Panoramic view from the center of the battlefield of Cedar Mountain. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. This iconic image of the battlefield is cropped and edited in photoshop. Like most of these historic images, the original format was a stereoscopic view. I separated the two images into right and left, and then photo-merged them in photoshop. This expanded the field of view a little bit on both the right and left sides of the image. It reveals amazing detail. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Panoramic view from center of Cedar Mountain Battlefield. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. Close up view of the left side of the image. The Rev. Phillip Slaughter home and the road leading up to it can be seen at the top center. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Close up view of the image, edited in photoshop to bring out some additional detail. The Rev. Phillip Slaughter’s home on Cedar Mtn. is pictured with army tents pitched in the front yard. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862.
The Reverend Philip Slaughter House. Some soldiers called the battle “Slaughter Mountain,” an appropriate alternative given the bloody fighting that occurred near the home.
Detail of the Center of Cedar Mountain Battlefield by Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. If you look very closely you can see a soldier, with some reading material, leaning against the tree directly to the right of the soldier standing near the tent. Click to view in a new tab.
Cedar Mountain, Va. Union Graves on the Battlefield. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. Research by Nick Picerno believes that most of the men in this photo are the same 10th Maine men in another photo. Mike Block’s research validates his assessment. They are (l. to r.) Col. James Fillebrown, Unknown, Capt. James Black, Capt. William Knowlton, Band Master Daniel Chandler and Asst. Surgeon Josiah Day. Click the image to view in a new tab.
This is a cropped detail of the above image. For scale note the soldier in the distance standing between Col. Fillebrown on the left, and the man in the center. On the right is Captain James Black. Tim O’Sullivan. 1862. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Detail of the left side of the image. Cedar Mt. Va. Union Graves on the Battlefield. Tim O’Sullivan. 1862. (l. to r.) Capt. William Knowlton, Band Master Daniel Chandler and Asst. Surgeon Josiah Day.
Cedar Mountain Battlefield. Officers of the 10th Maine Regt. on the battlefield. Left to right: Captain James Black, Assistant Surgeon Josiah Day, Colonel James Fillebrown, Captain William Knowlton, Band-Master Daniel Chandler. Two years later, a few days before the 3rd Battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, now, Major William Knowlton, of the 29th Maine, would have a premonition of death. His premonition came true and he was killed during the battle.
The title of this image is “Cedar Mountan, Va. Confederate Field Hospital. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. The well on the left side of the photo can be found today if you know where to look. As you turn from route 15 onto General Winder Road, to visit the battlefield, you will pass a capped well with a concrete cap on the left side of the drive a short distance from the intersection. However, DO NOT trespass on the property or even the grass bordering the property. If you are interested in seeing it, just drive slowly past or view it from the preserved property along the battlefield trail. Trespassing will cause problems for FCMB.
Cedar Mt. Va. A Confederate Field Hospital. I’ve cleaned up the stereoscopic image above and added some contrast. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Closeup detail of the above image. Click to view larger.
Culpeper, Virginia, August, 1862. Timothy O’Sullivan. This image is full of all sorts of detail. I cleaned it up in photoshop and made a few detail views, below.
This is a close up view of the left side of the photograph above. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Detail of the right side of the image. Click to view larger in a new tab.
Detail of the image above. You can see troops riding the locomotive in the center of the image. The Court-house is visible toward the right side. Today’s courthouse has been relocated from the original location pictured. Click to view larger in a new tab.Cedar Mountain, Va. Federal battery fording a tributary of the Rappahannock on the day of the battle. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. I separated out the sides of this stereograph image and merged them into the one image below. Then I cleaned up some of the dust and scratches. I favored the panel on the right.Cedar Mountain. Va. Federal battery fording a tributary of the Rappahannock on the day of the battle. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. The two sides of the image above have been separated, merged and cropped, then cleaned up a bit, to remove some of the dust and scratches so prevalent in these historic glass plate negatives. For a time I thought this photograph was taken where Cedar Run crosses the Old Orange Road, which is still extant. But detailed close ups, of the background horizen, show some structures and possible tents. I’m not so sure now where this was taken as the road network through the battlefield has changed considerably since 1862. The right and left sides of the original stereograph were separated and then merged to come up with this single image with extended edges, right & left.Cedar Mt. Va. Federal battery fording a tributary of the Rappahannock on the day of the battle. Timothy O’Sullivan, 1862. This detail of the image above shows some structures and possibly tents on the battlefield just over the horizon.As the above image shows some Federal Artillery on the battlefield, lets look at some of the war sketches depicting the same, and other actions. This drawing is titled “Knapps Pennsylvania Battery in action, at Cedar Mountain.” This sketch by artist/war correspondent Edwin Forbes shows Captain Joseph Knap’s Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery E in action during the battle. The battery was posted about where Mitchell’s Station Road intersects modern Route 15. Forbes mispelled Knap’s name in the title.
