The Staged Photo of Gettysburg's Devil's Den Just Got Even Stranger

Gettysburg's famous Devil's Den photograph, "Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter," was staged: Alexander Gardner's team moved a dead Confederate soldier to a stone wall and added a prop rifle. Who was he? A 2018 face match points to a Georgia soldier, John Rutherford Ash, but even the records can't agree on the day he died. CHAPTERS 0:00 He Didn't Die There 1:40 The Den 4:01 The Picture Business 5:45 The Rifle 6:19 Six Pictures 8:57 Where He Really Fell 10:46 The November Visit 12:11 A Family's Claim 12:46 The Face 14:07 Three Dates 15:12 The Camera Judges 16:22 The Rocks Today 17:08 A Stone With No One Under It SOURCES: full list in the pinned comment. IMAGES Historical photographs: Library of Congress, National Archives and National Park Service (public domain). Present-day photos, Creative Commons, all on Wikimedia Commons (search the file name on commons.wikimedia.org); cropped, toned and animated here; BY-SA adaptations shared alike: "Gettysburg Battle Map Day2.png" by this map made by en:User:Hlj, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Map Day3.png" by The original uploader was Hlj at English Wikipedia ., CC BY 3.0 "Boulders at Devil's Den, Gettysburg.jpg" by LeapingLion, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Devil's Den, Gettysburg.jpg" by LeapingLion, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Fall day at Devil's Den, Gettysburg National Military Park.jpg" by LeapingLion, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Devil's Den.jpg" by MountainRa, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Devil's Den.JPG" by Alana Iesu, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Devils Den panorama.jpg" by MTBradley, CC BY 3.0 "Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg, July, 2020.jpg" by Northern-Virginia-Photographer, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Rebel Sharpshooter Location Jan. 2022.jpg" by Hog Farm, CC BY-SA 4.0 "View of Devil's Den from Little Round Top 10-24-14.jpg" by GorianEmpathy, CC BY-SA 4.0 "The Slaughter Pen and Devil's Den from Little Round Top.JPG" by Cory Hartman, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania, US (94).jpg" by Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania, US (97).jpg" by Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania, US (104).jpg" by Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania, US (110).jpg" by Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (100).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (104).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (108).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (112).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (116).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Gettysburg Battle Field Sept. 2016 LHHV Trip - panoramio - Ron Shawley (25).jpg" by Ron Shawley, CC BY 3.0 "Sunset View from Outcropping on Little Round Top.jpg" by Jason Tedeschi, CC BY-SA 4.0 "View From Little Round Top 2025.jpg" by Jdm.rit, CC BY 4.0 "Winter Gettysburg Castle - HDR (16226015917).jpg" by Nicolas Raymond from Bethesda, Maryland, USA, CC BY 2.0 "124th-NY-Inf-06.jpg" by Veggies, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Alabama State Monument Gettysburg 02.jpg" by Veggies, CC BY 4.0 "Gettysburg Soldiers Natl Monument 07.jpg" by Veggies, CC BY-SA 4.0 Thumbnail background: Devil's Den photo by Ron Shawley / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (color-graded). Licenses: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ No AI-generated or AI-colorized imagery appears in this video. MUSIC "Penumbra" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Anguish" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Night Vigil" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Immersed" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Echoes of Time v2" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ #Gettysburg #CivilWar #DevilsDen