From the Richmond Enquirer, 10/1/1861, p. 4, c. 3
The Mechanical and Industrial Resources of Richmond.
Under this caption we design giving such occasional statistical information
respecting the extent, resources and progress of the industrial interests of our
city, as shall demonstrate at a glance the rapidly increasing importance of
Richmond as a manufacturing place, and the entire ability of our mechanic, and
businessmen generally, to assert with ease and profit their entire independence
of Yankee capital, and of Yankee enterprise. As a matter of justice to
long-established success, we devote this initial sketch to the Richmond
“Tredegar Iron Works” of Messrs. Joseph R. Anderson & Co., situated at the James
River terminus of _____ street. For a very interesting visit to these extensive
works, on Wednesday, and a detailed explanation of its operations, we rest under
obligations to the courtesy of Mr. Edward R. Archer, its Assistant
Superintendent.
THE TREDEGAR IRON WORKS.
This vast and magnificent establishment, the resources and the important
services of which must constitute a prominent chapter in the future history of
Southern independence, has long enjoyed a very wide spread and honorable
celebrity, not only as the most extensive of its character in America, but on
the score also of the superior and admirable quality of the work which has
issued from it. Established many years ago, and at a period when the mechanical
and industrial inferiority of the businessmen of the South to those of the
North, seems to have been generally conceded even by Southern writers, the
Tredegar works, under the well directed skill and quiet enterprise of its
proprietors, gradually extended its operations, and developed its resources to a
degree which brought it into direct competition with the best establishments of
a similar class in the North, when its superior excellence in many, if not all
the branches of iron manufacture, extorted an unequivocal recognition from the
Government of the United States, which awarded to Messrs. Anderson & Co.,
construction of the engines of the first class steam frigates “Roanoke” and
“Colorado,” and the manufacture of a very considerable quantity of cannon and
ordnance, and projectiles of all kinds.
It was in this latter department – the fabrication of cannon – that the
“Tredegar Works,” achieved its first popular distinction. So decidedly superior
were the ordnance here manufactured found to be, that the fame of the foundry in
which they were cast soon became firmly established, and the U. S. government
thenceforward, and up to within a short time of the election of Lincoln,
entrusted to Messrs. Anderson & Co. the manufacture of the chief portion of the
best ordnance required by the war department. An officer of distinction in the
old Federal navy, and who had been long engaged in superintending the
manufacture and proof of ordnance made for his government, writes of the
Tredegar Foundry, that of some 1,200 guns made there, every one of the number
successfully withstood the tests to which they were subjected, and adds the safe
assertion that “they are fully equal to any made in this country or in Europe.”
In proof of this opinion, the fact may be mentioned here that several of the
Tredegar guns have endured, without injury, upwards of 1000 rounds, and in one
memorable instance at least, the piece safely withstood the excessive test of
1,800 consecutive firings, to which it was subjected, for the purpose of
ascertaining its actual power of endurance. A chief cause of this remarkable
excellence of the ordnance made here, is said to exist in the admitted fact that
the iron used in their manufacture, and which is principally obtained from the
“Cloverdale Mine” in Botetourt county, Virginia, is the best in the world for
that purpose. It is certain, however, that the laudable professional pride and
mechanical skill of Messrs. Anderson & Co., have contributed no little to their
fame in this respect.
The experience and the facilities which the “Tredegar Works” have thus been
enabled to acquire, would seem to have been the result of a special direction,
which the enthusiastic patriot may well be excused for regarding as
providential. With the establishment of Messrs. Anderson & Co., and the
opportune possession of the Gosport Navy Yard, it is difficult to conceive how
the South, relying solely upon human agencies, could have successfully resisted
the assaults of a neighboring, powerful, and well-appointed enemy. The
importance of these works to the South does not appear to have been underrated
by our enemies [remainder of line illegible] of the “On to Richmond” march, was
their destruction and consequent crippling of Southern resources of war.
The number of ordnance, of all calibers, furnished to the South by the Tredegar
Works, we have it not in our power now to states; but, taking certain facts
within our possession as the data of the estimate, it must reach to hundreds. At
present the utmost activity is being displayed in this department, and from six
to eight small, and about six large guns, are turned out weekly. The floors of
the machine shop are crowded with projectiles of all sizes and shapes, varying
in weight from the one hundred pound percussion shell of the rifled Columbiads,
to the six-pound shells of the jaunty and symmetrical, but destructive, little
rifled “Tredegar gun,” as it is termed.
The percussion shells, of which a large number are now being used, are provided
with Bormaun’s celebrated graduated fuse, with a safety attachment – the
invention of Dr. Robert S. Archer, a member of the firm – to prevent premature
explosions by the careless dropping of the shell. Quite a number of these
terrible projectiles are ready packed for transshipment to Charleston, are about
200 shells are each day sent to the laboratory to be filled. The machinery for
boring and rifling cannon are of the most improved and powerful description, and
are kept constantly employed. During our visit on Wednesday, a monster 10-inch
Columbiad weighing about 17,000 pounds and having a range of four miles, was
being rifled – a process which would occupy about two days. Three of these
enormous cannon are cast each week (in the average), and six of them were,
during our visit, undergoing the process of boring, preparatory to being rifled.
The operation of boring is by far the most tedious of all connected with the
manufacture of a gun, occupying from five days to two weeks, according to the
quality of the iron or the excellence of the tools used. There are six boring
beds, or mills, and a proportionate number of planers, or lathes, for smoothing
and finishing the piece after it has been bored. The light “Tredegar Gun,” and
rifled field pieces of ordinary caliber are turned off with great rapidity, and
removed to suitable fields of action as soon as finished. Among the guns now
being rifled for field service, are some fifty bronze and iron guns of small
caliber, belonging to the State of Virginia. There had heretofore been regarded
as wholly useless, but will, in their altered forms, become exceedingly
effective. The latter pieces will be confided, it is supposed, to the care of
the Home Guards throughout the State. A number of formidable looking eight-inch
siege howitzers have also been completed, and are now ready for shipment to
different points of action. The process of fabricating the le instrument of
death, is full of interest to the uninitiated. The guns are cast solidly, and
after being reduced of their surplus length, are placed upon the boring beds,
and from thence transferred to the turning lathes, where the pieces are then cut
down to their proper shape and dimensions, and smoothed or polished.
The establishment is also largely engaged in the manufacture of gun carriages
for field batteries and for heavy ordnance. Quite a large number of these, made
in the best and most substantial manner, have already been sent away, and others
are being almost daily conveyed to the different fields of action. It was in
this department that the most difficulty was anticipated in meeting the
requirements of our armies; yet here, also, the energy of Messrs. Anderson & Co.
has demonstrated the entirely self-sustaining powers and resources of the South,
by turning out from their establishment carriages and all the appurtenances of
field batteries, which challenge the closest critical comparison with the best
work of the Northern manufactories. A traveling forge to accompany the batteries
into the field – and numbers are being here made after an original design –
struck us as being one of the most complete, and practically available in all of
its arrangements we have yet seen.
Another decided improvement in the mechanism of artillery, which this firm has
originated are wrought iron carriages for barbette guns, which have been found
to far surpass the cumbrous oaken ones now generally used, both in strength and
in the ease with which the heaviest ordnance may be worked upon them, while they
fall as far below the latter in weight and its expense of construction. The plan
of these carriages was highly approved by the old government, who were about to
order them for the more important fortifications, along the coast, when Lincoln
went in, and the Union became thenceforward as the “baseless fabric of a
vision.” Several of the improved wrought iron carriages are now under
construction and one of them has been already completed – for certain Southern
forts.
Many of the improvements which have here been originated in the manufacture of
cannon, projectiles, &c., may be traced to the practiced skill and the
experience of Dr. Robt. S. Archer, one of the firm, who was formerly in the
United States Navy for many years, as surgeon, and who has devoted a
considerable portion of his life to experimenting in fire-arms, projectiles, &c.
The “Tredegar Gun,” to which reference has before been made, is of an original
design, and upon an entirely new principle. It is a six-pounder iron rifled
field piece, furnished with a patent friction primer instead of a percussion
hammer, and having a graduated sight, by means of which the gun may be fired
with the accuracy of a rifle. It is quite likely the Yankees will soon hear of
this busy little artillery hornet in the vicinity of Washington. Extensive
additions will shortly be made to the work now in operation, ad which will much
facilitate the speedier manufacture of guns of the heaviest caliber.
