Also known as: early republic ordnance.
| Period | About 1790-1840 |
|---|---|
| Development | National arsenals and the Ordnance Department (established 1812) |
| Goal | Standardized, domestically produced ordnance |
Building an establishment
After the Revolution the United States worked to end its dependence on imported guns by building a national ordnance establishment. The Ordnance Department was established in 1812, and a network of arsenals and armories grew to store, repair, and increasingly to make arms and ammunition.
Through these decades the Army moved toward standardized systems of artillery, specifying the calibers, patterns, and stores of its guns, a process that produced the ordered systems in place by the time of the Mexican and Civil Wars.
Sources & further reading
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: manuals, reports, and historical references.