William Henry Tipton (1850–1929) was born in Gettysburg, and began apprenticing to photographer brothers Isaac and Charles Tyson at the age of twelve. Although the Tysons closed shop during the Battle of Gettysburg, “According to Tipton’s obituary, Tipton assisted Mathew Brady, the famous Civil War Photographer, in photographing scenes of the battlefield in the days following” (“William Tipton”). In 1866 Tipton and a partner, Robert Myers, purchased the Tyson studio, and in 1880 Tipton went into business on his own, as the W. H. Tipton Company. He photographed views of the battlefield, war monuments, and the surrounding town, and made portraits of tourists and veterans. He also served on the Gettysburg town council and was active in the Republican Party, serving a term as a state representative. He championed several controversial efforts to promote Gettysburg tourism and commercialize memorialization of the battlefield.

Among the most elite and respected units of the Army of the Potomac were the Pennsylvania Reserves.  As the Confederates swept the Wheatfield late on the 2^nd, the Reserves moved forward through the Valley of Death and onto the ridge where the monument sits to check the advancing enemy and force them back to the opposite edge of The Wheatfield. The regiment’s commander was also the grandfather of famed actor Jimmy Stewart.  In the photo, Munshower’s Knoll/Hill is obscured by the featured monument, but the base of General Sedgwick’s monument is visible in the distance at left.  A partial early view of Crawford Avenue and the remnants of a wooden sign and post are noted in the background.  Likely taken around 1889 when funding from the state of Pennsylvania made extensive state monumentation possible, the print measures 8” x 9.9”.  The condition is nice, save for a small missing corner piece at upper left, measuring .25” x 1.25”.

Tipton’s photographic collection – including early prints such as this – helped to shape popular memory of the battle and are an important but rare record of the Gettysburg battlefield’s evolving place in history.  This print is part of a singular private collection and archive acquired by the Horse Soldier and would make quite the unique and important addition to any Civil War or Gettysburg-centric collection.  [cm][ph:L]

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