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.
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
In the Blue Gray Magazine article by Hank Elliott I see on his map a notation for the Thorberry House just up from the Sudley Springs Ford. In Shadows of the Storm Civil War Vol 1 p 185 there is a photo of the Thorton House. The style of the Home from the pov of the road is similar but reversed with the shed roof attachment to the left. The Thorton house is also not so close to the rd. Ed Bearss map has a structure below Amos Benson’s marked Cooper & P.O. Is this the Thornberry residence? If so I will need to revise my art. :(
I will be at Manassas set up & displaying my Roads to Manassas/Bull Run art… They have me right where the buses p/u and drop off at the HS. I believe they are calling it Battle Street /Gallery Walk. Do stop by and say hello..You will see my large banner .CWBattleMapArt.com. Would love to meet other followers of Harry’s blog.
ps I always wondered who those kids were by the stream. Thanks
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The Thornberry House and the Thornton House are one and the same. The correct name is Thornberry. Amos Benson’s house “Christian Hill” probably did not exist until after the war. At any rate, Benson did not live in the house at the time of the battle – he lived across the runs in Fairfax County. The site of Christian Hill lies south of Thornberry house and a little south and east of the church, east of Sudley Road and hard by the railroad cut, on its west side, so between the cut and the road.
The Thornberry house sits south of the ford, north of the church, west of Bull Run, as depicted by Elliot in his map on page 54 of B&G. An original trace of the Sudley Road runs to the west of the house a short distance to Sudley Springs. The footprint of the house is larger today than at the time of the battle.
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