GDG- Re: gun powder

[Margaret D. Blough]

Greg.

>>What most people still think today is that the first real entrance into the 
> labor force was with all of the wonderful "Rosies" of World War 2 when it was 
> actually the Civil War.<<

The Civil War was probably our first war with the Industrial Revolution in full swing and the need to keep the factories in full production while still meeting the army's need for manpower produced a classic instance of dire need temporarily overcoming social stereotypes and prejudice  (which also had a lot to do with many white Northerners coming to terms with the government authorizing black enlistment in the military).  IIRR, it was believed that women and children with their smaller hands  and greater manual dexterity were better suited to such work as loading cartridges. (For a WW II link, Helen Longstreet, the  widow of James Longstreet worked in a WW II armament factory. Life magazine did a profile on the feisty trouser-wearing septuagenarian.)

There were multiple buildings at the Allegheny Arsenal but the primary cause appears to have been a combination of failure to follow safety procedures and bad luck (a drought).  This is an excerpt from the Civil War Interactive account of the disaster which is considered to be the worst industrial accident associated with the Civil War: (the full article is at http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/ArticlePittsburghBloodyDay.htm):

>>At powder magazine No. 2, teamster Joseph Frick loaded his wagon with barrels of gunpowder which he would deliver for use at the laboratory. Arsenal regulations stated that tarpaulins were to be laid in the bottom of wagons to catch any powder that may be spilled. Frick, along with the other arsenal teamsters, neglected to do this. As he drove to and from the laboratory, powder sifted through the cracks in the wagon bed and fell on the road below. . 

The barrels were delivered to the laboratory's two, covered porches. The deliveries were received by workroom supervisors, such as Joseph Bollman, supervisor of the cap and cylinder room. In moving the barrels and in the making of the cartridges, powder was inevitably spilled. At the end of the workday, after most of the employees had gone home, boys were to sweep out the rooms of the laboratory. If the powder was clean, it was to be taken to the magazine for future use. If the powder was mixed with dirt, however, it was to be poured into a small pond on the arsenal grounds. More often than not, the boys, when they were not smuggling the powder out of the arsenal to make homemade Roman candles, simply swept the powder into the street. . 

McBride had reprimanded the boys on several occasions for this. He had recently dismissed several boys for bringing matches to work and had hired girls as their replacements. He threatened to do the same with the sweepers, but the threats seemed to have no effect on the boys. Although Lieutenant Myers would later testify that he saw no powder in the street on the day of the disaster, Rachel Dunlap would state that she had seen powder swept into the street on more that one occasion. . 

*********************************************************************************


During the dinner break employees strolled over the road that ran from the laboratory to powder magazine No. 2. The road was relatively new, having been built the previous spring to replace the rutted dirt road that was considered unsafe. It was a macadamized road built from broken pieces of stone pressed tightly together and cemented with a mortar made from stone, dust, and water. . 

As the workmen broke stone for the road, Alexander McBride had noticed that with each blow the iron heads of the hammers struck showers of sparks from the stone, not unlike steel against flint. McBride commented that it would be unsafe to have powder carried over this stone by horses shod with iron shoes and wagons with wheels bound with iron bands. His concerns were noted, but construction on the road continued. . 

It was the practice to wash down the road with water since it would be more difficult to strike a spark from wet stone and to ignite wet powder. For the past few weeks the country had been experiencing a drought and wells in Lawrenceville were going dry. Orders were given to discontinue the wetting of the street so as to conserve water. The late summer breeze now blew grains of black powder across the dry, flint-like stone. . 

At about 1:00 p.m. the 51st New York and the 51st Pennsylvania, both under the command of Colonel Ferrero, secured the bridge that now bears Burnside's name, while at the arsenal employees returned to work. Paymaster Bosworth went back to counting pay. Teamsters loaded and unloaded their wagons. Conversation hummed around the worktables. Some of the women sang as they worked and their voices drifted through the laboratory's open windows. . 

Joseph Frick brought ten barrels of powder to the laboratory. He unloaded three barrels on the ground in front of the porch next to workroom No. 1, five barrels at the end of the second porch, and took the remaining barrels to the other side of the tiring shed. A young man named Robert Smith came around the corner and asked Frick to come back to room No. 1 and haul away some empty cylinder boxes. Frick agreed. . 

