GDG- Harvest of Death Mystery

[James Cameron]

<< I heard an interesting theory on a battle walk this summer: a ranger 
proposed that these honored dead are from a skirmish line of the 41st NY and 
33rd MA, sent east of E. Cemetery hill on the afternoon of July 2, and then 
chased back to the line at the foot of the hill in the evening as Hays and 
Avery attacked east to west across the fields from the Culp property. The 
line has been described as a "heavy" skirmish line, with upwards of 1,000 
soldiers. The sloping ground could be east of the current East Confederate 
Avenue, with the shot facing in a southeasterly direction toward the tree 
line.
It's probably not in the Rose fields, but we may never know the exact spot. 
That's why this is such an exciting battle to study: tantalizing pieces of 
information in a fog of battle.
JC  >>

I have no strong opinion one way or the other about this area being the 
location of the "Harvest of Death" photos, never having made any particular 
effort to evaluate it in person.  But, I do have my doubts.  There was some 
discussion of it here on the GDG a while back, and I can't say I found the 
alleged identification of the background details supposedly pointing to the 
East Confederate Avenue area all that convincing.  Likewise, the "heavy" 
skirmish line idea.  Upwards of 1,000 men on the skirmish line in this area 
seems very high.  Frankly, where I think that idea comes from is comment 
during the discussion that the number of dead visible in the photos seems 
both very high, and too concentrated, for skirmish line casualties, the 
response being to bulk up the skirmish line to try to explain them all.

If that is really where the photos were taken, then fine, another mystery 
solved.  But I'd be very wary about considering the location as proven 
unless it all fits with a degree of certainly beyond the merely possible.


Jim Cameron