D. B. Harris Map

Here’s an unpublished map of the First Bull Run battlefield, by Confederate engineer D. B. Harris.  According to the notation, this sketch was used by Beauregard to prepare his map of the battlefield.  It’s a recent acquisition of the Manassas National Battlefield Park and has been provided by Ranger Jim Burgess.  You’ll need to use your photo viewer’s zoom to see the detail.  I’ve viewed the original and it’s quite faded.  It’s difficult to tell exactly what is being depicted here – for instance, is this as of a point in time or does it show movement?  Look at all the guns shown north of the Warrenton Pike, for instance.  Click once for a larger image.  Click that image for a really large image.

By sketch I mean this was made on the field and was not a final product.  As noted on the map, it was surveyed, so it is more than a free-hand sketch.  FYI, Confederate items are in blue.

Manassas NBP 11/5/2010: Sudley Springs, Sudley Road, Thornberry House, Ballou

This past Friday (11/5) I made a quick trip to the Manassas National Battlefield Park to do some research for an upcoming installment of Collateral Damage.  I met up with Ranger Jim Burgess and he helped me with some work in the park archives, then we met up with friend Craig Swain and headed to the northern end of the park boundary. 

Among other sites, we visited the area where (it is likely) Sullivan Ballou’s body was recovered after its mutilation, burning, and reburial by the 21st Georgia (click the thumbs for larger images):

   

The Thornberry House, used as a hospital after both battles of Bull Run (the large tree to the left of the house in the second picture appears on the Barnard photo from 1862):

 

A trace of the original Sudley Road:

 

And Sudley Springs Ford over Catharpin (Little Bull) Run.  This is the same view as in the Barnard photo Jim is holding – you can see the modern remains of the Springs on the opposite bank.  Hunter’s division crossed Bull Run to the east at Sudley Ford, then crossed here to reach the battlefield:

    

Thanks so much to Jim Burgess for all the valuable assistance he has provided over the years – a good guy.  Also thanks to Craig for his always valuable commentary.  As a last bit of coolness, and much to Craig’s satisfaction, Jim took us down to the basement of the VC and showed us one of the original 200 lb Parrott shells from the Battle Monument.  It turns out that these shells were live, and not discovered to be so until the monument’s renovations in the 1970′s.  One of the disarmed shells survived (the shells had been de-fused but not disarmed as the black powder and case shot show):

Liberia Tour

Opportunity for a detailed tour of Liberia on November 13.  Check it out here.

I will be at the Manassas National Battlefield this coming Friday doing field work for an upcoming Collateral Damage.  On Saturday I’ll be at Antietam National Battlefield with the Save Historic Antietam Foundation for our work day and board meeting.

First Bull Run Tour

Here’s an interesting recap of a recent tour at Manassas NBP with the students of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, led by Jim Burgess of the NPS.

Tour at Liberia

The Manassas Museum will sponsor a tour of Liberia Plantation (left) on August 28.  The focus is on spies at First Bull Run and the Civil War.  I tend to think the influence on the battle of intelligence received from folks like Rose Greenhow (right) was minimal at best, but it makes for a great story, so why let that get in the way?  See here for details.

West Point Atlas Maps

Two of the seven Bull Run maps from The West Point Atlas of the Civil War:

Situation July 18, 1861

Situation 1400 Hours July 21, 1861

149th Anniversary of First Bull Run

Activities at the park July 17 & 18 for the 149th anniversary of the battle (from the NPS site):

See Union and Confederate troops portrayed in an encampment representing the raw soldiers of the summer of 1861 on the Henry Hill battlefield.  Demonstrations of musketry and artillery firing will echo over the grassy fields where the combat raged 149 years ago.  Soldier life demonstrations will describe the experience of citizen soldiers, naive amateurs in their baptism of fire, encountering their “first gunpowder christening.”  U.S. Marine Battalion exhibits will illuminate the uniforms and equipment of Civil War Marines.  Replica colors or flags of regiments in the colorful confusion of the battle will be unfurled, and impressions of Union and Confederate uniforms will depict the “fog of war” the muddle of confusion in the reek of smoke on the battlefield.  Park Ranger tours will be conducted over the ground where bravery and sacrifice was witnessed in what the raw troops, “as green as grass” believed would be the “only battle of the war,” only to be sobered by the carnage revealed in the brutal combat. 

