While the Bliss Barn was destroyed during the battle, a rough idea of the barn's structure and layout might be guessed at by examining the Trostle Barn.
Wall thickness was of interest with regard to ballistic resistance (bullets, balls and cannon fire), and the linked drawings indicate:
17" of stone on the first story east face, which supports a wood superstructure, and 22.5" on the other stone surfaces including those holding up the brick sides. The Trostle east face appears to have a wood surface over stone.
The thickness of the north and south brick walls is about 16.5" where it meets the stone wall. The Trostle brick wall reaches a height of 32.5' above ground at the roof peak compared to 40' or more at the Bliss Barn, which suggests that the Bliss brick wall could be as thick as Trostle, or thicker.
16.5" of brick may be sufficient to stop rifled musket and smoothbore hits, based on some YouTube test firings that have been watched.
The five stable doors on the Trostle Barn equal the Bliss Barn number, and the width of the stone front is not too different (75' Bliss versus 63' at Trostle). The main, central door at Trostle is 9.7' wide by 7.5' High, and the four other doors are 3.44' by 7.5'.
The Trostle brick areas do not provide any info on the possible size of the Bliss vertical openings, since they vary in layout and type (many small openings at Trostle providing area coverage, versus narrow vertical).
The three windows on the Trostle north and south faces appear to include partially open vents (3 on south face, 1 on north), which may be similar to those found on the Bliss Barn.
The Trostle Barn also includes small windows between the east face stable doors, which may exist on the Bliss building but are not mentioned by any writers.
Wall thickness was of interest with regard to ballistic resistance (bullets, balls and cannon fire), and the linked drawings indicate:
17" of stone on the first story east face, which supports a wood superstructure, and 22.5" on the other stone surfaces including those holding up the brick sides. The Trostle east face appears to have a wood surface over stone.
The thickness of the north and south brick walls is about 16.5" where it meets the stone wall. The Trostle brick wall reaches a height of 32.5' above ground at the roof peak compared to 40' or more at the Bliss Barn, which suggests that the Bliss brick wall could be as thick as Trostle, or thicker.
16.5" of brick may be sufficient to stop rifled musket and smoothbore hits, based on some YouTube test firings that have been watched.
The five stable doors on the Trostle Barn equal the Bliss Barn number, and the width of the stone front is not too different (75' Bliss versus 63' at Trostle). The main, central door at Trostle is 9.7' wide by 7.5' High, and the four other doors are 3.44' by 7.5'.
The Trostle brick areas do not provide any info on the possible size of the Bliss vertical openings, since they vary in layout and type (many small openings at Trostle providing area coverage, versus narrow vertical).
The three windows on the Trostle north and south faces appear to include partially open vents (3 on south face, 1 on north), which may be similar to those found on the Bliss Barn.
The Trostle Barn also includes small windows between the east face stable doors, which may exist on the Bliss building but are not mentioned by any writers.
HABS PA,1-GET.V,17A- (sheet 1 of 10) - Trostle Barn, Emmitsburg Road (U.S. 15), Gettysburg, Adams County, PA
Measured Drawing(s): 10
www.loc.gov
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