It was a little past 2:00 p.m. when Frick returned for the boxes. One of the barrels just delivered had been opened and Robert Smith stood on the porch over the powder, waiting for Frick. . 

As Frick backed his wagon up to the porch, he turned around to see where he was going. He was about four feet from the porch when he saw orange fire burning across the ground beneath the wheels of his wagon. . 

At the other end of the building, Rachel Dunlap stood in the doorway of room No. 12. She saw the shadow of a wagon and stepped out onto the porch to watch Frick work. She, too, saw the fire upon the ground. As she watched, the flames flared up against the barrels of powder. Rachel screamed, threw her arms over her head, and ran inside to find her sister. . 

With a terrific roar the barrels of powder exploded, throwing fire and debris. Robert Smith was blown apart. The wagon was destroyed and the horses badly burned. Joseph Frick was thrown two hundred yards and landed with his head through the palings of a fence. . 

The concussion of the blast threw Rachel Dunlap to the floor. Her sister helped her up and they ran from the building. Several other girls managed to escape, some with their dresses on fire. . 

Alexander McBride had just received an order for proof charges for a fifteen-inch gun to be proved the next day. He was in room No. 8 placing the order on the books when her heard Rachel Dunlap scream and the powder explode. As the walls of the room began to fall in, McBride climbed out the window. He ran along the side of the building to room No.6, his daughter's room. He could see the ceiling dropping in on the children. He tried to enter the room but fire and smoke forced him back. Joseph Bollman emerged from the room carrying a child. He let the girl down to the ground and then went back inside. He never came out again. Dazed, McBride ran to find water. . 

Paymaster Bosworth and Mr. Teese grabbed the payroll records and fled the tiring shed. Mrs. Mary Jane Black was in room No. 13. She had just been called to receive her pay when the explosion shook the building. She ran from the room. It was at this time that the second explosion occurred. . 

Field Ammunition rooms 9 and 11 erupted with a blast so strong that it blew the roof off the laboratory and shattered the windows of all the buildings in the arsenal and the surrounding streets, including the windows of Reverend Lea's Presbyterian church. The laboratory walls collapsed on those still inside. . <<

Regards,

Margaret



-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: biggsk at aol.com 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Margaret, 
> 
> What most people still think today is that the first real entrance into the 
> labor force was with all of the wonderful "Rosies" of World War 2 when it was 
> actually the Civil War. 
> 
> Both sides used female and child labor for making things from cartridges to 
> flags.? I have in my files on the CS supply system accounts from QM depot 
> commanders satting the numbers of women working there.? Richmond, by November, 
> 1862, had over 2000 women while Atlanta a bit later, had over 3000. 
> 
> The Augusta Powder Mill, which used some equipment imported from Britain by the 
> way, was set up in a chain of buildings so that if one did blow up, it would 
> only take out that building and not the whole factory.? Quite ingenius in terms 
> of design.? Some of the metal crushing rollers still survive and they are in 
> Nashville's Centennial Park today.? They were shipped up here after the war when 
> the Augusta complex was dismantled.? They are depicted in the new book on the 
> Augusta complex. 
> 
> As Jack stated, there was some powder made in Nashville in the early war and 
> some of the equipment from there and some other war factories (like the 
> percussion cap machine from another complex, which made the caps used at First 
> Manassas) were loaded up train cars and shipped to Atlanta and other environs, 
> something the Confederates got very good at doing.? There were a couple other 
> small powder mills also going in the South before the war but I forget offhand 
> what towns they were in.? I will have to consult my files. 
> 
> Nashville also had the TM Brannon cannon foundary some of whose guns still 
> survive today at Shiloh and where I work at the Tennessee State Museum.? Of 
> interest to cannon buffs on this list, we have a couple finished and mounted 
> guns but also recently got an unfinished tube that was dug up when some 
> construction was being done on the site of the foundary a few years ago.? I see 
> this tube almost every day. 
> 
> Greg Biggs 
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