[luinrina]

Dumb question from someone who hasn't yet been to Gettysburg: What's the significance of the Tulip Poplar? I've tried googling it and found some information on "witness trees", like the Honey Locust as the "witness tree" of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. From the Harper's Weekly sketch I determined the poplar is on or near the cemetery on Cemetery Hill. It's size would suggest it witnessed the battle. So is the Tulip Poplar another witness tree of Gettysburg? And is it (more or less) famous for its position and visibility from afar?

 

[Doug5861]

Dumb question from someone who hasn't yet been to Gettysburg: What's the significance of the Tulip Poplar? I've tried googling it and found some information on "witness trees", like the Honey Locust as the "witness tree" of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. From the Harper's Weekly sketch I determined the poplar is on or near the cemetery on Cemetery Hill. It's size would suggest it witnessed the battle. So is the Tulip Poplar another witness tree of Gettysburg? And is it (more or less) famous for its position and visibility from afar?

Due to it's height and being near the high point of Cemetary Hill, it is visible in many post battle images taken of Gettysburg.

 

[mofederal]

Thank you for the comparision Greg, I like the images and the conversation.

 

[W117Monte]

Also the poplar tree is not there anymore. I thought I read it was struck by lightning.

 

[Yankeedave]

Neat thread.

 

[luinrina]

Also the poplar tree is not there anymore. I thought I read it was struck by lightning.

When I was finally going to visit Gettysburg...

 

[Yankeedave]

but look at it in all those pictures!

 

[W117Monte]

When I was finally going to visit Gettysburg...

Don't fret! There are plenty of other witness trees to see.