We have been thus full in our sketch of the military operations of the Tredegar
Works, because they exhibit at once their unlimited capacity and the indomitable
energy of its proprietors, and because that the entire vast establishment is now
wholly devoted to the pressing requirements of the military service of the
Confederacy. But while the manufacture of ordnance, &c., exhibit the capacity of
the establishment, they by no means afford a just idea of its resources or the
variety of its manufactures.
Very few intelligent Southern readers need to be reminded, we imagine, that in
the manufacture of locomotives, the Tredegar Works stand second to none on this
continent. The fact is amply demonstrated by the popularity of the admirable
engines of the Tredegar stamp, upon the Southern roads, and even upon those of
Cuba, which are extensively furnished with them we believe. But even the most
intelligent Southern ____ may well be surprised at the variety of delicate and
complicated machinery and steel ware, manufactured by Messrs. Anderson & Co.;
and only by a walk through their establishment – the work of hours by the way –
can a just idea of its actual operations be obtained. The list of manufactures
which the Works are capable under ordinary circumstances of turning out,
includes, in addition to locomotives and every description of iron work
connected with the construction of railroads, sugar and saw-mills &c., planing
machines, ship spikes, chains, iron and brass castings, portable and stationary
steam engines, machinery for plantation purposes, circular saw plates, carriage
axles, and tool and machinery steel of every shape and size. To the manufacture
of cast steel especial attention has been given; sine(?) steel furnaces with
proper machinery, are employed in this department, and the work turned out is
confidently claimed to be fully equal to the best English brands for tenacity,
soundness and uniformity of temper.
The amount of machinery, forges, mills, &c., required in the various departments
of the Tredegar Works are of course enormous, and would require, in their
hurried description even, more technical knowledge than we could summon up, and
far more space than the demands of the public will enable us to give. – There
are in all about fifteen shops, each one of which is employed in a distinct
branch of the general manufacturing business of the firm. These comprise: The
Rolling Mill, with furnaces for melting and puddling iron, and pondrous
machinery for rolling it into the several requisite forms of merchantable iron;
Spike Factory, for the manufacture of ship and rail road spikes, about thirty
tons of which can be made in the course of one day; Cooper Shop; the Foundry,
where all the castings are made: this department is in three divisions, the
first of which is devoted to heavy castings, inclusive of gins, &c., the second
to rail road, engines, and other ____ machinery – and the third to rail ___
there is now being In the 6 ___ casting a peculiar mould, the name and object of
which it would not be judicious to disclose, being for Government purposes,
which will require about three weeks for its entire casting, and will, when
completed, weigh upwards of 17,000 pounds; Car Wheels; Brass Foundery, where the
brass castings of locomotives, &c., are made. The First Machine Shop, where
carwheels and cannon are bored, turned and rifled; In this shop is an immense
Hydralic press for forcing the car wheel on the axle, and which possesses a
power of compression equal to two hundred tons; locomotive shop in which
locomotives, mills, engines, and the more delicate machinery generally are all
made. The armory, designed for the manufacture of rifled muskets, but not in
operation; Carpenter shop; Boiler shop; Pattern shop; Cast steel foundry; wheel
and Mill-wright shop; and Blacksmith shop. In the latter building, which is 180
feet long, and well supplied with trip hammers for light work, and every
requisite appliance, forty forges are kept constantly employed. The Laboratory,
where shells and grape shot are filled, and other projectiles prepared, is a
separate department called into existence by the exigencies of the times.
There are at present employed in the works about 1,000 men, who, were they
called into service, would make a formidable regiment of strong armed defenders;
and for such a service they are fully prepared, for, influenced by the warlike
tendencies of the times, the men, some time ago, organized from among themselves
a full battalion, and elected as their commander, Major Joseph R. Anderson, one
of the proprietors. Procuring arms, they, after some weeks passed in industrious
drilling, tendered their services to the Government through their commander. The
President very judiciously declined the tender, upon the ground that the
Tredegar Volunteers could be of infinitely more service to the cause they
desired to serve, in the work shops than in the field. Recently Major Anderson
has been called to a brigadier generalship in the provisional army of the
Confederacy, and the battalion are temporarily without a commander. They
preserve, however, their regular organization, and drill with assiduous care
once a week. From their ranks a guard is nightly detailed, and the establishment
placed under strict military surveillance. The latter precaution has been
rendered necessary by the attempts to destroy these all-important works, which
have twice been made by Yankee emissaries in our midst, and which attempts were,
fortunately for our cause, twice frustrated by the vigilance of some of the
employees in the works.
The supply of anthracite coal having been cut off by the blockade, Messrs.
Anderson & Co. are about to resort to the use of coke, which material is wholly
used in England for manufacturing purposes. A large furnace for the purpose of
converting bituminous coal into coke has been erected, and is now ready for
active operations. The coke, when made, will be mixed with anthracite coal, a
quantity of which the firm have managed to retain. – The supply of earth for
moulding purposes has also been cut off, but the demand is fully met by an
abundance of the requisite article procured in the immediate vicinity of this
city. It was formerly obtained from Troy, New York, The dealings of Messrs.
Anderson & Co. with the North, before the interruption of commercial intercourse
between the two sections, amounted annually to about $400,000 – nearly half a
million of dollars – all of which enormous revenue has, we trust, been now lost
to Yankeedom forever. Among the articles for which we relied wholly upon the
North was boiler or plate-iron, and already its manufacture, in ample
quantities, has been achieved by Messrs. Anderson & Co. The firm are now
supplying the Government with large quantities of excellent plate-iron. The
purpose to which it is applied will be ascertained through Yankee sources sooner
or later.
The Tredegar Iron Works, it remains only to say, are operated wholly by water
power, from the inexhaustible and unrivalled sources of the noble James river.
The following gentlemen comprise the firm of Anderson & Co.: Joseph R. Anderson,
Robert Archer, John F. Tanner, Robert S. Archer. The officers of the Works are
as follows: Alexander Delaney, Superintendent; Edward R. Archer, Assistant
Superintendent; P. S. Derbyshire, Foreman of the Houndry; John Morfitt, of
Machine Shop; J. W. Hercus, of Setting-up Shop; J. W. Curtis, of Finishing Shop;
William H. Leach, of Blacksmith Shop; John Reid, of Pattern Shop; Thomas Hays,
of Boiler Shop; and Guido Weis, of Carpenter Shop.
============================================================================
From the Richmond Enquirer, 9/28/1861
The Mechanical and Industrial Resources of Richmond.
Under this caption, we design giving such occasional statistical information
respecting the extent, resources and progress of the industrial interests of our
city, as shall demonstrate at a glance the rapidly increasing importance of
Richmond as a manufacturing place, and the entire ability of our mechanics, and
business men generally, to assert with ease and profit their entire independence
of Yankee capital, and of Yankee enterprise. As a matter of justice to
long-established success, we devote this initial sketch to the Richmond
“Tredegar Iron Works” of Messrs. Joseph R. Anderson & Co., situated at the James
River terminus of ____ street. For a very interesting visit to these extensive
works, on Wednesday, and a detailed explanation of its operations, we rest under
obligations to the courtesy of Mr. Edward R. Archer, its Assistant
Superintendent.
THE TREDEGAR IRON WORKS.
This vast and magnificent establishment, the resources and the important
services of which must constitute a prominent chapter in the future history of
Southern independence, has long enjoyed a very wide spread and honorable
celebrity, not only as the most extensive of its character in America, but on
the score also of the superior and admirable quality of the work which has
issued from it. Established many years ago, and at a period when the mechanical
and industrial inferiority of the business men of the South to those of the
North, seems to have been generally conceded even by Southern writers, the
Tredegar works, under the well directed skill and quiet enterprise of its
proprietors, gradually extended its operations, and developed its resources to a
degree which brought it into direct competition with the best establishments of
a similar class in the North, when its superior excellence in many, if not all
the branches of iron manufacture, extorted an unequivocal recognition from the
Government of the United States, which awarded to Messrs. Anderson & Co. the
construction of the engines of the first class steam frigates “Roanoke” and
“Colorado,” and the manufacture of a very considerable quantity of cannon and
ordnance, and projectiles of all kinds.
