Rose Farm Dead

[MarionRifles]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Looks like the shoes in question have some sort of fancy canvas gaiters over them,and perhaps the front of them had a ruffled decoration which makes it appear that the ends of the shoes were cut up.Just a thought.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Looks like the shoes in question have some sort of fancy canvas gaiters over them,and perhaps the front of them had a ruffled decoration which makes it appear that the ends of the shoes were cut up.Just a thought.

Not sure we're talking about the same shoes. I'm referring to the shoes on the legs at center of this pic. The legs appear to be bound near the knees and the shoes appear to have a series of slices made in parallel to the wearer's toes. I don't see any gaiters on this poor fellow.

[Secesh]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

I don't think it's rocket science here, and we're reaching for conclusions...The guy marched from Virginia to Gettysburg, and for whatever reason, his shoes were troubling him so he slit them for relief. People have been doing this for centuries...There are shoes excavated from a Viking settlement that have holes cut out at the ball of the foot to relieve bunion pressure...I once slit the sides of a pair of work boots once because they were to tight and were killing my foot. As to bindings, I would think the legs were bound to make it easier to drag his corpse to burial. There are accounts of the skin slipping from the bodies after several days of decomposition, spraying the men with internal fluids since the body was under pressure from bloating. By securing the limbs one could anchor the bindings to bones, which would not pull off. I recall reading an account of a civilian and his son who found a dead reb 2 weeks after the battle, and as they tried to pick him up by the arms the skin slipped off, emitting a foul odor. The father stated that he then removed the dead soldier's waistbelt, wound it around the knees, and dragged the body to a ditch he had dug. This account is in the book "The Confederate Dead at Gettysburg".

[RJSamp]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Could the slits be a post death alteration done by the opposing army to prevent later soldiers from obtaining new shoes?
I've never read of this....but, there are surely way more sources on this than I have read....anyone heard of soldiers destroying/altering equipment left on the dead to keep the cornfed's from picking it up?

Military gear, yes....smashing rifle stocks, burning cartridge boxes, shooting horses, etc. Have never read of shoes being left on feet, mutilated, prior to being buried underground, and the Corn Feds were probably NEVER coming back to Gettysburg.....

[floridawar]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Great thread... Just came on this the other day. An interesting description of the efforts made to identify Union dead interred on the battlefield for reinterment in the cemetery... It has some tidbits about the shoes and clothes of the corpses in the last paragraphs on which I have added some emphasis. This account is from: "Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania" published by W.R. Holloway, State printer, 1865.

[Gettysburg, March 19, 1864;
To David Wills, Esq.,
Agent for A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania,

