Welcome to History Radar
NOTICE: I think I owe you an update, since my notice has been unchanged for a long time.
I am currently constructing a website database of the United States Artillery between the years of 1821 and 1901. The scope of the work covers seven Regular Army artillery regiments in minute detail, and currently consists of biographical entries for approximately 1,000 artillery officers.
Furthermore, the site will contain a curated collection of contemporary texts, government documents and legislation, newspaper articles, and military correspondence. If practical, I will include information on the specific garrisons and (long-term) the battles in which the companies/regiments participated. There will also be basic information of the equipment and ordnance utilized throughout the years, which is an ongoing project in itself.
To date (September 2025), I have completed histories for five regiments, I am working on a sixth, and have one regiment pending. At eighty years’ span apiece, it is exhaustive and extremely slow work, but I’m attacking it with as much energy as I can muster. I do not have an estimated date of completion, but I’m feeling good about the total progress.
It is difficult to gauge interest in this very niche field: if you are interested in my work, or if you read and liked my posts, please drop a line or leave a comment. Much appreciated.
Coming soon(ish)
Stay tuned.
Thanks. -JP
In the meantime, take a look at my other long-winded articles…
*FEATURED ARTICLES*
“Stirring the Blood of Friend and Foe to Admiration” Lieutenant Alanson Randol’s Battery E & G, 1st U.S. Artillery at the Battle of Glendale,
June 30, 1862
In early 1862, newly promoted West Point graduate Alanson Randol arrived in Washington, D.C., from his previous station in California; upon arrival, finding himself to be the ranking officer present, he assumed command of a seasoned but understrength Federal field artillery battery at the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia. Through a series of unlikely events, the young lieutenant and his battery were detached from the reserves for temporary duty to an infantry division of the Union V Corps, Army of the Potomac following Gaines’ Mill–and they soon found themselves standing in the breach, staring down the bulk of Robert E. Lee’s rebel army.
Henry Benson:
The Life of a Soldier in the 2nd U.S. Artillery
In 1845, a young man from New Jersey named Henry Benson enlisted in the United States Army, attached to Light Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery. Like the hero of an ancient epic, Benson was carried along the river of history as if by fate–present with the field artillery from the very first shot of the Mexican War at Palo Alto, until its bloody finale in the streets of Mexico City. Promoted for valor, he accompanied his regiment into the wilderness of Florida during the Seminole Wars, where he surveyed uncharted rivers, cut roads through hostile terrain, and survived both combat and the ravages of disease which decimated his comrades. When the American Civil War arrived, this seasoned officer (with nearly two decades of service) was a natural choice for a premier assignment: he was promoted to captain, attached to the Army of the Potomac’s Horse Artillery Brigade, an elite force on the cutting edge of artillery science. Like a true hero of old, he led his men into battle on the Virginia Peninsula in 1862, where he was mortally wounded in action–a irreplaceable loss for the Union Army artillery service, and a tragic end for a man who lived a life of quiet service to his country.
“A Noble Martyr in His Country’s Service”
Captain Joseph P. Ash, 5th U.S. Cavalry
Joseph Ash was a meteoric figure in the Union Army cavalry, a young man from a blue-blooded Philadelphia family raced to Washington, D.C., during the very first days of the American Civil War, volunteering his services and never looking back. Earning his place as a Regular Army cavalry officer, the tales of Ash’s wartime exploits strain the boundaries of what could be reasonably believed, and yet, his champions included such figures as Wesley Merritt, Alfred Pleasanton, and Philip Sheridan. Noted for a reckless, fanatical daring in battle and frequently wounded in action, it is no surprise that he was killed on the front lines at the Battle of Todd’s Tavern in May 1864. And yet behind the stories of his gallant deeds, there was a hidden cost to his sacrifice–one that was regretfully all too common in the history of that bloody war.
About the work
I was always a history buff, but in recent years I have become entirely captivated by the American Civil War, particularly the Federal artillery branch.
In the future, I hope to expand upon Alanson Randol, as well as Captain Henry Benson of the 2nd United States Artillery, Brigadier General David Hunter Kinzie of the 5th United States Artillery, and Captain Joseph Penrose Ash of the 5th United States Cavalry (KIA Spotsylvania- Todd’s Tavern).
While a seemingly arbitrary assortment from the outside, the four individuals are, in fact, connected: all were the namesakes of United States Army coast defense artillery batteries constructed at Fort Worden on the Puget Sound between 1898-1910.
Fort Worden (named for Union naval officer John Lorimer Worden) is currently a Washington State Park located on the Olympic Peninsula. I have spent quite a lot of time there.
Your feedback is welcome
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