Trostle Barn T&N Combo

Gettysburg Greg

First Sergeant
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Location
Decatur, Illinois
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In this different type of then and now, I am holding Timothy O'Sullivan's iconic image of Bigelow's artillery horses lying dead in the Trostle fam yard at Gettysburg while standing as close as possible to his original camera position. The famous shell hole in the barn shows up clearly in both photos. Notice the v-shaped rock behind the cannon in my modern image can also be seen in the 1863 photo...a "witness rock".
 
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Great comparison. You pointed out that V shaped rock in a prior post. Last March, I made it a priority to go up and touch that distinctive rock.

Trivia quiz, one of those cannons has a name painted in the breech area. One Merry Christmas "Attaboy" to the person who knows what that name is.
I have a pic after you get the answer, Walleyfish.
 
I have oodles of Gettysburg photos since I got my first digital camera in 2008. I love to share them.

Greg, I didn't want to steal your post and I would love to see your photo as well. I have never seen any documentation on where that cannon received her name, but it allows one to ponder what stories these Civil War relics have lived through.
 
I have oodles of Gettysburg photos since I got my first digital camera in 2008. I love to share them.

Greg, I didn't want to steal your post and I would love to see your photo as well. I have never seen any documentation on where that cannon received her name, but it allows one to ponder what stories these Civil War relics have lived through.
Walleyfish, I appreciate your input as well as anyone else's on any of my posts. The more info, the better. Thanks for all your interest and comment. You have accumulated some great photos since 2008.
 
Not to be smart but what is the date of the back then photo? Missed the third union corps took 4'000 casualties, the area plus reb losses must have made this area littered with bodies.
 
The rocks never lie :smile: I wish I had known about this rock in Sept; I would have given it a hello pat. I noticed that some of the canons had the patina shown below, and some did not. Is there a protocol regarding whether they are kept polished or not?

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Bee,

Bronze cannons and statues will oxidize over time. Because bronze contains high amounts of copper, the oxidation process forms a greenish patina. I believe that the NPS doesn't do much to bronze cannons as the oxidation is a natural protection, Plus many people like the look of oxidized bronze. Because this is natural oxidation, the coloration can look mottled and inconsistent.

Parrot cannons are made from cast iron. When iron oxidizes, it forms a reddish iron oxide. Iron will continually rust causing many problems. That is why these cannons are typically painted black. Those cannons over time are shot blasted and repainted. Not many people like the look of rust.

I am getting an artillery book for Christmas as I just knew cannons as Bronze or cast iron by their color. I want to change that.

Many years ago I was in Gettysburg and attended a talk on monument maintenance. I can't imagine the level of effort it takes to maintain the monuments at Gettysburg. I have always used the Armistead high water marker near the Copse of Trees as my bellweather to monument aging. The writing on that marker had gotten so poor over the years that it is getting increasingly difficult to read.
 
Bronze cannons and statues will oxidize over time. Because bronze contains high amounts of copper, the oxidation process forms a greenish patina. I believe that the NPS doesn't do much to bronze cannons as the oxidation is a natural protection, Plus many people like the look of oxidized bronze. Because this is natural oxidation, the coloration can look mottled and inconsistent.

Thank you for the overview, WF. I, too, noticed that the Armistead monument is very difficult to read.
 
Not to be smart but what is the date of the back then photo? Missed the third union corps took 4'000 casualties, the area plus reb losses must have made this area littered with bodies.
I believe this was taken on July 6, 1863, just four days after the fighting here. All the bodies in this area were already buried, but not the horses, obviously.
 
I believe this was taken on July 6, 1863, just four days after the fighting here. All the bodies in this area were already buried, but not the horses, obviously.
The horses got doused with kerosene and had the torch put to them. Lydia Leister made a few bucks post battle selling the horse bones on her farm.
 
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I posted this photo of the 9th Mass artillery monument in the Greg's aerial photo of the southern battlefield thread.
The cannons in Greg's modern day photo are for Bigelo's 9th Mass. Remember they retired by Prolonge from near their monument on the Wheatfield Road (pic in this thread) to the area near their Trostle Farm monument. I am constantly amazed at that feat. In my photo you can see the top of the Trostle barn in the background.

Go checkout Greg's aerial with caption thread post to see the size of the field that they retired by Prolonge through.

I took this photo in March, amazingly I snapped 637 pictures on that day alone.

Oh my a horse funeral! I love how the cartoon has the horses legs sticking up. I can't imagine the horrors.
 
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To say the least. Here comes a description of a "horse funeral" from the book "Hardtack and Coffee" by John Billings:
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https://books.google.de/books?id=_8...sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hardtack&f=false
Wow....that certainly leaves nothing for the imagination. LOL.....I'm pretty certain I would not have had the stomach for cleaning up a Civil War battlefield. A slap on the back and a HUGE atta boy to those who did!!!!
 
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