It was in this latter departments – the fabrication of cannon – that the
“Tredegar Works,” achieved its first popular distinction. So decidedly superior
were the ordnance here manufactured found to be, that the fame of the foundry in
which they were cast soon became firmly established, and the U. S. government
thenceforward, and up to within a short time of the election of Lincoln,
entrusted to Messrs. Anderson & Co. the manufacture of the chief portion of the
best ordnance required by the war department. An officer of distinction in the
old Federal navy, and, who had been long engaged in superintending the
manufacture and proof of ordnance made for his government, writes of the
Tredegar Foundry, that of some 1,200 guns made there, every one of the number
successfully withstood the tests to which they were subjected, and, adds the
safe assertion that “they are fully equal to any made in this country or in
Europe.” In proof of this opinion, the fact may be mentioned here that several
of the Tredegar guns have endured, without injury, upwards of 1,000 rounds, and
in one memorable instance at least, the piece safely withstood the excessive
test of 1,800 consecutive firings to which it was subjected, for the purpose of
ascertaining its actual power of endurance. A chief cause of this remarkable
excellence of the ordnance made here, is said to exist in the admitted fact that
the iron used in their manufacture, and which is principally obtained from the
“Cloverdale Mine” in Botetourt county, Virginia, is the best in the world for
that purpose. It is certain, however, that the laudable professional pride and
mechanical skill of Messrs. Anderson & Co., have contributed no little to their
fame in this respect.
The experience and he facilities which the “Tredegar Works” have thus been
enabled to acquire, would seem to have been the result of a special direction,
which the enthusiastic patriot may well be excused for regarding as
providential. Without the establishment of Messrs. Anderson & Co., and the
opportune possession of the Gosport Navy Yard, it is difficult to conceive how
the South, relying solely upon human agencies, could have successfully resisted
the assaults of a neighboring, powerful, and well-appointed enemy. The
importance of these works to the South does not appear to have been underrated
by our enemies, since, avowedly, the chief object of the “On to Richmond” march,
was their destruction and consequent crippling of Southern resources of war.
The number of ordnance, of all calibres, furnished to the South by the Tredegar
Works, we have it not in our power to state; but, taking certain facts within
our possession as the data of the estimate, it must reach to hundreds. At
present the utmost activity is being displayed in this department, and from six
to eight small, and about six large guns, are turned out weekly. The floors of
the machine shop are crowded with projectiles of sizes and shapes, varying in
weight from the one hundred pound percussion shell of the rifled Columbiads, to
the six pound shells of the jaunty and symetrical, but destructive, little
rifled “Tredegar gun,” as it is termed.
The percussion shells, of which a large number are now being used, are provided
with Borman’s celebrated graduated fuse, with a safety attachment – the
invention of Dr. Rob’t S. Archer, a member of the firm – to prevent premature
explosions by the careless dropping of the shell. Quite a number of these
terrible projectiles are ready packed for transhipment to Charleston, are [and]
about 200 shells are each day sent to the laboratory to be filled. The machinery
for boring and rifling cannon are of the most improved and powerful description,
and are kept constantly employed. During our visit on Wednesday, a monster 10
inch Columbiad weighing about 17,000 pounds and having a range of four miles,
was being rifled – a process which would occupy about two days. Three of these
enormous cannon are cast each week (in the average), and six of them were,
during our visit, undergoing the process of boring, preparatory to being rifled.
The operation of boring is by far the most tedious of all connected with the
manufacture of a gun, occupying from five days to two weeks, according to the
quality of the iron or the excellence of the tools used. There are six boring
beds, or mills, and a proportionate number of planers, or lathes, for smoothing
and finishing the piece after it has been bored. The light “Tredegar Gun,” and
rifled field pieces of ordinary calibre are turned off with great rapidity, and
removed to suitable fields of action as soon as finished. Among the guns now
being rifled for field service, are some fifty bronze and iron guns of a small
caliber, belonging to the State of Virginia. These had heretofore been regarded
as wholly useless, but will, in their altered forms, become exceedingly
effective. The latter pieces will be confided, it is supposed, to the care of
the Home Guards throughout the State. A number of formidable looking eight-inch
siege howitzers have also been completed, and are now ready for shipment to
different points of action. The process of fabricating the terrible instruments
of death, is full of interest to the uninitiated. The guns are cast solidly, and
after being reduced of their surplus length, are placed upon the boring beds,
and from thence transferred, to the turning lathes, where the pieces are then
cut down to their proper shape and dimensions, and smoothed or polished.
The establishment is also largely engaged in the manufacture of gun carriages,
for field batteries and for heavy ordnance. Quite a large number of these, made
in the best and most substantial manner, have already been sent away, and others
are being almost daily conveyed to the different fields of action. It was in
this department that the most difficulty was anticipated in meeting the
requirements of our armies; yet here, also, the energy of Messrs. Anderson & Co.
has demonstrated the entirely self-sustaining powers and resources of the South,
by turning out from their establishment carriages and all the appurtenances of
field batteries, which challenge the closest critical comparison with the best
work of Northern manufactories. A traveling forge to accompany the batteries
into the field – and numbers are being here made after an original design –
struck us as being one of the most complete, and practically available in all of
its arrangements we have yet seen.
Another decided improvement in the mechanism of artillery, which this firm has
originated are wrought iron carriages for barbette guns, which have been found
to far surpass the cumbrous oaken ones now generally used, both in strength and
in the ease with which the heaviest ordnance may be worked upon them, while they
fall as far below the latter in weight and in expense of construction. The plan
of these carriages was highly approved by the old government, who were about to
order them for the more important fortifications along the coast, when Lincoln
went in, and the Union became thenceforward as “the baseless fabric of a
vision.” Several of the improved wrought iron carriages are now under
construction and one of them has been already completed – for certain Southern
forts.
Many of the improvements which have been originated in the manufacture of
cannon, projectiles, &c., may be traced to the practiced skill and the
experience of Dr. Robt. S. Archer, one of the firm, who was formerly in the
United States Navy for many years, as surgeon, and who has devoted a
considerable portion of his life to experimenting in fire arms, projectiles, &c.
The “Tredegar Gun,” to which reference has before been made, is of an original
design, and upon an entirely new principle. It is a six-pounder iron rifled
field piece, furnished with a patent friction primer instead of a percussion
hammer, and having a graduated sight, by means of which the gun may be fired
with the accuracy of a rifle. It is quite likely the Yankees will soon hear of
this busy little artillery hornet in the vicinity of Washington. Extensive
additions will shortly be made to the works now in operation, and which will
much facilitate the speedier manufacture of guns of the heaviest calibre.
We have been thus full in our sketch of the military operations of the Tredegar
Works, because they exhibit at once their unlimited capacity and the indomitable
energy of its proprietors, and because that the entire vast establishment is now
wholly devoted to the pressing requirements of the military service of the
Confederacy. But while the manufacture of ordnance, &c., exhibit the capacity of
the establishment, they by no means afford a just idea of its resources or the
variety of its manufactures.
Very few intelligent Southern readers need be reminded, we imagine, that in the
manufacture of locomotives, the Tredegar Works stand second to none on this
continent. The fact is amply demonstrated by the popularity of the admirable
engines of the Tredegar stamp, upon the Southern roads, and even upon those of
Cuba, which are exclusively furnished with them we believe. But even the most
intelligent of Southern readers may well be surprised at the variety of delicate
and complicated machinery and steel ware, manufactured by Messrs. Anderson &
Co.; and only by a walk through their establishment – the work of hours by the
way – can a just idea of its actual operations be obtained. The list of
manufactures which the Works are capable under ordinary circumstances of turning
out, includes, in addition to locomotives and every description of iron work
connected with the construction of railroads, sugar and saw mills &c., planning
machines, ship spikes, chains, iron and brass castings, portable and stationary
steam engines, machinery for plantation purposes, circular saw plates, carriage
axles, and tool and machinery steel of every shape and size. To the manufacture
of cast-steel especial attention has been given; sine steel furnaces with proper
machinery, are employed in this department, and the work turned out is
confidently claimed to be fully equal to the best English brands for tenacity,
soundness and uniformity of temper.
