Wagon photo question

[Poorlaggedman]

As far as I'm aware there's no journal information or personal information available from the photographers about their trip to Gettysburg other than what they captioned the photos with in various publications. In fact I'm not aware of more than one primary resource mentioning the photographers even being at the battlefield (the officer from the 17th Maine I previously quoted).

 

[Lubliner]

As far as I'm aware there's no journal information or personal information available from the photographers about their trip to Gettysburg other than what they captioned the photos with in various publications. In fact I'm not aware of more than one primary resource mentioning the photographers even being at the battlefield (the officer from the 17th Maine I previously quoted).

I am pretty sure Gardner kept a diary of his activities. I believe it may have been confiscated once in Frederick(?) when he was captured on his way to the Antietam battlefield. I would need to go back and check my source, which I no longer have. (Frassanito). Plenty of other sources should appear due to the litigation after the war in proving who owned which photo. I will leave it with an open question mark. If someone has a source to prove either conjecture I will welcome it.
Lubliner.

 

[Jim Geraghty]

Not a wagon guy but can clean up the photo a bit....

 

[Poorlaggedman]

Cool, thanks.

 

[EJ Zander]

Cool, thanks.

Nice work
Looks like more horses behind the forge and I cant tell what they are doing. cant make out another vehicle behind the forge and if they are all four hitched to the ambu it would be rare since its a lightweight hauler. If this is part of a burial detail the ones in the back maybe hitched to a piece of farm equipment like a plow or horse drawn shovel (slip as it is called) to speed the process of opening the ground for mass burial. They also maybe hitched to a double tree and being used to drag items or dare I say those to be interred. Dont know if there are any historical accounts of this being done. We use horses to drag items with trees often rather then lifting items into a vehicle for transport. The pole on the forge looks to be turned slightly towards the camera. The two back wagons look the be tracking to the right of the forge. Depth perception is hard to make out in the pic but they look kinda of bunched to be actually underway. With the tethered horse behind the ambu and the couple head behind the forge my guess is the are in transition or are working in that area.
Slip scoop in action

source: http://seldomseensheep.tripod.com/morganfamilypioneerheritage/id55.html

 

[Poorlaggedman]

The 'horses' behind the forge might be people

View attachment 325310

I now believe I see two people in the photo now. The rear wagon has one sitting in what I'd refer to as the driver's seat.

The forge seems to have someone resting at the head of the forge carriage, legs over the opposite side. I also see what looks like a shoulder strap on him as well.

 

[unicornforge]

If it helps to point out, the first vehicle is as mentioned an Artillery battery "A" forge, a two-wheeled vehicle. In this photo it is attached to a limber (with a chest on it) so it can be pulled along in the manner of an articulated four-wheeled wagon, the usual method of transport. What this means in context of the photo is that the forge was not dropped off to stay in the area for any length of time,* but likely was expected to be moving on shortly.

* A blacksmith generally doesn't work until he can unload and arrange his weasel (set of implements) from the forge, including an anvil to place nearby on it's stump.

The Limber Chest contained many of the tools that the blacksmiths would use, and the Limber was not separated from the Forge as the forge was unstable unless hooked to the Limber. The Prop that is under the Forge's Stock did/does not provide enough support to be stable in supporting the Forge by itself so the Prop is pretty much useless in actual practice. The Coal Box was removed when the Blacksmith/Farrier started work so that the bellows could be placed in working position, and to provide access to the Iron Room where horse shoes and iron bars were stored. (Reference: see all the "Ordinance Manuals for Use of...." versions 1850s through 1860s)

 

[byron ed]

The Limber Chest contained many of the tools that the blacksmiths would use, and the Limber was not separated from the Forge as the forge was unstable unless hooked to the Limber. The Prop that is under the Forge's Stock did/does not provide enough support to be stable in supporting the Forge by itself so the Prop is pretty much useless in actual practice...

The fact that the forge has a prop indicates it was expected to stand apart from a limber at times. In my reenactment unit, we simply stabilized the propped forge with wheel chocks, didn't seem much of an issue. But then we only made stuff for show, not the grind of use such a forge would actually endure in the real war. I defer to your knowledge of it, thanks.

 

[Poorlaggedman]

Found this cool article from 2010 concerning this photo. Apparently the Klingel House is in the background.

"Unfit for Service" and "An Army on the March at Gettysburg?" | Gettysburg Daily

Photographer Alexander Gardner titled this stereo view "Unfit for Service - on the battlefield of Gettysburg. July 1863." This view shows a dead mule by a limber. Although it is a well-known picture from Gettysburg, we are not aware of anyone being able to state specifically where it was taken...

www.gettysburgdaily.com