Colonel
George Bomford

In the interests of economy and efficiency, Congress abolished the Ordnance Department in 1821, merging it with the Artillery. Wadsworth retired, and Bomford was made lieutenant colonel of artillery on ordnance duty. For the next eleven years, most officers performing ordnance duty were artillerymen on temporary detail. This proved unsatisfactory in practice, since most were returned to their regular duties as soon as they became proficient at their ordnance duties. Bomford spearheaded efforts to persuade the Congress to reverse the 1821 decision, and finally succeeded in 1832.

When the Ordnance Corps was reestablished, Bomford was made its Chief with the rank of colonel due to the great number of accumulated ordnance projects which demanded attention, Bomford was obliged to concentrate his efforts in a few areas. He worked on the continuing problem of armory management, but primarily concerned himself with artillery matters. Though he had hoped to introduce a new system of standardization into the field artillery, he ultimately failed. The main problem was that it proved impossible to secure sufficient numbers and varieties of European ordnance for comparative purposes. Bomford had greater success in updating his old columbiad concept and in making improvements in the nation's coastal defenses. His "new columbiad" of 1844 was constructed like a howitzer, but had a longer barrel. Able to propel both solid shot and explosive shells to a distance of about 2.85 miles, the new weapon rendered all existing coastal artillery obsolete.

Bomford did much to develop the ideas of inventors and designers of heavy ordnance. Though some of the theoretical work he did subsequently proved to be in error, he laid the groundwork for the efforts of later inventors and designers of cannon, including Thomas J. Rodman. He continued to foster efforts made by John H. Hall and others to make further progress in the area of the interchangeability of parts. Hall died in 1841, however, and this technological advance was not fully achieved during Bomford's lifetime.

In 1842, Bomford took on additional responsibilities as Inspector of Arsenals, Ordnance, Arms, and Munitions of War. He also spent a considerable amount of his time experimenting with various types of heavy ordnance. This left the normal administrative functions of the department in the hands of his able Assistant Chief, Lieutenant Colonel George Talcott. Bomford's last years were overshadowed by business reverses. He died in Boston while visiting a cannon foundry there on 25 March 1848.