The amount of machinery, forges, mills, &c., required in the various departments
of the Tredegar Works are of course enormous, and would require, in their
hurried description even, more technical knowledge than we could summon up, and
far more space than the demands of the public will enable us to give. – There
are in all about fifteen shops, each one of which is employed in a distinct
branch of the general manufacturing business of the firm. These comprise: The
Rolling Mill, with furnaces for melting and puddling iron, and pondrous
machinery for rolling it into the several requisite forms of merchantable iron;
Spike Factory, for the manufacture of ship and rail road spikes, about thirty
tons of which can be made in the course of one day; Cooper Shop; the Foundry,
where all the castings are made: this department is in three divisions, the
first of which is devoted to heavy castings, inclusive of guns, &c., the second
to rail road, engine, and other castings generally; and the third to rail road
work exclusively. – In the first named division there is now being arranged for
casting a peculiar mould, the name and object of which it would not be judicious
to disclose, being for Government purposes, which will require about three weeks
for its entire casting, and will, when completed, weigh upwards of 17,000
pounds; Car Wheels; Brass Foundery, where the brass castings of locomotives,
&c., are made. The First Machine Shop, where car wheels and cannon are bored,
turned and rifled; In this shop is an immense Hydralic Press for forcing the car
wheels on the axle, and which possesses a power of compression equal to two
hundred tons; locomotive shop in which locomotives, mills, engines, and the more
delicate machinery generally are all made. The armory, designed for the
manufacture of rifled muskets, but not in operation; Carpenter shop; Boiler
shop; Pattern shop; Cast steel foundry; wheel and Mill wright shop; and
Blacksmith shop. In the latter building, which is 180 feet long, and well
supplied with trip hammers for light work, and every requisite appliance, forty
forges are kept constantly employed. The Laboratory, where shells and grape shot
are filled, and other projectiles prepared, is a separate department called into
existence by the exigencies of the times.
There are at present employed in the works about 1,000 men, who, were they
called into service would make a formidable regiment of strong armed defenders;
and for such a service they are fully prepared, for, influenced by the warlike
tendencies of the times, the men, some time ago, organized from among themselves
a full battalion, and elected as their commander, Major Joseph R. Anderson, one
of the proprietors. Procuring arms, they, after some weeks passed in industrious
drilling, tendered their services to the Government through their commander. The
President very judiciously declined the tender, upon the ground that the
Tredegar Volunteers could be of infinitely more service to the cause they
desired to serve, in the work shops than in the field. Recently Major Anderson
has been called to a brigadier generalship in the provisional army of the
Confederacy, and the battalion are temporarily without a commander. They
preserve, however, their regular organization, and drill with assiduous care
once a week. From their ranks a guard is nightly detailed, and the establishment
placed under strict military surveillance. The latter precaution has been
rendered necessary by the attempt to destroy these all important works, which
have twice been made by Yankee emissaries in our midst, and, which attempts
were, fortunately for our cause, twice frustrated by the vigilance of some of
our employees in the works.
The supply of anthracite coal having been cut off by the blockade, Messrs.
Anderson & Co. are about to resort to the use of coke, which material is wholly
used in England for manufacturing purposes. A large furnace for the purpose of
converting bituminous coal into coke has been erected, and is now ready for
active operations. The coke, when made, will be mixed with anthracite coal, a
quantity of which the firm have managed to retain. – The supply of earth for
moulding purposes has also been cut off, but the demand is fully met by an
abundance of the requisite article procured in the immediate vicinity of his
city. It was formerly obtained from Troy, New York. The dealings of Messrs.
Anderson & Co. with the North, before the interruption of commercial intercourse
between the two sections, amounted annually to about $400,000 – nearly half a
million of dollars – all of which enormous revenue has, we trust, been now lost
to Yankeedom forever. Among the articles for which we relied wholly upon the
North was boiler or plate iron, and already its manufacture, in ample
quantities, has been achieved by Messrs. Anderson & Co. The firm are now
supplying the Government with large quantities of excellent plate iron. The
purpose to which it is applied will be ascertained through Yankee sources sooner
or later.
The Tredegar Iron Works, it remains only to say, are operated wholly by water
power, from the inexhaustable and unrivalled sources of the noble James river.
The following gentlemen comprise the firm of Anderson & Co.: Joseph R. Anderson,
Robert Archer, John F. Tanner, Robert S. Archer. The officers of the Works are
as follows: Alexander Delaney, Superintendent; Edward R. Archer, Assistant
Superintendent; P. S. Derbyshire, Foreman of the Foundry; John Morfitt, of
Machine Shop; J. W. Hercus, of Setting-up Shop; J. W. Curtis, of Finishing Shop;
William H. Leach, of Blacksmith Shop; John Reid, of Pattern Shop; Thomas Hays,
of Boiler Shop; and Guido Weis, of Carpenter Shop.
=================================
337 Goodwin, Frederick Deane (1804–1881), papers, 1824–1868. 29 items.
Mss1G6325a.
Diaries and sermons make up the greater part of this Episcopal minister’s collection of papers.
Goodwin grew up in Massachusetts and came to Virginia as a young man. He was first a teacher and
then a minister. In 1837 he married Mary Frances Archer, daughter of Dr. Robert Archer, U.S. Army
at Fort Monroe.
Most of Goodwin’s diaries record daily activities of teaching, visiting, and preaching; his
thoughts on religion take up a substantial amount of space. An entry for 1 January 1849 records his
thoughts on slavery and that the institution will be a trial and "vexation" to him as long as he lives in
a land of slaves. He then comments on his own slaves and the one hired for the current year. While
a minister in Amherst and Nelson counties, he also provided services for the slaves of Mayo Cabell
at Union Hill (see entries for the 1840s, in particular the fifth Sundays) and at Grace Church. In
section 19 are several reports, 1839–1841, of a Sunday school for African Americans at Trinity
Episcopal Church in Staunton.
=====================================================
From the Charleston Mercury, 8/16/1861
NOTES OF THE WAR.
From Our Own Correspondent.
RICHMOND, VA. August 13.
A large majority of visitors to the fortifications in and around Charleston
Harbor, are, doubtless, of the opinion that we are still indebted to Yankee or
English mechanics for the heavy ordinance with which those works are supplied.
Certainly, until the Messrs. EASON demonstrated the contrary, very few persons
could have been persuaded that rifled cannon of as good finish, and nearly as
great range, as the best imported guns, could be turned out of our own
workshops. The fact is, and it should put our patriotism to the blush, that the
general tendency with us has been to disparage domestic manufactures of every
class, and to take it for granted that any article was the better in direct
ratio to the distance from which it was brought. Whatever was home made must be
inferior, and, acting upon this generally accepted axiom, our authorities and
our people have as a rule, given all their larger contracts to Northern
companies, without so much as taking the trouble to inquire into the ability of
Southern houses to furnish the same articles at the same prices. Some excuse
might be made for this singular inconsistency, if the question of economy were
at all involved. We cannot expect trades people to be over-liberal , nor is it
reasonable to suppose that, in making a bargain, any one is likely to disregard
his own interest. But it is humiliatingly true, that even where our own
mechanics have underbid their Northern rivals the latter have been preferred,
under a mistake idea that the workmanship and material of the South are vastly
inferior to those of the more wealthy and ingenious North.
A striking illustration of this blunder in political economy, and of the
vassalage in which we have been so long and voluntarily held, is furnished by a
recent experience in Virginia - happily, to unfavorable, owing to the
maladroitness of the enemy. Some time last year a Board of Commissioners was
appointed by the State to contract for tools and general machinery for the
manufacture of five hundred rifle muskets per annum, to be equal to the best
fire-arms and in the world, and requiring, therefore in their construction, the
most perfect and complete machinery; the object being to establish on a
permanent basis a State Armory.
With characteristic negligence, none of the Richmond contractors urged their
proposals before the board, until it appeared that there was a strong
probability of the work being given to the Massachusetts firm of AMES & CO.
