A white cross and red roses: Remembering Private John Roby

10th West Virginia Private John Roby's grave in Antietam National Cemetery.

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Walk through Antietam National Cemetery and you're sure to find a token of remembrance atop many of the weather-worn Civil War gravestones. You may see a pebble, a penny or two, perhaps a flower or a jar with a small candle -- all efforts by someone to tell us an ultimate sacrifice long ago still has deep meaning.

If you ventured toward the back of the beautiful, well-manicured grounds recently, past the massive soldier's monument known as "Old Simon," John Roby's grave may have caught your eye. A large, white cross affixed with fresh, red roses leaned against the marker for the 10th West Virginia private. More than 155 years after he died, someone still cares. The discovery sparked our curiosity: Who was John Roby?

In this document dated April 28, 1864, a surgeon at the Union hospital
 noted John Roby's cause of death: "phthisis pulmonalis," commonly 
known today as tuberculosis. (National Archives via fold3.com)
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

A laborer from Anderson's Store, Va., he enlisted in the Union army in Bennett's Mill on Sept. 25, 1861, leaving behind a wife named Elizabeth and at least two children living at home: Marcellus, 10, and Falista Margaret, 8. John may have been in his early 60s, more than 35 years older than the average age of a Civil War soldier. When hostilities began in Charleston, S.C., in April 1861, the Robys had already been married for nearly 34 years.

In early December 1862, Roby contracted a "disease of the lungs" near New Creek, Va., while he was "engaged in the normal duties of a soldier." Days later, he lay in "U.S. General Hospital" near Cumberland, Md., probably the Clarysville Hospital that opened in early March 1862 for the care for hundreds of ill and injured Union soldiers. On Christmas Eve, Roby died of disease, by far the leading cause of death during the war.

On June 6, 1863 -- 12 days before West Virginia was granted statehood and became part of the Union -- Elizabeth traveled to the courthouse in Lewis County, Va., where she provided evidence for a widow's pension claim. The 54-year-old woman declared she had married John in "David Heart's house" in Pendleton County, Va., on Aug. 30, 1827, and said the couple had 13 children together. Two friends of the family vouched for Elizabeth's claims, noting letters from 10th West Virginia soldiers that confirmed Roby had died in a Union hospital. Although she initially could not provide acceptable evidence of the birth of her youngest children, Elizabeth's claim was approved in 1864 at the standard $8 a month.

Signature of John Roby's widow on a pension file document. (National Archives via fold3.com)

Whether Mrs. Roby traveled to Cumberland to mourn at her husband's grave is unknown. In a massive post-war effort by the Federal government, thousands of Union dead who were buried on battlefields or at church graveyards, hospital sites or elsewhere were disinterred for re-burial in newly established national cemeteries. John's remains may have been identified because of a well-marked grave or perhaps by a personal item such as a watch or another keepsake. When Antietam National Cemetery was dedicated on Sept. 17, 1867, Roby's grave probably was marked by a wooden marker, later replaced with a pearl-white tombstone.

Of course, we may never know who left the magnificent remembrance at the old soldier's final resting place on the hill in the village of Sharpsburg, Md. But that's OK. When you remember one, someone once said, you remember them all.

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SOURCES

-- 1860 U.S. census
-- John Roby widow's pension file, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C., via fold3.com.

Antietam video: A visit to seldom-seen Union hospital site

An early-morning view of seldom-visited site of the old Otho J. Smith farm. 
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

PANORAMA: O.J. Smith farm on cold, misty morning.  (Click at upper right for full-screen experience.)
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In heart-rending accounts, nurses who served at the Otho J. Smith farm-turned-Union hospital near the Antietam battlefield wrote of wretched soldiers under their care. About one thousand Union wounded and some Confederates were patients at the division hospital for Union General William French after the battle on Sept. 17, 1862.

"Many last messages were taken and many precious treasures were committed to our charge to be sent along with a lock of hair and the last words to the sorrowing ones at home," recalled Maria Hall after the war.  Elizabeth Harris also aided wounded on Smith's farm, just off present-day Mansfield Road. She remembered:

"The first night we slept in our ambulance; no room in the small house, the only dwelling near, could be procured. The next day was the Sabbath. The sun shone brightly; the bees and the birds were joyous and busy; a beautiful landscape spread out before us, and we knew the Lord of the Sabbath looked down upon us. But, with all these above and around us, we could see only our suffering, uncomplaining soldiers, mutilated, bleeding, dying. Almost every hour I witnessed the going out of some young life. No words can describe the wonderful endurance -- not a murmur, not a word of complaint or regret."

