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I'm sure you've all seen the image of these three hard cases. Does anyone know who they were, or even what unit they belonged to?

A quick search gives these first infos :

According to this site and the quoted historians, the picture was taken around 15 july 1863, a few days after Gettysburg, by Mathew Brady, and "were likely deserters captured well after the battle."

Hope this helps.

Additionally, William Frassanito believes these men were among the 2,500 hundred Confederate POWs transferred out of the Gettysburg area on July 16th, 1863.

While considered the finest example of Confederate field uniforms, none of the men's clothing or gear appears to have any markers designating state or regiment, so short of someone being be able to match photograph of a known person to one of these three men we probably know all we ever will about them. But maybe some little detail, like the center man's taped finger, will turn out to be an important clue some day.

The large tree in the left background stood on Cemetery Hill and is visible in the background of several other photos. Essentially you are looking over the battlefield the Army of the Potomac's I Corps retreated across during the afternoon of July 1st.

http://www.blueandgraymarching.com/articles/three-rebel-prisoners-at-ge.html

One version of this photo had names printed on it.

Man on the left: "(said to be) Ephraim Blevins 37th NC"
Man in the center: "(said to be) John Baldwin 50th VA"
Man on the right: "(said to be) Andrew Blevins 30th NC"

However, I couldn't find an explanation of how these names were chosen.

P.S. I found this:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/matthew-brady-photo-2288-three-confederate-soldiers-captured-at-gettysburg.76951/

Someone's mother IDed them.

Gray Fox wrote:http://www.blueandgraymarching.com/articles/three-rebel-prisoners-at-ge.html

One version of this photo had names printed on it.

Man on the left: "(said to be) Ephraim Blevins 37th NC"
Man in the center: "(said to be) John Baldwin 50th VA"
Man on the right: "(said to be) Andrew Blevins 30th NC"

However, I couldn't find an explanation of how these names were chosen.

P.S. I found this:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/matthew-brady-photo-2288-three-confederate-soldiers-captured-at-gettysburg.76951/

Someone's mother IDed them.

I did a little digging based on those names and came across this https://studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/you-callin-my-gramma-a-liar/

According to North Carolina records, Andrew Blevins died in Richmond June 18-19th 1863 from wounds he suffered at Chancellorsville. Records for the other men also conflict with the story; they are discussed in the comments.

Good catch!