Fortunately for us, at this juncture, the impudence of the Yankee got the upper
hand of his habitual caution. Confident of success, the New York Times brought
out a ___ in which it sneered most contemptuously at the helplessness of
Virginia, and exulted over the alleged inferiority other mechanics. This
article, which was re-published in the Richmond Enquirer, stung the leading iron
men here into energetic remonstrance and action. Mr. JOSEPH R. ANDERSON, the
accomplished head of the Tredegar Works, at once perfected his plans, and soon
offered the Commissioners proposals even more advantageous to the State than
those tendered by AMES. Governor LETCHER, after full consideration of the
matter, signified his approval of the contract, and the over-confident Yankee
had the satisfaction of knowing that his Abolition friends had choused [sic] him
out of a job which would have secured him large profits and additional
celebrity. He is welcome now to make as much out of the United States as he can
during the rest of the war. We are grateful for the opportunity he gave us to
develope our resources, and, I think, we will prove to the full satisfaction of
himself and the world, that we are equal, if not superior, to the North in the
manufacture as well as the use of every variety of arms.
I had the pleasure of visiting, yesterday, the great Southern foundry, known as
the Tredegar Iron Works; an establishment of which the whole South may be justly
proud, and to which we are mainly indebted for the ordnance necessary to
prosecute this war with energy and success.
It happened to be a busy day, and I was about giving up my proposed inspection
for want of a cicerone, when Dr. ARCHER, a polite and cultivated gentleman,
interested in experiments connected with the laboratory and ordinance
department, kindly volunteered to act as my guide and interpreter through the
mazes of the many detached shops which make up this monster establishment.
The traveller, entering Richmond by night, catches a glimpse, as he rolls slowly
over the bridge which spans the James River, of the most picturesque sight which
has relieved the monotony of his journey through pine forest and corn field for
many a hundred miles. Far below him the shadow haunted stream, broken by jutting
rocks and deep foliaged islands, brawls along, and as he looks over towards the
left bank, where the clanger of a hundred anvils assails his ear, he sees the
broad red glare of innumerable fires flashing out upon the ware, and dimly
descries the dark forms of men moving seemingly through the flames which shoot
up myriads of sparks into the smoke-obscured atmosphere. The next morning, if
his curiosity so inclines him, a short walk along the canal banks to the armory
grounds will bring him vis-a-vis with the smutty forges and blackened shops into
which daylight transforms the unearthly looking works of the previous night.
Entering the first of these he will find himself in a Rolling Mill, surrounded
by furnaces for melting and converting pig iron, and ponderous machinery for
rolling it, into bars and axles and bolts and chains for railroads. “Step this
side,” says the polite conductor, “you can see the process by which this piece
of carbonized and crystallized iron is converted into the fibrous material which
the skillful workman can shape into any form he pleases.” First a long slab or
bar of ordinary cast iron is placed in the furnace and brought to a white heat.
Armed with a powerful pair of forceps, a gigantic negro seizes it by one
extremity and carrying it rapidly to the roller - which consists of a series of
revolving wheels, whose broad edges are at equally decreasing distances from an
iron bed below - thrust it over the top of the machine to his fellow-workman
opposite, who passes one end with equal dexterity between the first wheel and
the bed, through which it is squeezed out with diminished thickness. Seized
again as it emerges it is again handed over, to pass between wheel No. 2, and so
da capo until the requisite degree of compression has been attained. Next, the
bar is cut up into a number of small pieces and roasted in a second furnace,
where, as it begins to melt, it is continuously stirred and conglomerated into a
large amorphous mass about a foot and a half in diameter. This process is
graphically called puddling. Here there are a half dozen workmen, stripped to
the waist and reeking with perspiration, one of whom catches up this lump of
glowing metal, transfers it to a kind of truck, ladle-shaped opposite the
handles, and by a very skillful manoeuvre thrusts it into the open jaws of a
revolving, stove-like machine. What the intestinal arrangements of this
iron-feeding devil may be, I cannot say, but in a single second he spits out the
white hot morsel, reduced in size by at least one half. This lump is again
rolled, brought once more to a welding heat, and the work is done.
A few yards further on you come to the second Rolling Mill, where all the kinds
of large and small iron are made; and attached to this mill is the extensive
Spike Factory, four stories high, where rods are fashioned into spikes by three
powerful machines, each of which turns them out at the rate of one a second, or
about twenty five tons a day; these, falling into the lowest story, are
carefully inspected, packed, marked and stored, ready for transportation.
One of the most interesting objects in this part of the building is an enormous
punch, whose power is equal to about twenty tons to the square inch. A long iron
plate is carefully adjusted; two men stand by the machine - one to govern its
movements, which is done with all ease by a simple lever, and the other to bring
the plate accurately to the spot where the whole is to be cut. A motion of the
handle, and the immense mass rises noiselessly a few inches; another motion, and
the hard steel punch quietly, and without the slightest apparent resistance
presses out a circular plug, an inch thick and an inch and a quarter in
diameter. The plates they were punching when I visited the works are intended
for -----, a purpose which will rather astonish some good people when they find
it out.
I have not time to take you through the cooper shop, or the brass foundry, or
the machine shop, with its powerful hydraulic press for forcing car wheels on
their axles, and as indicator to show the exact power required to effect it; or
the locomotive, or boiler or blacksmith shops, in the latter of which
twenty-five fires are blasting, and a large steam hammer, with innumerable
younger brothers, are running a tilt, and making the day hideous with sound. My
lyre is tuned to war, and I only sung of that puddling process as an episode
nearly connected with the main plot of cannon making. But if you will come into
one of the foundry buildings with me, I will show you a sight that will make you
open your eyes as wide as LINCOLN will when he sees JOHNSTON and BEAUREGARD
riding up to the White House with twice ten thousand rebels at their back,
craving pardon for that naughty affair of Bull Run. All through that building
were a hundred men and boys are making shot and shell, canister, shrapnel,
percussion and others, and leaving the laboratory on your left, where they are
cutting and filling fuzes, and strapping spherical cases, and fixing leaden and
wooden sabots on all sorts of destructive missiles, pass straight through that
door before you, and look around. Those four irregular cylinders sticking up out
of the central pit, are the moulds of our eight inch columbiads. Lying by their
side, is one in sections, not yet fitted together, which gives you a good idea
of their construction; and that big iron stove, with a trough running from it
into the pit, is the furnace out of which the molten mass that these moulds will
shape into huge cannon runs. If you go into the yard by the side of this
foundry, you will get a notion of how cannon look in the rough, and, in the
building opposite, you may see the workmen boring out the guns with enormous
lathes, and cutting off their honey-combed months, and shaping their ragged
cascables, and turning off their trunions, and boring their vents.
Here, too, cannon of all sizes, from 8 inch columbiads to the lightest field
pieces, are in process of rifling. The most beautiful of these are the 3 inch
field guns, constructed on a new principle, with twelve grooves, and carrying a
ten pound shot, invented by Dr. ARCHER. The Washington Artillery, of New Orleans
were supplied with these, and the Major commanding told me that he never has
seen any thing like their accuracy of fire. At one time, in the battle of the
21st, a section of his battery was very much annoyed by one of the enemy’s guns,
and he ordered it be silenced. At the first fire it was struck directly in the
axle, and the piece tumbled over into the mud, harmless henceforth, as far as
that day’s work was concerned.
My space will not allow me to speak of the brass boat howitzers, and other naval
guns which are fashioned in these works. A far as my limits allow, I have tried
to give your readers a concise description of the most magnificent
establishment, in point of the variety as well as magnitude of its operations,
in the broad land. I hazard nothing in affirming that the work turned out from
the Tredegar shops will compare favorably with any in the world. It has all the
advantages of the best iron, the most consummate skill, and its machinery is
driven by water power - the cheapest of all forces at our command. To its
enterprising proprietors the South owes a debt of gratitude, which they are now
able to appreciate, and which we trust, they will repay by active and liberal
patronage in the future.
J. D. B.
=======================================================
Confederate Artillery Service.
By Gen. E. P. Alexander, late Chief of Artillery of Longstreet's Corps.
[The following interesting and valuable paper was written in 1866 as an appendix
to a proposed history of Longstreet's corps by its able and accomplished Chief
of Artillery.]
As the Confederate artillery labored throughout the war under disadvantages
which have scarcely been known outside of its own ranks, and which can hardly be
fully appreciated except by those who have served with that arm, I have thought
it better to give in this form a connected account of the difficulties
encountered, and the gradual improvements made in this branch of the service.