In the video above, lifelong Washington County (Md.) resident and historian Richard Clem talks about the site of the former Union hospital where Alexander Gardner shot images in the fall of 1862. Smith's barn and house are long gone, and the privately-owned site is seldom visited by battlefield wanderers today. (Note: In the video, Clem refers to wounded at the Smith farm in the I Corps. He meant II Corps.)

In September 1862, tents for Antietam wounded occupied Otho J. Smith's field.
(Alexander Gardner | Library of Congress)

In this image by Alexander Gardner, 14th Indiana regimental surgeon Anson Hurd tends 
to wounded at the Otho J. Smith farm. (Library of Congress)

   Alexander Gardner shot first image above from approximately upper left of large field.
                                                               (Google Earth)

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SOURCES:

Moore, Frank, Women of The War, Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice, Hartford: S.S. Scranton & Co., 1866.

Antietam video: 30 seconds of sights, sounds in East Woods

The small flags mark the trace of section of old Smoketown Road that was recently cleared by the excellent Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Consider joining SHAF.

Antietam video: Early morning sights, sounds in Bloody Lane

Masterpiece: A visit to Widow Hoffman's farm at Antietam

Circa-1840 Susan Hoffman farmhouse. Her farm was a Union hospital site during and after Antietam. 
NOTE: PRIVATE PROPERTY. DO NOT TRESPASS. | CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

                PANORAMA: Panning from left, the barn, house, spring house and spring.
                                     (Click at upper right for full-screen experience.)

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On a spectacular spring morning, the old farmstead near the Antietam battlefield is a landscape painter’s dream. A circa-1840, red-brick farmhouse, magnificent inside and out, and an immaculate garden seem worthy subject matter for Claude Monet or any of the other great French impressionists.

Inside a small outbuilding, once quarters for the farm's slaves, guests gaze at the well-worn stone steps and wonder about long-ago occupants in the brick structure. At the 2 1/2-story spring house, probably the first residence of the farm’s original owner, ripples of water flow from underground while inside, a miniature Elvis — a misfit among great history— peers from his perch on a brown mantle in front of a wall painted light blue.

While two visitors admire the grounds, a graceful red hawk, buoyed by air currents and perhaps eyeing prey near an ancient corn crib below, circles high above them. On a narrow, winding country road nearby, the engine of a motorcycle, apparently muffled by the folds of land, is barely audible.

Spectacular view of countryside from the second-floor porch of the house.

Spring house, believed to be the first residence of the farm's original owner.

Elvis has not left the building: A mini-Presley stands guard on a mantle in the spring house.

Meanwhile, on a hillside overlooking the farmhouse, a massive barn, its original stone foundation intact, stands watch against a blue sky brushed with clouds. On its upper floor, huge bales of hay produce a distinctive, almost pungent, odor. A guest inspects the structure’s impressive, wooden beams marked by Roman numeral etchings, tell-tale evidence of 19th-century craftsmanship. Another visitor stoops to examine the old, handcrafted nails in the floorboards.

On the ground floor of the Pennsylvania-style bank barn, cows crowd into the dingy, confined space and nervously eye an unwelcome visitor, who admires the stonework and wonders about the tragic history of this special place.

Scores of Union wounded sheltered in this barn after the Battle of Antietam.

Cows occupy the ground floor of the barn, where hundreds of wounded were cared for in 1862.

Roman numerals etched in wooden barn beams, evidence of 19th-century craftsmanship.

Ancient wooden beams in the Hoffman farm barn.

Behind the farmhouse, the original corn crib.

On a short walk back to the farmhouse, an owner of the property tells the story of a piece of crafted metal he retrieved for his guests’ inspection. The boot scraper stirs imaginations: What soles/souls used this handiwork, probably created by a local blacksmith long ago? How many Federal soldiers scraped their boots on the ornate antique?

At least one of the guests briefly closes his eyes and imagines the scene in September and October 1862 at widow Susan Hoffman’s farm, used as a Union hospital during and after the Battle of Antietam:

Boot scraper: What Federal soldiers used it before entering
the Hoffman farmhouse?

Hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers, torn apart by chunks of metal. Blood-soaked surgeons. Amputated limbs in grotesque piles. The sickening smell of decaying flesh. Mounds of earth for freshly dug graves. A nurse, sweat pouring from her brow, tenderly consoling a grievously injured Yankee.

"On Sunday succeeding the battle," a member of the U.S. Christian Commission wrote, "we established ourselves permanently at the Hoffman House, thinking it better to concentrate our energies upon one point. In every spot here -- the barn, the stable, carriage-house, sheds, straw stacks, orchards, and indeed everywhere -- were to be seen wounded and dying men.