Forbes wrote: Nothing to alarm a spectator took place until early in the afternoon. I was then watching some soldiers who were boiling green corn in a large iron boiler that they had obtained from a farmer when I was suddenly startled by a rattle of musketry in front. I ran towards my horse, which was tied to a fence near by, and hastily mounting rode forward to the crest of the ridge on which Knapp’s battery was posted, and halted near it. I soon realized that a battle had begun. The Confederates were posted non a ridge parallel to the one occupied by our forces, their position being rapidly developed by the opening fire of their guns. –Quote from Voices of the Civil War; Second Manassas; Time/Life; p. 34.“Charge of Union Troops of the left flank of the army commanded by Gen’l Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mt., Edwin.” Artist Edwin Forbes sketched this picture of what is supposed to depict the attack of Gen’l. Samuel Crawford’s Brigade upon the weak left flank of Stonewall Jackson’s line. This is a very large image. I reduced it by 70% for our post but if you click on the image you will still be able to view a very large file. All these images are available at the Library of Congress Digital Collections website, in the “prints and photographs” collection.This particular file is not nearly as large as the original file of the image above. This sketch is titled ” The Battle at Cedar Mountain. Night at the hospitals. Arrival of General McDowell’s Corps.” I contacted the Library of Congress to obtain the key to artist Edwin Forbes Sketch. They replied with the following information. “1. Blue Ridge Mountains. 2. Turnpike. 3. Confederate battery firing on the retreating Union forces. 4. Thompson’s Union Battery replying. 5. Old farm house used as a Union hospital. Wounded lying on the ground. 6. McDowell’s Corps arrived after a forced march from Culpeper Court House. 7. General Pope’s Headquarters.” To expand upon this, the buildings in the foreground we believe, is Colvin’s Tavern. If Thompson’s battery is engaged. the Confederate Battery must be William Pegram’s. The Nalle House was Pope’s Headquarters at this point in the battle. Colvin’s Tavern was mentioned in many Federal Accounts of the battle. It no longer stands, but its original location is known. The Nalle house still stands, it is called Val Verde, and can be seen when driving south along modern route 15.This photo of “The Nalle House, about 1896” was found in the local history room of the Culpeper Library. The book it is taken from is titled “Tales of Old Culpeper, Virginia” by William Nalle, Colonel of Cavalry, United States Army, Retired, 1974. General Pope used this home as his headquarters when he arrived on the battlefield the night of August 9th. The interior of the house was used an an operating room for wounded soldiers. The author recounts these stories and more in this reminiscence of his grandmother’s home.The title of this image is “Cedar Mt. Va Battlefield viewed from the West.” Timothy O’Sullivan 1862. I worked extensively with the details in this image.Cedar Mt. Va Battlefield viewed from the West. Timothy O’Sullivan 1862. This is the right side of the stereograph image cleaned up in photoshop and cropped. In this instance the right side was in better condition than the left so a merge of the two sides was not really necessary. (I tried it & the results were disappointing).
Close up detail of the group of soldiers on the left.
Close up detail of the group of soldiers on the right.
Close up images of the soldiers.
Center background detail, showing the fences in the distance. Is this the road?
Background detail of the fields on the right of the image.
Close up views of the fields & fences in the background of the image.
Check back, there is more to come.
Cedar Mt. Va. Family group before the house in which Gen. Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died. Tim O’Sullivan. We are not sure where this image was taken. The building has a distinctive roof which may lead to the discovery of this location, but the original caption states this is the house in which General Charles S. Winder died. When wounded, Winder was carried from the battlefield and taken down the Culpepper-Orange road somewhere not to far off, and the speculation I was used to hearing, is that he was taken to Major’s School House. It would seem more likely to me that this image was taken closer to where most of Sullivan’s other photos were taken. Captions were not always accurate. I used to entertain the idea that this image was taken at the Hudson House, but the roof line does not match any of the buildings as far was we can see, in the other images of the Hudson House.Cedar Mt. Va. Family group before the house in which Gen. Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died. Tim O’Sullivan. Here I have merged the two halves of the stereograph and cleaned it up in photoshop. There were subtle angle differences in the two sides, so I had to play a few tricks to get this image right. Cedar Mt. Va. Family group before the house in which Gen. Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died. Tim O’Sullivan. In this tight close up you can get a better look at the people. There is a bed showing inside the open door. Hopefully if you click the image it will link to a large file. If not, I will try to correct it at a later date. WP is not user-friendly.