The drawbacks upon its efficiency at the beginning of the war were very serious,
and came both from its organization and from its equipment. The faults of its
organization were recognized, and gradually overcome within eighteen months. The
deficiencies of equipment, the result of causes many of which were beyond
control, continued with but partial mitigation to the end of the war. The
batteries were generally composed of but four guns, which is not an economical
arrangement; but as no objection was made to it, either at army headquarters or
at the War Department, and as the scarcity both of horses and ordnance equipment
made it difficult to get, and more so to maintain a six-gun battery, it resulted
in that few six-gun batteries were put in the field, and nearly every one of
these was eventually reduced to four guns.
During the first year of the war each brigade of infantry had a battery
attached, which was under the orders of the brigade-commander; while the
remaining batteries with the army were organized into one or more regiments, or
battalions, under the command of the Chief of Artillery on the staff of the
Commanding General.
The infantry at this period was organized in divisions, the commanding officer
of which each had, or was supposed to have, on his staff a Chief of Artillery,
who was to exercise a general supervision over the brigade-batteries of the
division.
This organization was very inefficient, for the following reasons. The
brigade-batteries depended for their rations, forage, and all supplies, upon the
brigade-staff., and received from brigade-headquarters all orders, and thus
acquired an independence of the division Chief of Artillery, which was often
fostered by the Brigadier-Generals resenting any interference with parts of
their commands by junior officers, and took from the Chiefs of Artillery the
feeling of entire responsibility which every officer should feel for the
condition and action of his command. In action the Brigadier could not give
proper supervision both to his infantry and artillery; and the Chief of
Artillery with the best intentions could himself manage the batteries but
inefficiently, as they were so scattered in position along the line of battle.
Now it is well known that, for artillery to produce its legitimate effects, its
fire should be concentrated; and it is plain that under the above organization
there could be but little concentration of batteries, except by bringing in the
general reserve, which was commanded by the Chief of Artillery of the army. This
body, however, not being in intimate relations with the infantry, who always
develop the situation, and being invariably put on the march either behind the
infantry commands or on some road to itself, was never promptly available on an
emergency. Indeed, if the history of the general reserve artillery during its
entire existence be investigated, it will be found that although excellent in
material, and comparatively so in equipment, the service that it rendered was
greatly disproportionate to its strength. It resulted, therefore, that although
the numerical strength of the Confederate artillery was as great in the first
year of the war as ever afterwards, its weight in the scale of actual conflict
is never seen to affect the result, until the second battle of Manassas. For
instance, during the Seven Days' battles around Richmond, General Lee's
artillery numbered about three hundred guns (nearly four guns to every thousand
men), ninety-eight of these being in the general reserve; but in the history of
the fighting this powerful organization has only left the faintest traces of its
existence. Now the wretched character of the ammunition which filled its chests
may well be charged with many of its shortcomings; but an examination of the
official reports of the battles will show, that scattered, and either
uncommanded or too much commanded, as it was, there was an entire absence of
that ensemble of action necessary to the efficiency of all arms, but peculiarly
so to the artillery; and that when fought at all, it was put in only in
inefficient driblets. I select two or three examples where the most important
consequences were involved.
On the morning of the 30th of June, 1862, General Jackson, leading four
divisions in pursuit, struck the enemy's rear-guard at White Oak Swamp about
9:30 A. M., and decided to force the crossing with artillery. It was 1:45 P. M.
before twenty-eight guns could be concentrated and opened.* (* Official Report
of Colonel Crutchfield. Reports of Army of Northern Virginia, p. 525.) The only
battery of the enemy in sight was at once driven off, but in a short while
eighteen guns were opened in reply from behind a wood, and a brisk contest was
maintained until dark, when the enemy withdrew, having kept Jackson's whole
force out of the critical action fought by Longstreet and A. P. Hill late in the
afternoon at Frazier's Farm. The superior ammunition and guns of the enemy made
this contest about an equal one; but even had the Confederate equipment fully
equalled the Federal, the odds were by no means sufficient to warrant the
expectation of any very speedy and decisive result. At one thousand yards'
range, a well-manned artillery can hold its ground for a long time against
double its force of ordinary field-guns, especially if the ground affords the
least cover. In this case the distance was fully a thousand yards, and a very
dense wood entirely concealed each party from the others view. All the firing
was therefore at random, and the damage sustained was trifling on each side, if
we except the disabling of one gun in the Federal battery exposed to view at the
commencement of the affair. If it was deemed impossible to use the infantry to
force a crossing, at least seventy-five guns (that number might have easily been
had) should have been crowded in the Confederate line to hope to accomplish
anything by such a random fire.
At the same time that this affair was going on, General Huger's division,
numbering about eleven thousand muskets, and accompanied by thirty-seven guns,
while pressing down the Charles City road was checked about two miles from
Frazier's Farm, where Longstreet and Hill were already engaged, by a "powerful
battery of rifled guns" posted on high open ground. General Huger says, "General
Mahone advanced a battery of artillery (Moorman's), and a sharp artillery fire
was kept up for some time. The enemy's fire was very severe, and we had many men
killed and wounded." General Mahone says, "Two pieces of Moorman's battery were
put in position and opened fire on his position, which was returned by the enemy
with energy and effect." The contrast between the results accomplished by the
artillery forces of the two armies is very striking in these two instances, and
is even more so in the battle of Malvern Hill, which, it is well known, was
decided by the powerful artillery concentrated by the enemy. General Lee had
designed that a very heavy artillery fire should precede the infantry attack,
and ample time (from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.) had been allowed for all dispositions to
be made. The execution of this design is best described by General D. H. Hill in
his official report: "Instead of ordering up one or two hundred pieces of
artillery to play on the Yankees, a single battery (Moorman's) was ordered up
and knocked to pieces in a few moments. One or two others shared the same fate
of being beaten in detail. Not knowing how to act under these circumstances, I
wrote to General Jackson that the firing from our batteries was of the most
farcical character."
The serious defects of the artillery organization were, however, not entirely
unappreciated, even before the experience of the Seven Days. On the 22nd of
June, General Lee had issued an order which would have materially improved its
condition, had there been time for its operation to become effective. It did not
do away with the institution of the brigade-batteries, but its tendency was
encouraging, toward the formation of one battalion of the artillery in each
division, by imposing specific duties and responsibilities on the Chiefs of
Artillery of the divisions, who before existed and acted only at the discretion
of their division-commanders, and were often charged with the additional duties
of chief of ordnance. Under the influence of this order and the experience of
the battles, the brigade-batteries, though not abolished by order, were during
the summer gradually absorbed into division-battalions, numbering from three to
six batteries each, and commanded by the division Chief. These battalions first
appeared on the field as such at Second Manassas, and the service rendered by
them there is notorious. They were no less efficient at Sharpsburg and
Fredericksburg, and the utility of the organization being now proven, it was no
longer left to division-commanders to effect, (in some divisions it had even yet
been but partially done, owing to a lack of field-officers of artillery,) but it
was formally adopted by order, and general orders from the War Department
directed a similar organization in all the armies of the Confederacy.*(*This was
the intent of ¶ 2, General Order No. 7, Adjutant-General's Office, Richmond,
January 19, 1863, though the language is ill-chosen, viz: "Hereafter, all
field-artillery belonging to any separate army will be parked together under the
direction of the general or other chief officer of artillery having control of
the same, to be distributed when required according to the judgment of the
Commanding General of such army.") General Lee's order effecting this
organization was issued on the 15th of February, 1863. It divided the artillery
of each of his two army corps into six battalions, all of which were to be
entirely under the command of the Chief of Artillery of the corps, and the whole
force to be superintended by and to report to the Chief of Artillery of the
army, who also personally commanded a small reserve of two battalions. In the
Second Corps four of these battalions numbered four batteries each, one numbered
five, and one six. In the First Corps five battalions numbered four batteries
each, and one six. The two battalions of the general reserve numbered three
each. This organization was well tested in the battle of Chancellorsville,
where, in spite of the difficulties of the Wilderness, the cooperation of the
artillery with the infantry was never excelled in promptness and vigor. When the
Third Army Corps (A. P. Hill's) was formed, in June, 1863, the general reserve
was broken up, and its two battalions, with one from each of the other corps and
a newly organized battalion, were transferred to it, so that at the commencement
of the Gettysburg campaign each of the three corps (composed of three divisions
of infantry each) had with it five battalions of artillery, averaging eighteen
guns each.*(* In Longstreet's corps one battalion carried twenty-six guns, three
carried eighteen each, and one carried but twelve; total, ninety-two.) In the
Second and Third Corps a Chief of Artillery was appointed at once to the
exclusive command of the whole force, but in the First Corps no regular
appointment of a Chief was made until the spring of 1864, the ranking
battalion-commander present, meanwhile, bearing the title and assuming the
office responsibilities of the entire command.