“For the first few days, of course, all was bustle and confusion. Nothing scarcely could be thought of but affording relief to the sufferers. Prayer only could be made at the side of one drawing near to his end, or words of Scripture whispered into the ear of the moaning patient as we dressed his wounds…"

Most of the wounded soldiers, the man recalled, were 16 to 21 years old.

After the visitors thank their gracious hosts, they drive off on the long, gravel lane. Comparing notes, they both quickly agree: It's a blessing to have the opportunity to walk among the ghosts ... and to view a  masterpiece.

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SOURCE:

- Moss, Rev. Lemuel, Annals of the U.S. Christian Commission, Philadelphia, J.P. Lippincott & Co., 1868

Antietam Then & Now: James Gibson's Middle Bridge photo

          THEN: James Gibson, September 1862, LOC  | NOW:: John Banks, April 21, 2018.
           Hover on image to view "Now" photo. Does does not work on phones, tablets.

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After the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, James Gibson photographed the Middle Bridge, used extensively by both armies, from a steep bluff on the east bank of Antietam Creek. After securing permission from the land owner, I aimed to duplicate Gibson's long-ago image. As you can see in the "Now" photograph, the terrain has changed significantly since 1862. Not only is the hillside extensively wooded, the Middle Bridge  no longer exists. Destroyed by a flood in 1891, it has long since been replaced by a modern bridge built higher than the older span. For a re-examination of Gibson's image on my blog, go here.

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Antietam video: 40-acre Cornfield, 16th Connecticut monument

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On Sept. 17, 1862, the green 16th Connecticut was routed in the 40-acre Cornfield at Antietam, suffering 43 killed among more than 200 casualties. Decades later, a veteran in the regiment described the fighting there:

“We were but a lot of green boys, many under 19 years old when we went into the Antietam fight. Only a few knew anything about guns. We had received our guns at Arlington Heights but had not had any drills in shooting of the manual of arms. As we forded the creek on the morning of the battle, we could see the Confederates. After we crossed the creek, we marched in line of battle for some time. Shells were coming our way and some men of the Eighth regiment we could see falling. A shell burst and a part of it flew up striking me on the side, and making a sore place which lasted several days. Finally we were ordered to go by the left flank and enter the corn field. We could not see any Confederates and went out in that field. The Rebels opened on us with several volleys. We did not know what to do. After a while, Captain Pasco said, 'Boys, I don’t know what orders to give but you had better disband and get out of this field.' "

-- 16th Connecticut Sergeant John Gemmill

On Sept. 17, 1915, the 53rd anniversary of Antietam, the Hartford Daily Times published
16th Connecticut veterans' recollections of the battle.  John Gemmill is at bottom left.

                                40-acre Cornfield and 16th Connecticut monument.
                                     (Click at upper right for full-screen experience.)

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Photo explorer: Intriguing faces at Washington's Grand Review

In a photograph attributed to Mathew Brady, a packed reviewing stand at the Grand Review.
(Library of Congress | Click on images to enlarge.)

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In a giant exclamation point to a brutal war, more than 140,000 Union soldiers marched through the dusty streets of Washington for the Grand Review on May 23-24, 1865. The New York Times described the two-day festival as a "grand pageant," while other newspapers were equally profuse with praise of the momentous event.

A damaged view of  Grand Review grandstand. (Library of Congress)

"The spectacle just passed away has had no equal in the history of the continent," the Philadelphia Inquirer enthusiastically reported.

"Never has Washington witnessed a more august occasion or presented a more beautiful or animated spectacle," The Pittsburgh Daily Post noted. "The whole population of the city is in the streets, swollen by many thousands of strangers which have been pouring in here for days past from all points of the compass, and by every imaginable mode of conveyance."

"An Immense Concourse of People Present," a headline in the Cleveland Daily Leader blared.

The Grand Review was well-documented by photographers, including the renowned Mathew Brady, who had a studio near the White House. Of the scores of images taken, two attributed to Brady are the most intriguing to me: a photo of dignitaries in the presidential reviewing stand near the White House and a stereograph (top of post) titled "Grand review of the army. Interior view of grandstand."

As if on the photographer's cue, Grand Review attendees -- a little girl, ladies wearing bonnets, men in top hats and other ordinary citizens -- stare directly into the camera. In cropped enlargements of this remarkable photograph, available for your own inspection on the Library of Congress site,  "hidden" details emerge.

... an especially serious-looking woman wearing an impressive bonnet and a overly large bow stands out in this crowd ...

