The Fayetteville Arsenal in Fayetteville, North Carolina was built in 1838 because during the War of 1812 the United States government realized that the existing distribution of weapons and ammunition factories was not adequate for the defense of the country. A program was begun to provide more Federal arsenals which would be distributed so that no area of the country would be too far away from an arms depot. Bladen County Representative James McKay introduced House Resolution #374 for inclusion of an arsenal at Fayetteville.
The cornerstone for the Arsenal was laid April 9, 1838. It was constructed of brick and stone and at each of the four corners of its massive walls was an octagonal tower. Entry into the Arsenal was controlled by use of massive iron gates. Workshops, quarters and other buildings in the Arsenal were constructed of brick and wood.
Even before North Carolina formally seceded from the Union, Governor Ellis commissioned Warren Winslow to bring about the peaceful, if possible, surrender of the Arsenal at Fayetteville. General Walker Draughon, then in command of the North Carolina Militia, was given the order to take possession of the Arsenal, then occupied by a Federal garrison consisting of Battery D, 2nd U.S. Artillery.
He mobilized the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry (FILI) (the oldest private military organization in the State, having been organized in 1793) under the command of Major Wright Huske, and the LaFayette Light Infantry, commanded by Capt. Joseph B. Starr. Other troops were used as well, and the total number of troops present on April 22, 1861 was approximately 500.
After the Confederate troops had been inspected by the representative of the Federal forces, Lt. Julius de Lagnel, he decided that resistance was fruitless and surrendered the arsenal without incident. It was vacated by Federal forces on April 27, 1861. [1]
Major Wright Huske of the FILI "took up, in obedience to orders, its permanent quarters there for protection of important and valuable property."
After the fall of the Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to Confederate forces in April 1861, plans were made to relocate the rifle making machinery from that location to new workshops at the Fayetteville Arsenal. Arms-making machinery from Harpers Ferry was installed in October 1861, and the arsenal became a major supplier of small arms to the Confederate troops. The principal armament was known as the Fayetteville Rifle. At its peak, the arsenal produced 500 rifles per month and various numbers of other larger ordnance, cartridges, swords, and bayonets. Over one hundred workmen from the Harpers Ferry Arsenal had relocated with their families to Fayetteville. In the middle years of the war, young ladies of the area were employed in the making of cartridges and as clerks.
In 1865, as Union Major General William T. Sherman led his forces on the Carolinas Campaign it became apparent to the Confederate commander, Colonel Childs, that Fayetteville was a major target. When Sherman reached Columbia, South Carolina, Col. Childs ordered the construction of earthworks for the defense of the Fayetteville area. Remnants of these earthworks can be seen on the grounds of the Veterans Administration Hospital on Ramsey Street.
Resistance was given but the battered and weary Confederate forces were overwhelmed by the tremendous numbers and firepower of the Union troops. Sherman entered Fayetteville on March 11, 1865, and took possession of the Arsenal (which had been stripped of its arms, munitions, and useful machinery by the retreating Confederates). The Harpers Ferry rifle manufacturing machinery was said to have been hidden in the Egypt, NC coal mines. Continuing his scorched earth policy, Sherman ordered the Arsenal razed to the ground. His soldiers used railroad rails as battering rams to knock the building down then set the remains on fire. As the fire raged, some remaining artillery shells exploded and completed the devastation.
Very little remains at the actual site today due to the construction of a central business district loop road through the area in 1988. There is one remaining partial frame outbuilding and a historical marker, and other remnants of the U.S. Arsenal can be seen on display at the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex. The foundations of the buildings that were located along the back wall of the arsenal, including the foundations of two of the towers, can be seen in the park located behind the Museum of the Cape Fear.
The Arsenal site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the fort by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War.
The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, also known as the Main Building of the U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock, or Headquarters Building of the Little Rock Barracks, is the home of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. It is also a part of the MacArthur Park Historic District, in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear River's two outlets to the Atlantic Ocean on what was then known as Federal Point or Confederate Point and today is known as Pleasure Island. The strength of Fort Fisher led to its being called the Southern Gibraltar and the "Malakoff Tower of the South". The battle of Fort Fisher was the most decisive battle of the Civil War fought in North Carolina.
The St. Louis Arsenal is a large complex of federal military weapons and ammunition storage buildings operated by the United States Air Force in St. Louis, Missouri. During the American Civil War, the St. Louis arsenal's contents were transferred to Illinois by Union Captain Nathaniel Lyon, an act that helped fuel tension between secessionists and those citizens loyal to the Federal government.
The Carolinas campaign, also known as the campaign of the Carolinas, was the final campaign conducted by the Union Army against the Confederate Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. On January 1, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, with the intention of linking up with Union forces in Virginia. The campaign culminated in the defeat of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at the Battle of Bentonville, and its unconditional surrender to Union forces on April 26, 1865. Coming just two weeks after the defeat of Robert E. Lee's army at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, it signaled that the war was effectively over.
The Fayetteville Rifle was a 2 banded rifle produced at the Confederate States Arsenal in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The machinery which produced these weapons was primarily that captured at the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which was previously used to produce the US Model 1855 Rifle.
The 5th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as Duryée's Zouaves, was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. Modeled, like other Union and Confederate infantry regiments, on the French Zouaves of Crimean War fame, its tactics and uniforms were different from those of the standard infantry.
The 5th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at St. Albans and mustered in September 16, 1861, it served in the Army of the Potomac (AoP). It departed Vermont for Washington, DC, September 23, 1861.
During the American Civil War, Arkansas was a Confederate state, though it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion, and Arkansas along with several other southern states seceded. For the rest of the civil war, Arkansas played a major role in controlling the Mississippi River, a major waterway.
The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area, were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as contending armies strove to control the lower Shenandoah Valley. Winchester changed hands more often than any other Confederate city.
The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory created by the United States government; the first was the Springfield Armory. It was located in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which since 1863 has been part of West Virginia. It was both an arsenal, manufacturing firearms, and an armory, a storehouse for firearms. Along with the Springfield Armory, it was instrumental in the development of machining techniques to make interchangeable parts of precisely the same dimensions.
The Richmond rifle was a rifled musket produced by the Richmond Armory in Richmond, Virginia, for use by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
The Louisville Home Guard was a pro-Union military unit organized early in the American Civil War in Louisville, Kentucky. The auxiliary militia served to help secure supplies of arms and weapons, as well as to patrol the streets and discourage Confederate sympathizers.
During the American Civil War, an assortment of small arms found their way onto the battlefield. Though the muzzleloader percussion cap rifled musket was the most numerous weapon, being standard issue for the Union and Confederate armies, many other firearms, ranging from the single-shot breech-loading Sharps and Burnside rifles to the Spencer and the Henry rifles - two of the world's first repeating rifles - were issued by the hundreds of thousands, mostly by the Union. The Civil War brought many advances in firearms technology, most notably the widespread use of rifled barrels.
John E.P. Daingerfield was Acting Paymaster at the Harpers Ferry Armory at the time of John Brown's 1859 Raid; he was taken hostage but not injured.
The 39th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment, formed from a voluntary regiment using the same name, that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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Julius Adolphus De Lagnel, was a Confederate States Army officer, who was appointed and confirmed as a brigadier general, during the American Civil War, but who declined the appointment. He was second in command to Brigadier General Josiah Gorgas in the Confederate Ordnance Bureau and at times was an inspector of arsenals. Before the war, he served in the United States Army from March 8, 1847, until May 17, 1861. After the war, he was engaged in Pacific steamship service.
The 2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment, also known as 2nd Palmetto Regiment, was a Confederate States Army regiment in the American Civil War.
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