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Document A

Gardner took this photograph of deceased Confederate soldiers in the days after the Battle of Antietam. In the background is a church damaged by artillery fire. Gardner had gained permission to photograph the battle from President Lincoln. The dead in Gardner’s photographs were disproportionately Confederate soldiers.

Title: Bodies of Confederate artillerymen near Dunker church Location: near Sharpsburg, Maryland Date: 1862 Photographer: Alexander Gardner

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Document B

This photograph shows deceased Confederate soldiers after the Battle of Antietam. In 2016, TIME magazine named this as one of the 100 most influential photographs of all time.

Title: Antietam, Md. Confederate dead by a fence on the Hagerstown road Location: near Sharpsburg, Maryland Date: 1862 Photographer: Alexander Gardner

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Document C

Although Gardner’s title for this photograph suggests it shows a live battle scene, historian William Frassanito, who has studied Gardner’s work extensively, believes that it actually depicts an encampment of Union soldiers the day after the battle, and that the smoke visible in the photograph is from campfires and not weapons. No one knows if Gardner intended to mislead viewers into believing that they were viewing an actual battle scene, but Frassanito believes that Gardner was “not above stretching the truth” about his photographs.

Title: Antietam, Maryland. Battlefield on the day of battle Location: near Sharpsburg, Maryland Date: 1862 Photographer: Alexander Gardner

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Document D

This photograph shows deceased Confederate soldiers in a ditch that had been dug to provide cover for them as they fired rifles at Union forces.

Title: Antietam, Md. Confederate dead in a ditch on the right wing used as a rifle pit Location: near Sharpsburg, Maryland Date: 1862 Photographer: Alexander Gardner

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Guiding Questions

1. What does each photograph tell us about the Battle of Antietam? Document A Document B Document C Document D

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2. When evaluating whether a historical photograph is useful as evidence, historians consider various questions, including:

• When and where was the photograph was taken? • Who took the photograph? What was their perspective on the events or

people being photographed, and how might that have influenced what they chose to shoot?

• Why was the photograph taken? Might the photographer have wanted to portray a scene in a particular way?

• Under what circumstances was the photograph taken? How might these circumstances have limited or enabled what the photographer captured?

• What technology did the photographer use, and how might that have influenced the image created?

Considering the questions above, why might Gardner’s photographs be useful evidence about the Battle of Antietam? Considering the questions above, what about Gardner’s photographs might cause you to question whether they are useful evidence about the Battle of Antietam?

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In 1863, Gardner quit working for Brady and started his own studio in Washington, D.C. In July of 1863, Gardner photographed the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, and he displayed these photographs in his new gallery. Below are two of the photographs that Gardner took at Gettysburg.

Photo 1

Title: A Sharpshooter’s Last Sleep Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Date: 1863

Photo 2

Title: Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Date: 1863

William Frassanito, a historian who studied Gardner’s photographs extensively, claimed the following about these two photographs:

- Although the scenes depicted were over 40 yards apart, the soldier is the same in both photographs

- Gardner said that the soldier was a Confederate sharpshooter, but the rifle in the photograph was not a sharpshooter’s rifle, and this type of rifle appeared in many of Gardner’s photographs.

3. If Frassanito’s claims are true, what do they suggest about Gardner’s photographs? 4. If true, do Frassanito’s claims affect the reliability of Gardner’s photographs of Antietam (in Documents A-D)? Explain your reasoning.