GDG- Re: gunpowder quality

[Margaret D. Blough]

Greg,

On the same day as the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, there was a massive series of black powder explosions at the Allegheny Arsenal near Pittsburgh (the arsenal was on land purchased from the father of Stephen Foster).  78 employees died in the explosions, including 72 women and girls.

Regards,

Margaret

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: biggsk at aol.com 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> Hello, 
> 
> The recently published and unbelievably masterful book on the Confederate 
> Augusta Powder Works goes into some detail on the quality of the powder from 
> there (considered the best in the CSA and ranking with anything then produce in 
> the world at the time) and that there was cannon powder and musket powder and 
> the two were a bit different.? This two mile long complex produced 90 per cent 
> of the powder used by the CSA once it was up and running. 
> 
> There was a TV documentary last year (History Detectives I think - or something 
> named similar) that talked about the cannon shells used at Gettysburg by the ANV 
> and it stated that the shells came mostly from the Charleston Arsenal due to 
> something at the Richmond Arsenal preventing their manufacture (a fire I 
> believe) and that the fuses from Charleston were defective.? This had nothing to 
> to with the quality of the powder however, for the powder was shipped from 
> Augusta (which also had an arsenal that fed shells to the Army of Tennessee) to 
> the other arsenals and the shells assembled there. 
> 
> Greg Biggs 
> 
> 
> 
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