JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
This has always been one of the more frustrating images of the relative handful we have from Gettysburg's awful summer, 1863. Blurred and indistinct , it's been way too easy to dismiss in favor of amazing clarity in other photographs. These men deserve another look IMO.
No expert but the longer I involve myself with era images the more convinced it makes me that quite a few tell stories. Something is in that photograph we're meant to see and understand- the photographer was making a point or immortalizing an event, person or entire story. There's a reason for some grouping that's been lost. Please excuse this not being posted in the Gettysburg forum, feel free to move? It's here in photo examinations because it's yet another era image reflecting that aspect of era images. What is the story here?
Nearly centered, this little group is awfully interesting.
Why is there an officer placed sideways a little in front of wounded? No idea, hoping there are guesses.
This one, identified as Letterman ( but looks more like 2nd Corp Hospital ) seems to record wounded men, perhaps just put together as a kind of group photo of the battle's survivors. It is but it seems like the point of it may there are Union and Confederate wounded in this image, two key figures, amputees ( one with an eye patch ) flanked by a Union officer maybe the center pieces. Yes, there were indeed Confederate hospitals but nurses describe wounded men laying in cots next to each other too. I realize the image washes out some of the uniform ID's by way of color and men frequently had shredded clothing replaced. Still. A little convinced there's more to this image than ' just ' wounded men who survived Gettysburg. Opinions please?
It's extremely washed out although dark/light seems clear. Is the 2nd man from left wearing a frock coat? If so, it's not blue.