- Joined
- Feb 2, 2011
- Messages
- 2,093
JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 25[SUP]th[/SUP] JULY 2022
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861.
THE UNION ARMY
5[SUP]th[/SUP] U.S. ARTILLERY
During the early action on Henry House Hill, two batteries were ordered to advance to a position near to the Henry House. These were batteries of the regular US army, efficient and well commanded.
Both these batteries had been actively engaged from the very beginning of the battle.
The batteries were commanded by Captain James Ricketts, and Captain Charles Griffin.
It is believed McDowell made a serious tactical error in giving the order for the batteries to advance up the hill. They were told that the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] New York Regiment were on their way to support the advance.
Charles Griffin (December 18[SUP]th[/SUP], 1825 -September 15[SUP]th[/SUP] 1867) was a career officer in the United States Army and became an Union general during the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of The Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theatre.
In 1849 as a first Lieutenant, he was to serve in the New Mexico Territory against Navajo Indians until 1854. He then left the southwest frontier and taught artillery tactics at West Point.
He was to form an artillery battery from the academy’s enlisted men shortly after the southern states began seceding from the Union.
Captain Griffin led the “West Point Battery”, (officially designated as Battery D, 5[SUP]th[/SUP] US Artillery) at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.
The southern cause was helped by a case of mistaken identity. Colonel Arthur C. Cummings’s 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Regiment wore blue uniforms. The Colonel afraid his men would break and run if they were held in their position any longer, ordered them to advance towards the guns of Ricketts and Griffin.
Griffin saw them coming and swung two of his guns round and had them loaded with cannister.
Just as he was about to fire, his superior officer, Major William F. Barry, shouted , “Captain, don’t fire there; those are your battery support.”
“They are Confederates” Griffin shouted back, as certain as the world, they are Confederates.”
But Barry insisted, and the guns were swung back to their original line of fire.
The Virginians, meanwhile marched ever closer, halted and fired a volley.
Griffin told a subsequent Board of Inquiry, “was the last of us, We were all cut down.”
Most of the horses and many of the gunners were killed.
Ricketts was severely wounded. Griffin struggled to save what he could, but Cummings and his Virginians were among them quickly to capture the guns and much ammunition.
A typical “field piece” had an authorized crew of 12 enlisted men constituting a “gun section” led by a sergeant and assisted by one (and sometimes two) corporal. Each section consisted of one “gun,” its “limber” (with one ammunition chest also serving as a seat) and (nominally) six horses (but often only four) to pull it, and a “caisson” (with two ammunition chests/ seats, a spare wheel, tools, and crew baggage) with its own limber pulled by another six horses, and two “spare” horses (when available) tethered to the rear of the caisson. Each “vehicle” was known as a “half section.” Two sections under the command of a second lieutenant constituted a platoon.
While the platoon commander and the two section sergeants (there were no “platoon sergeants” at that time) rode their own assigned horses, six artillerymen rode the three left-side horses in each half section, while the remaining six privates either rode on the three ammunition chests (two to three per chest/seat) or walked alongside. Three platoons (sometimes only two, especially in Confederate units), plus a small headquarters, under a captain, assisted by a first lieutenant and a first sergeant, constituted a “battery.”
The first of the Union artillery battery will be available early in 2023.
THE 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] VIRGINIA INFANTRY REGIMENT.
COMPANY E, THE EMERALD GUARD.
The 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Infantry Regiment was raised in the commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army and was part of the famed “Stonewall Brigade”.
When the Union and Confederate armies engaged near Manassas Junction, Virginia, on July 21[SUP]st[/SUP] 1861, General Jackson and his brigade earned the nickname “Stonewall”.
Eight of the ten companies in the 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] were present.
By late May 1861, the regiment was placed under the command of Col. Arthur C. Cummings, who was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute who practiced law in Abington, Virginia at the far southernmost end of the valley and would twice represent Washington County, Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates (first beginning in 1863 and again in 1871)
At the height of the battle, it was Jackson's first brigade, and more specifically, the undersized regiment of Colonel Cummings that turned the tide of battle with a well-timed charge against an exposed artillery battery.
The successful capture of the guns is thought to be largely because, due to the lack of formality in early war uniforms, Jackson's men were dressed in blue, just like their Federal counterparts. Though the 33rd Virginia succeeded in capturing the guns, the number of men that made the charge (only about 250) were unable to maintain possession and were forced to retreat. The charge had halted the steady advance of the Union Army up to that point, and precipitated further charges by Jackson's other regiments. By day's end, the actions of the 33rd led to the complete rout of the Union Army, and played a major role in immortalizing the brigade.
The cost of immortality for Cummings' regiment was high. Of the 450 men who were present at the battle, the 33rd would suffer 43 killed and 140 wounded.
Company E, The Emerald Guard, having participated in the battle, suffered 15 casualties including most of the company officers and NCO's. Captain Sibert was shot through both legs; Lt. Thomas C. Fitzgerald and 2d Lt. John Ireland were also wounded; in addition, Sgt. Michael Gavagan was wounded and Corp. John O. Sullivan was killed.
The first of the 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Regiment will be available from October 2022.
