GDG- Devil's Den Sharpshooter

[John M. Rudy]

I did a bit of digging around the Heritage Galleries site, and found a 
nice little zoomable image of the print:

http://americana.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=674&Lot_No=72029#Photo

It is a curious image in a few respects.  The pipe and tin cup in the 
fore look relatively staged.  Of course, Gardner took artistic liberties 
with a lot his images, adding details here and there to make them more 
personal and heartrending.  I'd vote that Gardner's team staged most of 
the props in all of these scenes.  The hat is conspicuously inverted in 
all the shots, showing only a non-descript lining and no hint of the 
exterior's color (or corps badge if it's a salvaged federal 
forgecap/kepi).  The cartridge box is too well placed, too conspicuous 
and too prominent in the so-called "Shrine" picture.  And, for the life 
of me, that rifle case looks like a black tarred federal haversack.

I don't buy it.  Bill Fras has my respect for all the work he did while 
a student at Gettysburg and beyond, and the groundbreaking work he did 
to plot these myriad photos.   His argument is more convincing.  
Frankly, James Groves seems to be grasping at straws.  If I'm ever 
occasioned to be talking with Fras at his "office hours" in the mine, 
I'll ask him.  I've wanted an excuse to meet him for a while now.

-John


Esteemed GDG Member Robert Heath Contributes:

> Interestingly enough, Heritage Galleries is having another Civil War auction, and is listing the albumen image "Sharpshooter's Last Rest" as an item. I'm assuming it is an original made from by Gardner from the original plate. If you have the 3,000 to 5,000 it is estimated to go at, you could really spice up our discussion.  Also listed in this auction is Mary Chestnut's personal photo album and McClellan's sword. It's all listed on ebay. Amazing pieces of history! I would love to just spend an evening in the room with some of these items. Or be one of the "idle rich" and snap a few up.
>
> Oh, James Longstreet's autograph is also represented...starting bid at $50.00.  Think maybe Jubal Early is part owner in Heritage Galleries?