Images of Death - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 47.744 W 077° 14.857
18S E 307564 N 4407502
After the battle that took place in the Wheatfield, there was the dead to contend with. The Confederates took a beating and lost many men. This interpretive focuses on the aftermath of that particular battle.
Waymark Code: WMHP5R
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2013
Views: 5
On the hot afternoon July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, this parcel of ground known as the Wheatfield would become a central location of fighting and death. This was a hostly contested piece of land which would become as legendary as Devils Den, the Angle or Little Round Top. The Rose Farm, Plum Run, Devil's Den and LIttle Round Top were all a part of the Wheatfield battle. Eventually, the Confederates were pushed back across Plum Run, but the blue faltered at west part of Rose Woods. It seemed to go back and forth, no one getting the upper hand. It is staggering to think the amount of men killed. The 61st New York Infantry Regiment of Cross's brigade lost 60% of it's number, all killed and wounded. The 53rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in Brooke's brigade had lost 59% of it's number. The 17th U.S. Regulars (WHo did not make any progress in the Wheatfield) of Burbank's Brigade lost 58% of its men. The Union regiments averaged approximately 1/3 loss of their regiments while the Confederates shared a similar burden of loss.
The interpretive on the left or west side of Brooke Avenue when traveling north, right off the road, in Rose Woods. This road is a crazy unorganized loop which originates and ends at Sickles Avenue. This tablet is just north from being across from the midpoint of the entrance and exit (or vice versa) of this road along Sickles Avenue. The 
Kershaw's Brigade Tablet (MN548) is right next to this interpretive on the same side of the road. Parking is available along the side of the road at intermittently asphalt-enlarged shoulders. There is a little space on the left side between the monument and interpretive to park. Take care to park in the white lines (when present) or on asphalt or gravel-widened shoulders and not park on anything remotely green looking as Park Police will happily ticket you. I visited this site on Monday, July 1, 2013 on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg after 5 PM, EDT. As always, I used my trusty and oft abused Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.
Each interpretive is held in a thick, black frame, about 3 feet high and tilted at such an angle for suitable and easy reading. This particular series, the large ones with b & w photos on the right and text on the left, were constructed and erected by the Gettysburg National Military Park. The marker offers some insight as to the fighting that occurred here on July 2 1863 with some photos to show the aftermath with bodies strewn everywhere on July 5, 1863.
The interpretive Reads:
"It was now near nightfall, and the operations of the day were over. ...I commenced the melancholy task of looking up my numerous dead and wounded. It was a sad list."
Brig. Gen. J.B. Kershaw, C.S.A.
Kershaw's Brigade, McLaws' Division
In 1863 this land was farmed by John Rose who lived in the stone house visible in front of you.
On the afternoon of July 2, Georgians and South Carolinians of Anderson's, Semmes', and Kershaw's Brigades advanced and retreated across this ground in their bloody assaults on the Wheatfield, located just beyond the woods behind you. Many Confederate soldiers fell here, the grim harvest of Union riflemen and artillerists.
The photographs in this exhibit are from a series of ten views taken here on the Rose Farm by Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner on July 5, 1863. The bloated bodies are unknown Confederate soldiers. They had been dead for three days.
More About the Interpretive:
In the upper part of the marker is a Historic photo taken on this farm July 5, 1863, three days after the Confederates pictured had been killed. In the lower center is another of Gardner's photos. The photographer found these fifteen corpses laid out in a "V". Confederate comrades probably collected the bodies, but were forced to abandon them when they retreated July 4. Union soldiers were left the task of burial. In the lower right is Another of Alexander Gardner's views of the battlefield dead taken along the edge of these woods. Note the photographer's wagon (upper left) where the glass plate negatives were developed.