Best wishes and many thanks,
john jenkins
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861.
THE UNION ARMY
5[SUP]th[/SUP] U.S. ARTILLERY
During the early action on Henry House Hill, two batteries were ordered to advance to a position near to the Henry House. These were batteries of the regular US army, efficient and well commanded.
Both these batteries had been actively engaged from the very beginning of the battle.
The batteries were commanded by Captain James Ricketts, and Captain Charles Griffin.
It is believed McDowell made a serious tactical error in giving the order for the batteries to advance up the hill. They were told that the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] New York Regiment were on their way to support the advance.
Charles Griffin (December 18[SUP]th[/SUP], 1825 -September 15[SUP]th[/SUP] 1867) was a career officer in the United States Army and became an Union general during the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of The Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theatre.
In 1849 as a first Lieutenant, he was to serve in the New Mexico Territory against Navajo Indians until 1854. He then left the southwest frontier and taught artillery tactics at West Point.
He was to form an artillery battery from the academy’s enlisted men shortly after the southern states began seceding from the Union.
Captain Griffin led the “West Point Battery”, (officially designated as Battery D, 5[SUP]th[/SUP] US Artillery) at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.
The southern cause was helped by a case of mistaken identity. Colonel Arthur C. Cummings’s 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Regiment wore blue uniforms. The Colonel afraid his men would break and run if they were held in their position any longer, ordered them to advance towards the guns of Ricketts and Griffin.
Griffin saw them coming and swung two of his guns round and had them loaded with cannister.
Just as he was about to fire, his superior officer, Major William F. Barry, shouted , “Captain, don’t fire there; those are your battery support.”
“They are Confederates” Griffin shouted back, as certain as the world, they are Confederates.”
But Barry insisted, and the guns were swung back to their original line of fire.
The Virginians, meanwhile marched ever closer, halted and fired a volley.
Griffin told a subsequent Board of Inquiry, “was the last of us, We were all cut down.”
Most of the horses and many of the gunners were killed.
Ricketts was severely wounded. Griffin struggled to save what he could, but Cummings and his Virginians were among them quickly to capture the guns and much ammunition.
A typical “field piece” had an authorized crew of 12 enlisted men constituting a “gun section” led by a sergeant and assisted by one (and sometimes two) corporal. Each section consisted of one “gun,” its “limber” (with one ammunition chest also serving as a seat) and (nominally) six horses (but often only four) to pull it, and a “caisson” (with two ammunition chests/ seats, a spare wheel, tools, and crew baggage) with its own limber pulled by another six horses, and two “spare” horses (when available) tethered to the rear of the caisson. Each “vehicle” was known as a “half section.” Two sections under the command of a second lieutenant constituted a platoon.
While the platoon commander and the two section sergeants (there were no “platoon sergeants” at that time) rode their own assigned horses, six artillerymen rode the three left-side horses in each half section, while the remaining six privates either rode on the three ammunition chests (two to three per chest/seat) or walked alongside. Three platoons (sometimes only two, especially in Confederate units), plus a small headquarters, under a captain, assisted by a first lieutenant and a first sergeant, constituted a “battery.”
The first of the Union artillery battery will be available early in 2023.
THE 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] VIRGINIA INFANTRY REGIMENT.
COMPANY E, THE EMERALD GUARD.
The 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Infantry Regiment was raised in the commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army and was part of the famed “Stonewall Brigade”.
When the Union and Confederate armies engaged near Manassas Junction, Virginia, on July 21[SUP]st[/SUP] 1861, General Jackson and his brigade earned the nickname “Stonewall”.
Eight of the ten companies in the 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] were present.
By late May 1861, the regiment was placed under the command of Col. Arthur C. Cummings, who was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute who practiced law in Abington, Virginia at the far southernmost end of the valley and would twice represent Washington County, Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates (first beginning in 1863 and again in 1871)
At the height of the battle, it was Jackson's first brigade, and more specifically, the undersized regiment of Colonel Cummings that turned the tide of battle with a well-timed charge against an exposed artillery battery.
The successful capture of the guns is thought to be largely because, due to the lack of formality in early war uniforms, Jackson's men were dressed in blue, just like their Federal counterparts. Though the 33rd Virginia succeeded in capturing the guns, the number of men that made the charge (only about 250) were unable to maintain possession and were forced to retreat. The charge had halted the steady advance of the Union Army up to that point, and precipitated further charges by Jackson's other regiments. By day's end, the actions of the 33rd led to the complete rout of the Union Army, and played a major role in immortalizing the brigade.
The cost of immortality for Cummings' regiment was high. Of the 450 men who were present at the battle, the 33rd would suffer 43 killed and 140 wounded.
Company E, The Emerald Guard, having participated in the battle, suffered 15 casualties including most of the company officers and NCO's. Captain Sibert was shot through both legs; Lt. Thomas C. Fitzgerald and 2d Lt. John Ireland were also wounded; in addition, Sgt. Michael Gavagan was wounded and Corp. John O. Sullivan was killed.
The first of the 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] Virginia Regiment will be available from October 2022.
Best wishes and many thanks,
john jenkins