... while at the upper left, we discover a doppelganger for President Lincoln, assassinated the previous month, and an older man who apparently is amused. Check out the haunting pair of eyes on the individual below our "Lincoln." ...

... in this cropped enlargement, a small girl, perhaps no more than 8 years old, looks charming in a hat with three feathers. Standing near her, we see two soldiers, one grasping a musket with a lengthy bayonet ...

... and at upper left, we find a man with more than a hint of smile and a bespectacled gentleman, a lookalike for Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War. The real Stanton was in the presidential reviewing stand for the Grand Review ...

... while in the background, behind the grandstand, we discover parade-goers taking advantage of an elevated position on the Treasury building, probably a prime viewing spot on the magical day. The reviewing stand was at Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Northwest. (Hat tip: Andy Hall.)

What else do you see in the photograph?

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Video: Exploring J.E.B. Stuart mortal wounding monument

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On May 11, 1864, Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart (right) was mortally wounded at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, near Richmond, Va. The monument to mark where he was wounded and to honor his memory is now smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood.

Antietam video: A walk on Joseph Poffenberger farm

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Joseph Hooker

On the morning of Sept. 17, 1862, Union artillery was positioned on a ridge behind Joseph Poffenberger's house, and his farm was used as a staging area for Yankee troops. As the battle raged nearby in David R. Miller's infamous cornfield and elsewhere, wounded and frightened Federals streamed back to the Poffenberger farm. Union general Joseph Hooker, who commanded the I Corps, slept in the Poffenberger barn the night before the battle. The house, barn and outbuildings are on National Park Service property.

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'Flash of inspiration': Photographer's brilliant Gettysburg work

Union cavalry commander John Buford awaits the enemy on Chambersburg Pike.

Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock projected onto a monument on Cemetery Hill.
(Images courtesy Bill Bretzger | CLICK ON ALL IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

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With an iPhone and an online training course, almost anyone can shoot reasonably good to great  battlefield photographs. My favorite shooting gallery is Antietam, where natural light was optimal last month for these images. Bill Bretzger, whose photography skills far exceed mine, relishes shooting at Gettysburg.

Bill Bretzger

A longtime newspaper photographer, Bretzger first became interested in the Pennsylvania battlefield shortly after the movie about the battle came out in 1993. Accompanied to Gettysburg by his brother, Paul, a historian whose book on the battle recently was published, he was captivated by the field's unique topography. Over the years, his trips to Gettysburg became more frequent. Bretzger shot at the usual spots — Cemetery Hill, Devil's Den, Little Round Top — and the usual images of sunsets and sunrises.

"I’ve watched interest in photographing the field and the sharing of those images really explode with digital photography and social media," said Bretzger, who also shoots video for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. "I try to be different, move beyond postcard-type scenes and communicate a story."

"Different" includes a technique in which he projects images of soldiers and others onto Gettysburg monuments, boulders, barns, farmhouses or other structures. The resulting photographs, which recently caught my eye on Facebook, are brilliant. In this Q&A, Bretzger explains the photography technique and why Gettysburg is such a remarkable canvas for his artistry:

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Where did the idea come from, and is anyone else doing it?

Bretzger: I saw a story on a web site that is heavy with camera gadget and gear information about the slide/flash projector I ended up using and put the idea together -- a flash of inspiration (pun intended!), I suppose, almost right away. There is another photographer, artist Jeff Beekman, who has done a similar series, though our methods and results are fairly different. We each developed the concepts independent of each other. His approach is a little more conceptual in nature, perhaps even more "artistic." Mine is a little more specific about sites and subjects together.

People are often curious about the process I work with. I employ a pretty simple "slide projector" that uses a regular camera flash — it’s not a constant image like in a slide show -- to beam the images into the scene. So I start with a portrait, first using a digital file to print the image at 35mm-size on a piece of transparency paper and cut it down to fit a slide mount. The slide mount goes in the light projector and I flash the image into the scene. I use a long exposure to record the battlefield image in conjunction with the short flash of light to capture the portrait, all in one frame. I suppose something similar can be produced in Photoshop, but I think shooting on-site gives the images a more real, almost organic and less-contrived feel. The projected image wraps around the subjects, and you see the shadows and ridges and light fall off in a way that would not be easy to accomplish in the computer.

President Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address appear on the Pennsylvania Monument.

Lieutenant John Emerson of the 26th North Carolina was mortally wounded during Pickett’s Charge. 
His image is projected onto the 26th North Carolina marker under the guns at The Angle.

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Why the great attraction to Gettysburg?

