"Amidst the boulders lay a rebel sharpshooter..."

Dead Confederate "sharpshooter" at Devil's Den, photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan on July 6, 1863. (Library of Congress)

One of the most widely recognized and often published photographs on the subject of Gettysburg, this melancholy view of a dead Confederate youth laying behind a stone barricade at Devil's Den was taken on July 5 or 6, 1863 by photographer Alexander Gardner and two of associates. Gardner later published the photograph in his "Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War" accompanied by a lavish description of his discovery of the dead soldier who he described as a sharpshooter killed at his post. Gardner also speculated on the dead soldier's final moments in the sniper's nest, adding that he found his bleached bones still lying in the nest while on a later visit to the site. It was not until 1975 when Gettysburg: A Journey In Time by author-historian William Frassanito was published, that this apparent hoax by Gardner was uncovered. This scene was actually posed by Gardner and his associates who carried the corpse into this position and dressed up the scene with relics of war scattered about the area. A final touch was the rifle standing against the barricade, placed by Gardner who had used the weapon in previous photos. Gardner's assistants, James Gibson and his chief photographer Timothy O'Sullivan, took two photographs of the scene, the clearest of which is shown here. They then moved on to photograph other scenes in the adjacent "Slaughter Pen", leaving the body in the sharpshooter's nest.

Though this scene was contrived by Gardner and his men, it does not detract from the fact that this young soldier died on a battlefield far away from a home where his relatives and loved ones were possibly wondering at the very moment this picture was taken, whether he was alive and well or killed in battle. This soldier's identity has been lost in time, his youthful remains forever preserved in a photographer's image that has haunted historians and the curious for over a hundred and thirty five years. Yet, the use of his body as a photographer's prop should not detract from the tragedy of a life snuffed out in battle. The true facts of his death on the rocky slopes of Devil's Den are better known today, but cannot dim the feeling of loss Americans should feel when we gaze upon this scene and realize that he once had a name, a family, and a home.