This organization was maintained until the close of the war, and fuller
experience with it only developed its merits and suggested no practical
improvements. A theoretical drawback, perhaps, existed in the fact that the
Chief of Artillery of each corps really had two independent commanders, namely,
his corps commander and the army Chief of Artillery, between whom their might
arise conflict of orders. The objection would be very material if the Chief of
Artillery should be considered like the Chief of Cavalry as the actual commander
of that arm; but it vanishes when he is regarded simply as a staff-officer of
the Commanding General's, charged with the supervision of that rather peculiar
branch of the service, and only giving orders through the corps commander,
except in matters of mere routine and report. The original orders directing the
organization were not explicit upon this point, but common-sense and
circumstances soon gave the proper turn to the matter, and not the slightest
discord ever occurred.
When first organized, the battalion suffered for lack of field and
staff-officers, owing to the fact that they were not organizations authorized by
law, and consequently no appointments could be made for them. Field-officers of
artillery were indeed authorized by Congress at the rate of a Brigadier-General
to every eighty guns, a Colonel to every forty, a Lieutenant-Colonel to every
twenty-five, and a Major to every twelve, which should have amply supplied
officers of these grades. The promotions, however, were either never made in
full, or else the officers appointed were sent to other duties, for during the
whole of 1863 the majority of the battalions had but one field-officer, which
was often insufficient. The staff-officers for the battalions, and for the
Chiefs of Artillery, were provided generally by details from the batteries,
which, though somewhat detrimental to the latter, operated well enough, except
for quarter-master and commissary duties, for which bonded officers of these
departments are absolutely required.
Supernumerary officers of these and the medical departments were however,
gradually collected, and the battalions being then organized and supplied
exactly as regiments, everything worked smoothly. It was at one time attempted
to furnish all quarter-master, commissary and ordnance supplies through officers
of these departments attached to the staff of the Chief of Artillery of the
army, but the system was found so inconvenient that it was soon abandoned, and
these supplies were drawn through the same channels by which the infantry of
each corps were supplied. Each battalion organized from the united resources of
its batteries a "forge train," under control of the ordnance officer, which was
ample for all blacksmithing and harness repairs, and more economical and
efficient than when each battery had to depend only on itself. No
ordnance-wagons accompanied the battalions, the total supply of reserve
ammunition being concentrated into one train under the ordnance-officer on the
staff of the Chief of Artillery of the corps. These trains never exceeded one
wagon to three guns, which was sufficient when within a day's march of a depot
of supplies, but compelled the greatest saving in the use of ammunition when on
active campaigns. Indeed, the limited resources of the Confederacy, the scarcity
of skilled workmen and workshops, and the enormous consumption, kept the supply
of ammunition always low. The Ordnance Department in Richmond were never able to
accumulate any reserve worth mentioning even in the intervals between campaigns,
and during active operations the Army of Northern Virginia lived, as it were,
from hand to mouth. The great majority of the batteries took the field without
having ever fired a round in practice, and passed through the war without aiming
a gun at any target but the enemy. The order "save your ammunition" was
reiterated on every battle-field, and many an awful pounding had to be borne in
silence from the Yankee guns, while every shot was reserved for their infantry.
The scarcity of ammunition was, however, the least difficulty connected with it,
for its quality was the greatest incubus under which the artillery labored. When
the war commenced a small amount of smooth-bore ammunition was on hand in the
Southern arsenals, which was of good quality, and was used in the early affairs
and issued to the batteries first put in the field. This ammunition was all put
up with the Bormann fuse, and this fuse being adopted by the Confederate
Ordnance Department, a factory was established for its manufacture. Large
quantities of ammunition fitted with these fuses were sent to the field in the
summer of 1861, and complaints of its bad quality were immediately made. Careful
test being made of it, it was found that fully four-fifths of the shell exploded
prematurely, and very many of them in the gun. The machinery for their
manufacture was overhauled. and a fresh supply made and sent to the field, where
the old ones were removed and the new were substituted, but no improvements was
discernable. The trouble was found to be in the hermetical sealing of the
under-side of the horse-shoe channel containing the fuse~composition. Although
this was seemingly accomplished at the factory, the shock of the discharge would
unseat the horse-shoe-shaped plug which closed this channel, and allow the flame
from the composition to reach the charge of the shell without burning around to
the magazine of the fuse. Attempts were made to correct the evil by the use of
white-lead, putty and leather under the fuse, and in the winter of 1861 these
correctives were applied to every shell in the army with partial but not
universal success. Repeated attempts were made to improve the manufacture, but
they accomplished nothing, and until after the battle of Chancellorsville the
Bormann fuse continued in use, and premature explosions of shell were so
frequent that the artillery could only be used over the heads of the infantry
with such danger and demoralization to the latter that it was seldom attempted.
Earnest requests were made of the Ordnance Department to substitute for the
Bormann fuse, the common paper-fuses, to be cut to the required length and fixed
on the field, as being not only more economical and more certain, but as
allowing, what is often very desirable, a greater range than five seconds, which
is the limit of the Bormann fuse. These requests, repeated and urged in January,
1863, on the strength of casualties occurring from our own guns among the
infantry in front during the battle of Fredericksburg, were at length successful
in accomplishing the substitution. The ammunition already on hand, however, had
to be used up, and its imperfections affected the fire even as late as
Gettysburg. The paper-fuse was found to answer much better, and no further
complaints of ammunition came from the smooth-bores.
The difficulties which beset the rifled guns and their ammunition were, however,
even greater than those under which the smooth-bores suffered so long, and they
were never so nearly solved. With the exception of a single battery of six ten-pounder
Parrott rifles and one or two imported Blakely guns, the Confederates possessed
no rifled field-pieces at the commencement of the war. Several foundries,
however, undertook their manufacture at an early day, under the direction of the
Ordnance Departments of Confederate or State governments, and soon turned out a
number, generally of three inches calibre, and with five or seven grooves. They
were all adapted to the same ammunition, but were not of uniform length or
shape, and varied in weight from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds. Several of
these guns were used at the first battle of Manassas, and three of them were
engaged in the first "artillery duel" at Blackburn's Ford on the 18th of July,
1861. The projectiles furnished for them at that time were of two kinds, known
as the Burton and the Archer, both of which were expected to receive the rotary
motion from a leaden ring or sabot which the discharge forced into the grooves.
They differed about two pounds in weight, and the charges for them differed
three ounces; but as the latter could not be easily distinguished from each
other, they were used indiscriminately. In the excitement of the battle these
projectiles were supposed to possess superior accuracy and effect to the Parrott
projectiles used by the enemy, and very favorable reports were made of them, and
their manufacture was increased. It was some months before cooler occasions
exposed the error and the utter worthlessness of the projectiles. They never
took the grooves, and consequently their range was less than that of the
smooth-bores, their inaccuracy was excessive; and in addition to this not one
shell in twenty exploded. Their manufacture was discontinued early in 1862, and
a new projectile, having a saucer-shaped copper sabot attached by bolts after
the shell was cast, was substituted for it.* (* This shell, called the Mullane
or Tennessee shell, was the invention of Dr. Read of Tuscaloosa, Ala., the
well-known inventor of what are usually but improperly called Parrott shell.
