Open Thread Thursday: Interpreting an Iconic Gettysburg Photograph

“In one of the most famous photographs of the Civil War, three captured Confederate soldiers, likely from Louisiana, pose for Mathew Brady on Seminary Ridge in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, the three-day battle that took place on July 1–3, 1863. Photographic historian William A. Frassanito believes this photograph was probably made on July 15, 1863, the day before 2500 Confederate prisoners were sent to prison camps in the North. If that date is correct, Frassanito contends that these soldiers—none of whom seems to be wounded—were likely ‘stragglers, captured during Union mop-up operations somewhere along either the Chambersburg Pike or Hagerstown Road, [General Robert E.] Lee's main routes of retreat.’”—Encyclopedia Virginia