User:Josh Pierson

Greetings. I have admired this site for a long time; I will try to make worthy improvements with my own peculiar skillset.

I was a park ranger at Fort Worden from 2014 to 2020. During that time, I became interested in the history of the United States Artillery and the Coast Artillery Corps, but rather indirectly I caught the Civil War bug: most of our Endicott-era batteries were named for Civil War officers killed in action or recently deceased at the time of construction. Following those names down the otherwise unplumbed rabbit hole, I found a rich vein of history affiliated with incredible artillerists like A.M. Randol, Henry Benson, and David Kinzie.

I feel very strongly about attaching a face to the name... I believe history comes alive when we can identify a real person with the printed words in the dusty old books.

Since 2021, I have been constructing a database of the U.S. Army artillery during the "regimental era" between 1821 and 1901. The project has ballooned in scope, but at present, it contains histories of five (and one half) of the seven regiments, including detailed company histories, and basic biographical entries for 1,061 artillery officers. There is no timeline for completion, but I'm working on it diligently.

In the course of my early research, FortWiki was an invaluable resource for me. I am also indebted to the CDSG, and Bill Thayer's incredible work on Cullum's Register.

FortWiki, along with the other sites mentioned above, have been very influential to my own work. When I started my project from scratch, these were the foundations on which I began my research. I am honored to be here, and I hope my contributions can help to make it even better.

JP (talk) 11:18, 5 October 2025 (PDT)

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Links for my own use:
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Alanson Merwin Randol
Henry Benson