Scene of General McPherson's Death

General McPherson, a young and beloved Union general, was killed during the battle of Atlanta. In his role as official photographer to Sherman's army, Barnard photographed the scene when the city was captured in the summer of 1864. He almost certainly returned again in 1866 to make this image: a precisely conceived memento mori, a meditation on death and loss. Barnard carefully positioned the battle debris-particularly the horse's skull and bones-and painted over some distracting graffiti on the small central tree. The resulting photograph is as carefully organized as a studio still life.