Gettysburg photo mysteries

A few years ago, John Cummings discovered the previously mysterious position of a famous Gettysburg photograph usually titled 'Harvest of Death'. His notes are here. His research also reveals ways in which that era's photographs were artistically manipulated and don't necessarily record reality.

His work leads me to identify the position of another Gettysburg photograph, conjectured to be on the Confederate right in the 2nd day's battlefield near the Rose farm, but whose actual location is also unknown. No one else has made this leap.

In this photo of partially buried Confederate dead, several landmarks appear: the scraggly trees in the background, the up-sloping topography and the pile of white-washed fence boards.

 

I have highlighted the most interesting element, the pile of fence boards.

 

In the photograph whose location John has identified, a similar board pile is revealed in the middle distance, highlighted here.

 

 

Other than the landmarks, small gnarly trees and up-sloping terrain, there are several ideas regarding this position.

 

Concerning the currently theorized position being on the CSA right: there are no other photos of Confederate burials in the area; it  was an active combat zone on the evening of the 2nd and the CSA withdrew from it on the night of the 3rd. It's doubtful that exhausted, front-line troops would have engaged in graves operations.

 

Now, about my conjecture: This zone was behind Confederate lines from the afternoon of July 1st until the evening of July 5th. The troops in the area were not engaged in fighting after the 1st and conducted extensive graves operations until they left the Gettysburg area. The photographer was in the area on the 6th and it's unlikely they would have limited their photo-taking to a few plates on the ridge near where Reynolds was killed.

 

I believe the photo was taken in he swale in the left middle distance, perhaps near the trees just over the ridge.

 

 

Soldier Ages - Mythical Company Musters Out

Our mythical company of 100 originally enlisted for 3 months and then re-upped for 3 more years.

Now the time to muster out and return to homes and occupations has at last arrived.

Through more then 3 years of warfare, with discharge, disablement, disease, desertion and death thinning the ranks, the 100 soldiers count only 35.

Their ages at the last muster are :

age              number
18 or under    1
19                 2
20                 8
21                 4
22-24           12
25-27            7
over 28          1

Soldier Ages - some references

Searching

'"44 and over" adjutant report' 

turned up the following in a newspaper and a journal. 

They obviously reference the same 'report' and give 1909 as the published year .

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 1 1911:

 

From the Society of the Army of the Potomac, Report of the Thirty-Eighth Annual Reunion (the same text appears in the Reports of the 35th and the 40th) printed in 1908:

Sodier Ages - Mythical Company

Let's use the Adjutant General's data and recruit a mythical 100-soldier infantry company.

At the first drill, the company lines up by age.

As we inspect the ranks, the first 4 'men' are 15 or younger!

Walking the line of soldiers, we see:
age        number
16            4
17           22
18           11
19-21      37
22-24      20
25-43        1

finally, last in line is an old greybeard over 43!

Soldier Ages - the full text

Here is the transcribed text from the booklet, with words replacing the actual ditto, double-quote, marks :


Grand Army of the Republic

The veterans’ organization was founded by Dr. Stephenson, in Decatur, Illinois, in 1866.  The final encampment was in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949.

Number of men, by age who served in the Union (from the Adjutant General’s report)
 
Age 10 and under: 25
Age 11 and under: 38
Age 12 and under: 225
Age 13 and under: 300
Age 14 and under: 1,525
Age 15 and under: 104,987
Age 16 and under: 231,051
Age 17 and under: 844,891
Age 18 and under: 1,151,438
Age 21 and under: 2,159,798
Age 22 and over: 618,511
Age 25 and over: 46,626
Age 44 and over: 16,071

TOTAL . . . . . . 2,778,304 [actually 2,778,309 ]

Soldier Ages - rebuttal

Before continuing an analysis of the 'soldiers ages', let's acknowledge some issues with them.

1) the 'Adjutant General's Report' is an elusive one. I've not seen an original form.  The same text I posted can be found in only 3 or 4 places on the web, but strictly as cut'n'paste. Is it in the official records? Is it the GAR AG or the War Department AG, or someone else?

2) The figures *are* somewhat mind-bending. Most sources use 2.1 million as the number of Union servicemen. The 2.7 million may be double-counting multiple enlistees? Many men would have enlisted for 3 months and then for 3 years.

3) Some numbers are problematic. Only 46,626 servicemen were 25 or over. This number seems way low.

4) many reputable historians use 26 as the average soldiers age. That number is impossible given this data. From where did these writers obtain *their* figure?

Soldier Ages

Earlier this year I commented on another blog that 40% of Civil War soldiers were 18 or younger and 75% were 21 and under. These are numbers that stuck with me from a lecture sometime last century. Politely challenged, I was unable to find *any* backup for my figures.

This surprised me given the massive Official Records and census data readily available and the web on all topics Civil War.

Browsing randomly (as I tend to) through the booklet "Civil War Union Monuments" published in 1978 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, I found this page:

Some quick math reveals that 41% of Union soldiers were 18 or under and 78% were 21 and younger. Only 2 in 9 were 22 and older..

Naturally, one source does not a solid conclusion make.

However, my primary thesis is that movies, battle reenactments and living history has instilled in us the idea that Civil War soldiers were old, well-fed and graying.

These numbers tell us that 3 in 4 weren't even eligible to vote.