16 Years Blogging

Dang. Completely missed doing this last month. 16 years. That’s a long time. Longer than 15 years. But not as long as 17 years.

Lotta posts this year. A couple cool discoveries. Hope you’ve enjoyed it.

15 Years Blogging

No, I’ve never had it. But, if you want to send me a bottle (or case or pallet), feel free!

And then one day you find 15 years have got behind you.

Yeah, that’s a long time for a blog. A really long time for a Civil War blog. As they say, if you spend enough time in a train station you’ll see a lot of trains come, and a lot of trains go. Although, these days I’m seeing fewer and fewer trains.

It’s been fun and I’m happy I’ve been able to pretty much keep my focus (here, at least). I still have plenty of material to post, lots of letters and news items from the papers of the day. And I have a couple of other irons in the fire, including another field trip to the battlefield in the spring (I’ve lined up the guest guides, and we will be spending a lot of time on Henry House Hill this time) and a collaborative presentation project that you’ll be able to watch right here.

So, thanks for reading, and keep checking back.

Every.

Single.

Day.

14 Years Blogging

Mmmmm….Scotch….

Another year has passed. The first four months, pretty awesome. The last eight, pretty weird. Here’s hoping we can get back to that first four months of awesome. I’m about up to here with weird.

The weirdness has had some good effect here – more posts this year than perhaps ever. Lots of private (more accurately, personal) correspondence, and lots more to come. Now in the middle of official correspondence – look for a flurry of activity ahead, as I’ve made it to July 20, 1861.

Readership has been steady – about 3,500 page views/month – with a nice boost coming from the assigned use of the resources section in a college history class (of course, that came ONE DAY before the assignment was due – some things never change).

Gave a couple of in-person presentations, cancelled one due to imposed restrictions, did one Facebook Live roundtable talk, and have cancelled one and scheduled one talk already for 2021.

Have a few book ideas, including essay and letter collections, but they’re nothing more than ideas. But thanks for asking. Over. And over.

As always, thank you all for reading. Continue to do so, early and often. You guys are the best.

13 Years Blogging

Never had it, just like the picture. But if you have, let me know how it is.

So the occasion of the 13th anniversary of my first post on Bull Runnings passed and I forgot about it. Sorry – but so did everyone else! Anyway, it’s been great, despite the fact that I have been so busy lately the blog – most regrettably the Resources section – has suffered. Don’t worry, I have plenty of stuff to put up. First up will be a rarely seen image of a famous member of the 69th New York State Militia. Also have many more letters, recaps of speaking engagements I never posted, yadda yadda yadda.

Thanks to all I’ve met (physically and virtually) during this adventure. This past year saw one of Bull Runnings’ most successful tours, and I have more ideas for new tours (and maybe even a repeat or two), so stay tuned. And thanks as always to the wonderful and generous guides. It’s an honor to lug folks across the field with you.

Twelve Years Blogging

I’m a month behind on this, but it’s been twelve years. Yay me. Here’s a gift idea:

Eleven Years Blogging

Wow. Eleven years.

Ten Years Blogging

WordPress informed me yesterday that it was the tenth anniversary of my first ever blog post here at Bull Runnings. That’s a long time, which has seen a lot of changes in my life, but thankfully not too many changes to this blog. For the first year or so, I employed a theme that was white print on a black background. But after that, I adopted the theme you still see today. I think people appreciate a little continuity that way, and don’t want to have to figure their way around the site every time they visit. Either that, or I’m just lazy.

Readership has leveled off after the heady days of 2010-2013. But the mission stays the same: primarily, Bull Runnings serves as a repository for primary documents on the First Battle of Bull Run. Everything else is gravy. Over the years, I’ve developed my own ideas about what was meant to happen on July 21, 1861, and hope to share that in more detail with many of you here in the days ahead (I’ve gone over it in detail in a couple of presentations I’ve given, but just have to lay it out on paper, or screen). Book previews and author interviews should continue, too, along with other original content. But the Resources are the meat and potatoes, and what gets used by more and more researchers, as evidenced by the bibliographies in their published works. I’m happy about that.

This past year saw the first ever Bull Runnings tour of the Manassas Battlefield, with guest guide John Hennessy. It was a big success (in my opinion) with over 60 participants braving the weather to tromp the ground for a full day. I plan to build on that in 2017, with free tours in both the Spring and Fall. In the Spring, look for a double tour on artillery during the battle and on photography of the field later, with special guest guides. In the Fall – well, let’s save that for now.

Anyway, thank you all for your continued readership and support.

Nine Years Blogging

WordPress sent me a notification informing me that the day before yesterday marked the end of the ninth year of Bull Runnings. A lot has changed over that stretch, but I think the main (and yes, not-too-sexy) focus of recording primary source material or resources on the First Battle of Bull Run has been constant. So I don’t post as often – this is a hobby, after all. There’s no angling for bigger and better things. The resources section keeps growing, and there’s no end in sight (for instance, I still haven’t posted the Miles COW stuff). Social media play a much bigger role in operations (the site now has over 850 followers on both Twitter and Facebook, though many follow on both, I suspect). Other than primary sources, author interviews and book previews are pretty strong, if not quite regular, features that bring folks back. And of course the fun stuff – whoda thunk a picture of Larry David and his daughter would attract so much traffic?

Visitation is a shadow of 2011-2013 numbers. My son’s sports blog (Smeltzer on Sports) regularly out-draws me. But that’s OK. No plans to go anywhere – just keep plugging away. And yes, I still intend to do the Longacre review. Thanks to all of you who visit, regardless of frequency. As always, contributions from you are encouraged and welcomed.

Keep your eyes peeled for the new edition of John Hennessy’s An End to Innocence, due out in December. I bet it will be all the rage in year ten, First Bull Run-wise.

Eight Years Blogging

Well, what can I say? It’s been eight years. This blog has lasted roughly twice as long as the Civil War, and like it has taken on a different character as time passed by. I don’t post as much chatty stuff here as I used to. To keep up with that you can always follow Bull Runnings on Facebook. And yes, it’s been a little slow around here lately, but plans are to continue posting primary material as time allows – there’s still plenty of it out there. Book previews will continue as my supply of books to preview continues. I have some tweaks I’m considering to the preview process, like matching up new releases with older titles. More author interviews as the mood strikes me. I have a couple of original content posts that I just haven’t been able to get to, and I do plan to get to them. But I will not post just because I think I should.

Once I crack open Edward Longacre’s new book on First Bull Run, I think I may provide a kind of running commentary. I don’t know if that will be daily, weekly, or what. Let’s just see how it plays out.

Thanks to all of you who have stuck around. Welcome to those of you who may be new. I’m still having a good time and will keep at it until that changes.

First Bull Run 50th Anniversary