More Hampton’s Legion

John Hennessy of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is the gift that keeps on giving. Yesterday he sent me some great letters by members of Hampton’s Legion that appeared in newspapers shortly after the battle. Look for them in the days ahead, and be sure to follow John and the other good folks at F&SNMP here and here.

Bull Run Sesqui on the Web

Over the past week or so I’ve been sharing on Facebook and retweeting on Twitter various articles, images, and videos relating to the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) that have swamped the web as the 150th anniversary of the battle approached and was commemorated. There were a bunch of them. Here are links to a few of the more significant items (I’ll add to this any that pop up afterwards, too). There are some worthy of posting to the resources section, and as I check them out and get any necessary permissions I will do so. Get comfortable, this will take a while. If I missed anything big, let me know!

Update 8/3/2011: I noticed I had fouled up a few of these links. I think they’re fixed now, so check them out again if you couldn’t get through.

Good Battle Stuff

• 2nd ME at Bull Run
• 4th SC at Bull Run
• 8th GA at Bull Run
• 17th VA at Blackburn’s Ford
• Alexander Wilken of 1st MN to His Father After the Battle – Private Correspondence
• Captain James Haggerty of the 69th NYSM
• The Campbell Rangers of the 30th VA
• Capture of Ambrose Burnside’s Valet
• Conduct of McDowell’s Army on Virginia Part I
• Conduct of McDowell’s Army in Virginia Part II
• Confederate Slaves at Bull Run
• Encyclopedia Virginia’s Entry on First Bull Run
• Fayetteville Observer Reports on the 6th NC in the Battle – Newspaper Article
• J. A. McPherson of 6th NC Reports on Battle – Private Correspondence in Fayetteville Observer
• James McKay Rorty of the 69th NYSM
• John Casler of the 33rd VA
• John Grabil of the 33rd VA
• Marcus Conant, 11th MA, POW
• Mary Henry, Daughter of Smithsonian Sec’y, Recalls the Battle – includes diary entries and images
• Raleigh Register Reports on Return of 6th NC’s Col. Fisher – Newspaper Article
• St. Paul Daily Press on “Want of Cavalry” at the Battle – Newspaper Article
• Weather on the Day of the Battle
• William Hite of the 33rd VA

Miscellaneous

• Refurbished Painting of 69th NYSM’s Return From the Battlefield

Opinion

• Craig Swain on Identity and Bull Run
• Ed Ayres on the Meaning of Bull Run
• Gary Gallagher: Where Ignorant Armies Clash
• James Lundberg on “On to Richmond”
• Robert Moore on Familial Connections to the Battle
• Robinson House (Not) On the Battlefield

Sesqui Events

• C-Span’s Coverage
• Fox 5’s Coverage
• NPS Videos
• US Marine Marker Dedication

Videos

• Dennis Frye on the 2nd VA in Manassas Campaign Part I
• Dennis Frye on the 2nd VA in Manassas Campaign Part II
• Ethan Rafuse on First Bull Run for Gettysburg College Civil War Institute
• Loretta Velasquez Reenactor
• Maine at Bull Run
• Panel Discussion – Mobilizing for War, Gettysburg College Civil War Institute
• Peter Carmichael Gives Overview of 1861 for Gettysburg College Civil War Institute
• Ray Brown’s Tour for Gettysburg College Civil War Institute
• Renee Fleming Reads Sullivan Ballou

And Yet Another

And here’s another piece on a letter to a newspaper from a Bull Run participant, this time from John Ellis of the 71st New York and on Scott Patchan’s blog. I’ll get this one from the 8/20/61 San Francisco Bulletin transcribed ASAP.

I intend to include all the letters and newspaper accounts coming to light now in the resources section of Bull Runnings, but in order to do so I must have as much information as possible. Ellis is a good example of enough information. Full metadata, or as far as I’m concerned an image of the source document, is best. If it’s published, I need to have all the information that would be included in a footnote. Snippets of letters without dates or citation info, which is what many bloggers post, won’t be included here.

Virtual Tour of Cannons at Bull Run

Craig Swain has this very cool bit giving a virtual tour of the critical gun positions at Bull Run. Check it out!

Letter From the Fire Zouaves

Here are two accounts from a member of the 11th New York Infantry, Lieutenant Edward Burgin Knox (that’s him on the left in the image on the left, when he was with the 44th NY, Ellsworth’s Avengers). Both are provided by Ron Coddington, the first in a New York Times Opinionator piece, and the second on Ron’s blog, Faces of War. Knox’s writing appeared in the Wisconsin Patriot on August 3, 1861. Ron generously provided the photo here and also has sent me a transcription of Knox’s account, which I’ll post to the Resources section soon.

Thornberry Kids

John Hennessy has this great post up at Remembering: Musings on Fredericksburg and Manassas, in which he dissects this famous image of Sudley Springs Ford in March, 1862. See other photos from this collection here.

With the anniversary fast approaching, there are lots of blog posts and newspaper articles popping up every day that concern First Bull Run. I don’t announce them all here, but I do try to keep up with them on Facebook and Twitter. Use the links I’ve embedded in their names to follow Bull Runnings there and keep up with the latest Bull Run news.

I’m still getting inquiries regarding whether or not I will be at the ceremonies and events at the battlefield this week. I have no official role there. I may head down that way on Thursday or over the weekend just to check out what’s going on, but I’m not sure just yet. If you go, please be sure to take lots of water and drink it regularly, before you get thirsty. The plains of Manassas is a very hot place indeed in the summer. I mean, really, really hot. If you see me there, please say hello.

More Bull Run Research & Commentary Coming Soon…

John Hennessy of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP has graciously notified me of his intent to discuss some First Bull Run topics on the newly rechristened blog Remembering: Musings on Fredericksburg and Manassas. Far from detracting from what I do here at Bull Runnings, this is great news for anyone interested in the single most important event in the history of this or any other planet. John has authored important studies of both battles on the Plains of Manassas. I can only imagine what this walk through his files will turn up, and expect really, really good stuff.

Bull Run Connections on Cenantua’s Blog

I’ve been remiss in linking to this great post over at Robert Moore’s blog. Better late than never!

Gettysburg NPS Blog on WordPress

Thanks to the good folks at Mysteries and Conundrums for passing along the news that the Gettysburg NMP blog has moved to WordPress, ditching the woefully inadequate NPS platform.  Check it out here.

Gettysburg NMP Blog

The good folks at the NPS at Gettysburg have started a blog, and you can find it here.

There appear to be few frills and no feed (I keep track of what’s going on in the sphere with my Google feed reader). I’m really not sure why they opted for this format when the good folks at Fredericksburg have blazed such a clear path, but it’s just starting out so maybe things will evolve.