All,
It is worth noting that Quinby & Robinson relocated to the vicinity of Columbus, MS after the yankees moved closer to Memphis. At Columbus Q&R continued to supply CS needs as far south as Mobile and throughout MS until the Briarfield Arsenal was relocated to Selma in (as I recall) 1863 - again due to the threat posed by union forces. I am reasonably sure that the owners of Q&R were acquainted with Capt. Wm. R. Hunt while both were in Memphis prior to the relocation of the Briarfield Arsenal operation from Memphis to Columbus (thence, eventually, to Selma and Columbiana AL.
Jack Bell usually prevails in our debates on the details of the big guns but I think that the bronze shot on the Monitor when she arrived at Hampton Roads were actually solid bronze - not merely plated. Dahlgren had forbidden their use out of a concern that the guns would not stand the pressures resulting from deployment of the heavier projectiles. Dahlgren was ever mindful of the failure of one of the guns on the USS Princeton on 28 February 1844 and the harm to John Ericsson’s reputation which followed Ericsson right up to the earliest years of the war.
Jack, check this one out and correct me if I’m wrong.