A few neat developments here at Bull Runnings. With the help of friends Robert Moore and Jonathan Soffe, I think we’ve ironed out some problems with the CSA and CSA artillery OOBs. According to Jim Burgess at the Battlefield, one of these is a problem which has persisted at least since 1947! At the same time I think we’ve solved a related problem in the Bull Run bible, R. M. Johnston’s Bull Run: Its Strategy and Tactics.
I made the changes, but think I’m going to revamp the Arty OOBs a little.
I’ll also share an E. Porter Alexander map of the action at Blackburn’s Ford Jim provided.
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
Harry,
I’d be interested to hear if there are any nit-picky details about the ordnance used at the battle beyond the standard weapon nomenclatures. For example while Squires battery had 2 3in rifles, are there any sources that further detail the type (make and model) of weapon used? Clearly those wouldn’t have been the familiar Ordnance Rifles. If the weapons in question were of CS manufacture, that sort of limits things down a bit with regard to origin. Who knows, with a bit of applied logic and the use of a crystal ball, one might even be able to locate one of these tubes intact today.
Craig.
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Craig,
I was corresponding with Jim Burgess and Dr. Chris Fonvielle about something similar – the whereabouts of “Long Tom”, Peter Hains’ 30 pdr Parrott that opened the battle. It was captured on the retreat, and thought to have disappeared in the records. However, I searched the Navy ORs and found a report of “Long Tom” exploding near Wilmington in late 1864. Unfortunately, it appears that “Long Tom” may have been a moniker more commonly used than we supposed, being applied to big siege guns in general. So, maybe the “Baby Waker” (the other name by which the gun has become known, though I haven’t found contemporary confirmation of that name) blew up on the coast of NC. Maybe not.
I have to get around to organinzing my notes on “Long Tom” and putting them into article form.
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