Sir :—I herewith submit the following brief report of the results of my labors as the superintendant of the exhuming of the bodies of the Union soldiers, that fell on the battle-field of Gettysburg:
The contractor commenced the work of exhtming on Tuesday, the 27th of October, last, and finished yesterday. The work has been protracted much beyond our original anticipations, by reason of the ground being frozen for a long time during the winter, thus entirely suspending the work, and also by the number of bodies exceeding our first calculations. The number taken up and removed to the Soldiers' National Cemetery, is thirty-three hundred and fifty-four, (3,354,) and to those add the number of Massachusetts soldiers taken up by the authorities of the city of Boston, by special contract, amounting to one hundred and fifty-eight, (158,) makes the number of removals thirty-five hundred and twelve (3 512) bodies. Of these, nine hundred and seventy-nine (979,) were bodies nameless, and without any marks or surroundings to designate the State from which they volunteered. The rest were, in most instances, marked with boards, on which the name, company and regiment, were written in pencil, or cut by their comrades who buried them.
In some instances the regiment to wliich the soldier belonged was discovered, and sometimes only the State from which they volunteered ; and in those cases they were buried in their appropriate State lot. There was not a grave permitted to be opened nor a body searched unless I was present. I was inflexible in enforcing this rule, and here can say with the greatest satisfaction to myself and to the friends of the soldiers, that I saw every body taken out of its temporary resting place and all the pockets carefully searched ; and when the grave was not marked, I examined nil the clothing and everything about the body, to find the name. I then saw the body, with all the hair, and all the partii-.les of bone, carefully placed in the coffin, and if there was a head board, I required it at once to be nailed to the coffin. At the same time I wrote the name, company and regiment, of the soldier on the coffin, and numbered the coffin, and entered in, my book the same endorsement. This book was returned to your office every evening, to copy and compare with the daily return made by the Superintendent of the interments in the cemetery. In these scrutinizing searches, the names of a number of lost soldiers were found. They were discovered in various ways. Sometimes by the pocket diaries, by letters, by names in Bible or Testament, by photo-graphs, names in pocket-books, descriptive lists, express receipts, medals, names on some part of the clothing, or on bett or cartridge-box, &c. There were some articles of value found on the bodies; some money, watches, jewelry, &c. I took all relics, as well as all articles of value, from the bodies, packed them up and labeled them, so that the friends can get them. There are many things valueless to others, which would be of great interest to the friends. I herewith submit a 8t of persons and articles found upon them, and you will, no doubt, take means to get information to the friends, by advertisement or otherwise, so that they may give notice where, and to whom, these things shall be forwarded. I have two hundred and eighty-seven packages.
Before we commenced our work the battle-field had been overrun by thousands of sorrowing friends, in search of lost ones, and many of the graves had been opened, and but partially or carelessly closed. Many of the undertakers who were removing bodies, also performed their work in the most careless manner, invariably leaving the graves open, and often leaving particles of the bones and hair scattered around. These things are frequently to be seen on every part of the battle-field ; and persons going over it might attribute such work to the contractors, but there cannot be one instance pointed out of such kind of work done by them. Every particle of the body was gathered up by them, and the grave neatly closed over and levelled. The bodies were found in various stages of decomposition.
On the battle of the first day the rebels obtained possession before our men were buried, and left most of them unburied from Wednesday until Monday following, when our men buried them. After this length of time they could not be identified, and consequently but few on the battle-field of July the 1st, were marked. They were generally covered with a small portion.of earth, dug up from along-side of the body; this left them much exposed to the heat, air and rains, and they decomposed rapidly, so that when these bodies were taken up, there were nothing remaining but dry skeletons.
Where bodies were in heavy clay soil, or in marshy places, they were in a good state of preservation; where they were in sandy, porous soil, they were entirely decomposed. Frequently our men were buried in trenches—shallow ditches—in which they were laid side by side. In several instances the number in a trench amounted to sixty or seventy bodies.
In searching for the remains of our fallen heroes, we examined more than three thousand rebel graves. They were frequently buried in trenches, and there are instances of more than one hundred and fifty in a trench. In one place, it is asserted by a reliable farmer, who saw them buried, that there are over two hundred in one trench I have been making a careful estimate, from time to time, as I wen over the field, of the rebel bodies buried on this battlefield, and at the hospitals, and I place the number at not less than seven thousand bodies. It may be asked how we could distinguish the bodies of our men from those of the rebels. This was generally very easily done
In the first place, as a general rule, the rebels never went into battle
with the United States coat on. They sometimes stole the panta-
loons from our dead, and wore them, but not the coat. The rebel
clothing is made of cotton, and is of a grey or brown color. Occa-
sionally I found one with a blue cotton-jean roundabout on. The
clothing of our men is of wool, and blue; so that the body having
the coat of our uniform on, was a pretty sure indication that he was
a Union soldier. But if the body were without a coat, then there
were other infallible marks. The shoes of the rebels were differently
made from those of our soldiers. If these failed, then the under-
clothing was the next part examined. The rebel cotton under-shirt
gave proof of the army to which he belonged. In no instance was
the body allowed to be removed which had any portion of the rebel
clothing on it. Taking all these things together, we never had much
trouble in deciding, with infallible accuracy, whether the body was
that of a Union soldier, or a rebel. And I here most conscientiously
assert,- that I firmly believe that there has not been a single mistake
made in the removal of the soldiers to the Cemetery, by taking the
body of a rebel for a Union soldier.

All of which is respectfully submitted,
(Signed) SAMUEL WEAVER.

[FloridaConscript]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Archie,
c'mon, you know Cornfeds didn't ever wear yankee britches.......

[floridawar]

Re: Rose Farm Dead

Or that federals didn't wear cotton undershirts!

Ha.