Army of Northeastern Virginia

United States Corps Engineers

Major J G Barnard, Chief Engineer, commanding the Engineer officers attached to different divisions

MAJOR J G BARNARD
Chief Engineer, Brigadier General I McDowell, Army of Northeastern Virginia.

Working Party of Sappers and Miners: CAPT. D P WOODBURY Attached: Colonel D Hunter, Second Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia.

The working party of sappers and miners was under the direct commamnd of Second Lieutenant C E Cross.

Third Division, Army of the Department of Northeastern Virginia: CAPT. H G Wright Attached: Colonel S P Heintzelman, Third Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia.

Captain H G Wright, First Lieutenant G W Snyder and Second Lieutenant F U Farquhar were attached to the staff of Colonel S P Heintzelman.

Company of Pioneers and Axemen: capt. B S ALEXANDER Attached: Brigadier General D Tyler, First Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia.

Captain B S Alexander and First Lieutenant L C Houston were assigned to a company of 60 pioneers and axemen from regiments of the Second Brigade, First Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia on 21 July, 1861.

Fifth Division, Army of the Department of Northeastern Virginia: FIRST LT. F E PRIME

Attached: Colonel D S Miles, Fifth Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia.
First Lieutenant F E Prime was attached to the staff of Colonel D S Miles and had a supply of engineer tools with a detachment of pioneers from various regiments, making abatis and emplacements for Brevet Major H J Hunt's and First Lieutenant O D Greene's batteries, to protect the Centreville-Manassas road.

Reference

"While this was going on, Captain B S Alexander, of the Engineer Corps, brought up the company of pioneers and axmen, which, with its officers and sixty men, had been entirely detailed from the regiments of my brigade, to open a communication over the bridge and through the heavy abatis which obstructed the passage of troops on our front beyond the run."

Report of Brigadier General R C Schenck, U S Army, commanding Second Brigade, First Division

"As it was, Capt. Alexander, with his Sappers and Miners, was ordered to cut through the abattis by the side of the mined bridge, in the valley directly before us, and lay pontoons across the stream. Carlisle's Artillery was detailed to protect the work, and the Ohio and Wisconsin reserve to support the artillery."

Bull Run Remembers, by Joseph M Hanson

"Fort Albany was constructed by New York troops who named it to honor the capital of their state. The fort was built on the land owned by James Roach, and work was begun on the fort during the end of May 1861. Construction was supervised by Captain Barton S Alexander of the Army Corps of Engineers, and the fort was completed in about seven weeks."

"The fort was named in honor Brigadier General Theodore Runyon, whose New Jersey Brigade helped build the forts. Fort Runyon was the largest fort in the Defenses of Washington, covering twelve acres of land with a perimeter of 1484 yards. It was built on the land of James Roach. Construction of the fort began on the morning of 24 May, 1861, under the supervision of Captain Barton S Alexander and was completed in about seven weeks. Fort Runyon guarded Long Bridge and the important junction of the Washington-Alexandria and Columbia turnpikes."

Mr Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington, New Edition, by Benjamin F Cooling II and Walton H Owen II

"On the day of the battle, Major Barnard Supervised Federal engineer and pioneer troops as they entrenched on the northern banks at Blackburn's Ford as part of a holding-flanking movement. Entrenchments and a battery were dug either side of the road. Barnard described the battery as having a log revetment for the interior slope, and some ten or twelve feet of dirt in front. This battery was occupied by Co. G, 2nd US Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant O D Greene, and consisted of four guns placed with two either side of the road."

"Farther back along the same road, Lieutenant Frederick E Prime, US Engineers, oversaw the pioneers of the Garibaldi Guard, or 39th New York Infantry, as they constructed a redoubt with two embrasures. According to Prime, this work would sweep the Old Braddock road, and resist any attempt to outflank us from the left, by Union Mills road or road from Gaines' Ford."

American Civil War Fortifications (2): Land and Field Fortifications, byRon Field and illustrated by Peter Dennis

Notes

There was only one company engineers in the United States Army until 3 August, 1861, and that did not serve at Bull Run. At least 11 officers of the United States Corps Engineers accompanied Brigadier General I McDowell and his division commanders as staff officers and performed valuable services. Captain A W Whipple, First Lieutenant H L Abbot, and Second Lieutenant H S Putnam, served as topographical engineers for the Army of Northeastern Virginia on 21 July, 1861.

Fort Albany commanded Long Bridge and provided supporting fire for Forts Richardson, Craig, and Tillinghurst. The fort's perimeter was 429 yards with emplacements for twelve guns. The armament included four 24 pounder seige guns, two 24 pounder field howitzers, two 30 pounder Parrott rifles, and four vacant platforms. The 7th New York State Militia, 12th New York State Militia and 25th New York State Militia constructed the fort. Forts Corcoran, Haggerty, Bennett, Runyon, Jackson, and Ellsworth were the first forts that were constructed that would become the Defenses of Washington.

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.7: SERIES I, VOLUME 2 (S# 2), CHAPTER IX, pp. 328–333
Major J G Barnard, United States Corps of Engineers

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.8: SERIES I, VOLUME 2 (S# 2), CHAPTER IX, pp. 233–234
Captain D P Woodbury, United States Corps of Engineers

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.9: SERIES I, VOLUME 2 (S# 2), CHAPTER IX, pp. 234–236
First Lieutenant F E Prime, United States Corps of Engineers

Orders of Battle