Manus (Jack) Fish, 1928-2010

Manus “Jack” Fish, long time employee of the National Park Service and regional director of the National Capital Region (which includes the battlefields of Manassas and Antietam) from 1973 to his retirement in 1988, has died after suffering a stroke on February 27.  During his tenure as regional director, he oversaw significant expansion of Manassas National Battlefield Park.  He was big into tree planting, so I’m not sure how he viewed the current trend of restoring view-sheds on the battlefields.  Here is his obituary, and here is a longer biography, from which I got the photo at left.

Bull Run Winter Wonderland

Craig Swain visited Manassas National Battlefield this weekend, his faithful aide-de-camp in tow.  He’s posted photos from the outing on his blog To the Sound of the Guns.  Check it out: good stuff.

Viewshed Meeting Tonight

I just learned from Facebook friend, author, and Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Garry Adelman that a meeting will be held tonight at the Manassas National Battlefield Park visitor center on Henry Hill, regarding the Manassas Battlefields Viewsheds Study project.  The following is from Prince William County’s website:

For Release

December 23, 2009

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA . . . The Prince William County Planning Office and the Manassas National Battlefield Park are jointly managing a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program to study the Battlefields’ militarily significant views.  This is the third and final public meeting for the Manassas Battlefields Viewsheds Study project.
 
A Public Meeting for the Manassas Battlefields Viewshed Study will be held Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the Henry Hill Visitor Center, Manassas National Battlefield Park at 6511 Sudley Road, Manassas, VA. At the meeting, the Study’s consultant will present the draft Viewshed Preservation Plan and solicit comment from the public. 
 
Copies of the draft Viewshed Preservation Plan (VPP) are available for review at the Henry Hill Visitor Center, at Park Headquarters; in the Prince William County Planning Office; at the Chinn Regional, Bull Run Regional, Central Community, and Gainesville Neighborhood libraries; and on-line at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/. To view the draft online, under Parks select Manassas NBP, select Conduct Study of Critical Historic Viewsheds of Manassas Battlefield, select Open for Public Comment). At this site, comments can be entered, or, for further information or to comment on the Plan, call the Park Headquarters at 703-754-1861, extension 0.  All comments on the VPP are due to the Park no later than Jan. 27, 2010.
 
Accessibility to Persons with Disabilities: This meeting is being held at a public facility believed to be accessible to persons with disabilities.  Any person with questions on the accessibility of the facility should contact the Henry Hill Visitor Center, 6511 Sudley Road, Manassas, Virginia, 20109, or by telephone at 703-361-1339 or TDD 703-361-7075.
 
Directions to the Henry Hill Visitor Center

From Washington D.C. and Points East:  Travel west on I-66 to Exit 47B, Route 234 North (Sudley Road).  Proceed through the first traffic light. The entrance to the Henry Hill Visitor Center is on the right, just past the Northern Virginia Community College.
 
From Points North:  Travel south on I-95 to the Capital Beltway (Route 495).  Travel west towards Silver Springs, MD.  Continue on the Beltway for approximately 10 miles, crossing the Potomac River into Virginia.  Take the exit for I-66 west to Manassas.  Take Exit 47B, Route 234 North (Sudley Road).  Proceed through the first traffic light. The entrance to the Henry Hill Visitor Center is on the right, just past the Northern Virginia Community College.
 
From Points South:  Travel north on I-95 to Exit 152, Route 234 north towards Manassas.  Stay on Business Route 234 (do not take the by-pass) and travel for approximately 20 miles just beyond the city of Manassas.  The entrance to the Henry Hill Visitor Center is located on the right, just past the entrance to the Northern Virginia Community College.
 
From Points West: Travel east on I-66 to Exit 47, Route 234 North (Sudley Road).  Turn left on Route 234 and proceed through the first traffic light.  The entrance to the Henry Hill Visitor Center is on the right, just past the Northern Virginia Community College.

If any of you attend, please let us know what is discussed.