Bretzger: Gettysburg is the closest major battlefield from my location, and has been since I started shooting there when I still lived in New Jersey. Besides being one of the greatest and most terrible battles of the war, it is also a remarkably varied field for such an otherwise ordinary area of Pennsylvania.

Photographer Bill Bretzger at Gettysburg.

Obviously the many, many monuments are an attraction to photography. It’s also a well-preserved battlefield with a diversity in landscape, from pastoral fields to rocky hills, Devil's Den and Rock Creek, Culp’s Hill… the Cemetery, so much more. It’s a complex field with three days of action overlapping. I consider myself a student of the battle and the early photography there but know only enough to know there is so much to learn. One important aspect of Gettysburg, for me, is its fairly liberal park hours. When I started taking pictures there in the 1990s, it was still open year-round until 10 pm, so that gave a good amount of time after sunset in the winter to make night images, star trails over the battlefield, etc. They’ve since scaled back the hours for the colder months, but it's helpful to have the later closing times to work with.

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Of these images you have shot on the battlefield, which one is your favorite and why?

Bretzger: I haven’t a real favorite. I suppose I favor the image of Brigadier General Lewis Armistead because of how it all comes together, the guns, the setting, the color dropped right in from the night sky and some town lights. Lieutenant John Emerson and the 26th North Carolina, too. Very stark portrait, his face popped off the cover of Military Images magazine and I knew it had to have a place it would work at Gettysburg. I want to combine these faces with the places that they are closely associated with -- those two can’t get much better for a connection with the landscape. One thing about my work I try to remember as part of my process: there are a ton of nice sunset and silhouette images out there. I’ve watched interest in photographing the field and the sharing of those images really explode with digital photography and social media. I try to be different, move beyond postcard-type scenes and communicate a story.

Confederate General Lewis Armistead was mortally wounded during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863.

Captain John Bigelow and the 9th Massaschusetts Battery monument at the Trostle farm. The unit made
 a critical stand here on July 2, 1863.

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What's the reaction been from the public and the National Park Service?

Bretzger: The projections are just one aspect of my work, I work in more traditional black and white, medium- and large-format film photography, and other night imagery of the field, usually with "light painting." But the projections have probably had the best reception, though, I suppose there is some uniqueness to the work and the way the portraits are combined with the field that hasn’t really been seen. I don’t push my work too much right now, I haven’t even a real dedicated website, I’m content with Facebook and Instagram for starters.

I’m still trying to catch up on processing and printing or scanning and good deal of work I’ve done. I was an artist-in-residence at the park for a month last year; I used the projected portraits in my application, and I think it intrigued the reviewers, which included the NPS, enough for them to have me part of the program. I’d like to highlight what a great program the A-I-R is; the National Parks Arts Foundation and the NPS work together on it at Gettysburg and other parks. They were extremely welcoming and supportive. The Gettysburg program puts a range of artists in a historic house in the middle of the battlefield for a month-long residency each. An incredible experience that I still miss!

Colonel George Willard and the advance position marker for his brigade near the Daniel Klingel house. 
On July 2, 1863, his New York men helped plug the gap in the Union line and finally repulsed
 Barksdale's Charge.  Willard was killed by an artillery shell during the assault.

Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Kershaw projected onto the Rose farmhouse. His men 
swarmed across the property on July 2, 1863.

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Any place you're eager to shoot using this technique at Gettysburg ... or any other Civil War battlefield?

Bretzger: Gettysburg offers a host of what I call "canvases" for projecting portraits into the scenes. It’s really important to have something the images can be shown on. There are large, white walls of barns and houses, monuments with flat, blank surfaces, even boulders that serve as good places to receive the images. I’d love to find a good image of Abraham Bryan to use at his house on the field, and highlight the civilian side of the battle, especially that of African-Americans. I’m not sure one of Bryan exists. But that’s a location begging for a projected image -- the barn works great, too.

Unfortunately, the house is positioned in a way to make it a little tougher with light from the commercial strip shining right there. There are a lot of small challenges to this work you don’t realize until you start trying to line up the images. The portrait, "canvas" and scene have to come together. In the dark it can be a struggle.

I love visiting other battlefields, but few offer the sort of multiple opportunities for this work that Gettysburg does. I haven’t branched out anywhere else. There is a lot left at Gettysburg to work with, yet.

Private John Hayden and the 2nd Maryland CSA monument on Culp's Hill. Hayden was mortally wounded 
near here. He died as a prisoner on July 7, 1863.

Daniel Sickles' image projected onto the Trostle barn. The Union general lost a leg nearby to Rebel artillery.

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