The Augusta Arsenal
A "great arsenal of construction..."
On January 24, 1861 five days after
Georgia's secession from the Union,
Governor Joseph E. Brown accepted
the surrender of the United States Arsenal at
Augusta from Captain Arnold Elzey. {Picture
included} Brown rejected Elzey's request
that his troops be allowed to take their arms,
they having " brought none with them."
Thus Georgia acquired 27,000 muskets and
rifles, two cannon, and two twelve-pound
howitzers. The Augusta Chronicle
reported the departing Federals "fired a
national salute of 33 guns, lowered the stars
and stripes from the flag-staff, and formally
gave up the position. The independent flag
of the Republic of Georgia was hoisted in its
stead, and the affair was over." As 82 Federal
troops marched out, a detachment of the six
hundred man Augusta Independent Battalion
volunteer militia took command. The Augusta
Arsenal would play a major role in supplying
the Confederates, becoming the lower South's
arsenal most responsible for the production
and repair of field artillery during the war.
By mid-1861, Confederate Chief of Ordnance
Josiah Gorgas began making the Augusta site
a "great arsenal of construction where
ammunition, field and siege artillery projectiles
and ordnance stores in general [would] be made
in large quantities." The first Confederate
commandant, Captain W.G. Gill, oversaw
construction of a massive brick building on
the eastern boundary of the arsenal. It
housed a [words covered by framework]
(right side text) department of field
artillery. By the end of the war a portion of it
also served as a hospital. The construction
of many other new buildings occured after
Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Rains
took command in April 1862.
Rains's employees included a chemist, a master
armorer, and many artisans. The significance
of the work in the arsenal made the male workers
draft-exempt. However, they did form as a home
defense unit to protect the facility in case of
attack. Other workers included blacks, woman
and even children, who made cartidges and
the bags to carry them.
{Picture included: Review of the Clinch Rifles
on the parade ground of the Augusta Arsenal,
February 1861}
From 1863 through 1865 the arsenal
manufactured large quantities of war material
from 73,521 horseshoes to 4,622,000 lead
balls; from 10,575 powder boxes to 10,760,000
cartridges for small arms; from 2,445 saddles
to 1,000,000 percussion caps. Field artillery
and equipment for both infantry and cavalry
poured from the Augusta Arsenal to
Confederate soldiers on battlefields
throughout the South, particularly for those
defending Georgia.
Union Major General William T. Sherman's
army threatened Augusta during its "March
to the Sea" in late November 1864.
Preparations were made to move much
equipment to safety, until the Federal army
turned toward Savannah. The war ended
for Augusta on May 3, 1865, when Federal
troops entered the city. Captain W.H.
Warren, acting for Col. Rains, surrendered
the arsenal to Union Major General Emory
Upton. Once again the stars and stripes
(words covered by framework)
[for the United States Arsenal]
(Pictures included)
Flag of the "Republic of Georgia"
William H. T. Walker,
participant in the January 24, 1861,
seizure, later became a Confederate
Major General killed during the July 22,
1864 Battle of Atlanta, and buried in
his family's cemetery at the Augusta
Arsenal.
Map of Augusta Arsenal
(Pictures courtesy of Augusta Museum of History)
Courtesy hmdb.org
