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Image – “The Dead of Antietam”
"The Dead of Antietam" Page 488
Chapter 14
“The Dead of Antietam”
Nearly 23,000 Americans died on September 17, 1862, at the Battle of Antietam. It was the bloodiest day in American history. Alexander Gardner, who worked for New York photojournalist Matthew Brady, arrived at the battlefield two days after the slaughter. He set up his camera and started taking dozens of photographs of the body-strewn countryside, documenting fallen soldiers, burial crews, and trench graves. Brady arranged for an exhibition of Gardner’s work, “The Dead of Antietam.” For the first time, civilians could see up close the gruesome reality of war. Gardner’s images of Antietam established a potent visual precedent for the way all wars have since been covered.
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Questions for Analysis
1. Gardner’s photographs at Antietam are considered the first recorded images of war casualties. What impact do you think they had on New Yorkers when they were first exhibited