Parrott made the best guns adapted to these shell, and the gun properly goes by
his name, but Dr. Read's invention of the shell cannot be questioned. His first
patent was granted Oct. 28, 1856, and specifies cupped cylinders fastened on to
the shell by screws, rivets, &c. A patent was refused the Mullane shell by the
Confederate Patent Office, on the ground that it was anticipated by this patent
of Dr. Read. The modifications and improvements on this shell, described further
on, also all fell under Dr. Read's patent.) This shell was a slight improvement
on Burton's and Archer's, as it sometimes took the grooves and then its flight
was excellent. It failed, however, about three times out of four from breaking
its connection with the copper sabot, and it very frequently exploded in the
gun; while of those which flew correctly, not one-fourth exploded at all. It may
readily be imagined that practice with them was very uncertain, even at a fixed
target whose distance was known. Against an enemy in the field it was of little
real value. Attempts were made to insure the ignition of the fuse by filing
notches in the copper sabot to allow the flame of the discharge to pass, but
they did not succeed. This was the condition of the three-inch rifled guns
during the whole of 1862, and these projectiles were used also in the beautiful
United States "three-inch Ordnance Rifles," of which about forty were captured
during the year. In 1863 several improvements were attempted in the method of
attaching the copper to the shell, and the saucer-shaped sabot was finally
exchanged for a band or ring of copper, cast around the base of the shell, which
form was continued until the close of the war. It considerably resembled the
heavy Parrott projectiles, and was the best field rifle-shell the Confederates
ever made, but was always liable to explode in the gun, to "tumble," or not to
explode at all. The last defect was partially corrected by the use of "McAvoy's
Fuse Igniter," a very simple and ingenious little contrivance attached to the
fuse when loading, and later by fuses with strands of quick-match for "priming."
The first two defects were very serious and of very frequent occurrence, not
only with the three-inch rifles, but still more so with the Parrott guns. The
"tumbling" was due to imperfect connection between the copper ring and the
shell, which in its turn was due to the inferior quality of iron necessarily
used (the best iron was saved for gun metal), to unskilled workmen, and to the
fact that the demand greatly exceeded the supply, and even those which a careful
inspection would have condemned were better than none.
The causes of the premature explosions were never fully understood. They were
generally attributed to defects in the casting, which either allowed the flame
of the discharge to enter the shell, or by weakening the shell caused it to
crush under the shock of the discharge and the "twist" given by the grooves of
the gun.
As a single illustration of the extent to which these defects of the Parrott
projectiles sometimes went: at the siege of Knoxville, Captain Parker's battery
of four captured Parrott rifles fired one hundred and twenty shell at the
enemy's batteries and pontoon-bridge, of which only two failed to "tumble," or
to burst prematurely. Of the most valuable kind of rifle ammunition, shrapnel,
the Confederates made none, on account of the scarcity of lead. Of the next most
useful kind, percussion shell, (invaluable for getting the range,) few were to
be had until the last year of the war. The fuse then used, Girardey's, was
excellent, probably better than any of the enemy's patterns, and it possessed
the peculiar excellence of being carried loose in the chest and applied to any
shell at the moment it was needed, so that just as many shells could be made
"percussion" as the gunner wished. This perfection of the fuse, however, was
only reached during the fall of 1864, and before that period the
percussion-shell had a fuse-plug specially fitted to it at the arsenal, and the
supply furnished was very small.
The scarcity and bad quality of our rifle-ammunition gave security to the enemy
on many occasions where he could have been seriously annoyed, if not materially
damaged. When Bragg invested Chattanooga, in October 1863, the Confederate guns
with good ammunition could have reached every foot of Grant's crowded camps, and
with an abundance of it could have made them untenable. The effort which was
made only showed how much demoralization and harm an effective shelling might
have accomplished. In many other instances the Confederate artillery was amiable
and forbearing by force of necessity, one illustration of which will be
sufficient. At Bermuda Hundreds the enemy erected a signal-tower of open
frame-work, about a hundred twenty feet high, from the top of which the
Confederate lines were impudently overlooked. What could be seen from it was
very little, and it probably was never the cause of any harm; but as it was only
2,500 yards from Confederate ground, the artillery were very anxious to demolish
it, and preparations were made to do so. A thousand rounds of good
percussion-shell would doubtless have accomplished it easily, but some
experimental firing in preparation for the attempt showed so very great a
proportion of defective shell that it was abandoned.
A few of the favorite English rifled guns were brought through the blockade, and
used in the Army of Northern Virginia, comprising the Clay, Whitworth, Blakely,
and Armstrong shunt-pattern. The Clay gun was a breech-loader, and was called an
improvement upon the breech-loading Armstrong, which was manufactured for the
English Government only, and could not be obtained. Its grooving and projectiles
were very similar to the breech-loading Armstrong, and its breech-loading
arrangements appeared simpler and of greater strength. On trial, however, it
failed in every particular. Every projectile fired "tumbled" and fell nearer the
gun than the target, and at the seventh round the solid breech-piece was cracked
through and the gun disabled.
One muzzle-loading six-pounder and six breech loading twelve-pounder Whitworths
were distributed through the army, and often rendered valuable service by their
great range and accuracy. They fired solid shot almost exclusively; but they
were perfectly reliable, and their projectiles never failed to fly in the most
beautiful trajectory imaginable. Their breech-loading arrangements, however,
often worked with difficulty, and every one of the six was at some time disabled
by the breaking of some of its parts but all were repaired again and kept in
service. As a general field-piece its efficiency was impaired by its weight and
the very cumbrous English carriage on which it was mounted, and while a few with
an army may often be valuable, the United States three-inch rifle is much more
generally serviceable with good ammunition. The Blakely guns were twelve-pounder
rifles, muzzle-loaders, and fired very well with English ammunition ("built-up"
shells with leaden bases), but with the Confederate substitute, they experienced
the same difficulties which attended this ammunition in all guns. The only
advantage to be claimed for this gun is its lightness, but this was found to
involve the very serious evil that no field-carriage could be made to withstand
its recoil. It was continually splitting the trails or racking to pieces its
carriages, though made of unusual strength and weight. Of the Armstrong
shunt-guns, six were obtained just before the close of the war, and they were
never tried in the field. They were muzzle-loaders, and nothing could exceed
their accuracy and the perfection of the ammunition. Their heavy English
carriages were more unwieldy than those of the American rifles, but taking all
things into consideration, the guns are probably the most effective field-rifles
yet made.
Besides these English rifles, a few captured James rifles (brass six-pounder
smooth-bores, grooved to fire the James projectile), and some old iron four-pounders
grooved, were tried in the field for a short while, but were found to be very
poor, and as a multiplicity of calibres rendered the supplying of ammunition
very difficult, they were soon turned in. In fact, the variety of calibres
comprised in the artillery was throughout the war a very great inconvenience,
and materially affected the efficiency of the ordnance-service both in the
quantity of ammunition carried and the facility with which it was supplied. At
the commencement of the war this variety was often almost ludicrously
illustrated by single batteries of four guns, of four different calibres, and it
was only after the battalions were well organized in the winter of 1862 that
anything was done to simplify this matter.
The heavy guns which defended the James river against the enemy's fleet were
principally the ordinary eight-inch and ten-inch columbiads, and "Brooke's
rifles" of six and four-tenths and seven inches calibre. These rifles only
needed telescopic sights (which could not be made in the Confederacy) to be
perfect arms of their class, their trajectories being more uniform than the
sighting of the guns could be made by the eye. In addition to these rifles
Captain Brooke also furnished some heavily banded smooth-bores of ten and eleven
inches calibre, to fire wrought iron balls with very high charges against the
ironclads, which would doubtless have been extremely effective at short ranges.
On several occasions during 1863 and 1864 where mortar-fire was desirable in the
field, the twelve and twenty-four pounder howitzers were used for the purpose
very successfully, by sinking the trails in trenches to give the elevation,
while the axles were run up on inclined skids a few inches to lift the wheels
from the ground and lessen the strain of the recoil. The skids would not be
necessary where the desired range is not great. During the siege of Petersburg a
number of iron twelve and twenty-four pounder Coehorn mortars were made and
rendered excellent service. Wooden mortars were also made and tried for short
ranges, but even when they did not split, the ranges were so irregular that they
could not be made useful.
In the location of batteries to defend lines of intrenchment, the campaign of
1864 gave the Confederate artillerists and engineers much experience, and a few
of the deductions therefrom may not be out of place.
Embrasures for the protection of the guns and men became unpopular, and were
considered very objectionable, except for the rare cases where guns are to be
reserved entirely for a flank defence of important points. The objections to
them are that they restrict the field of fire, and thus render it difficult to
conform the defence to unforeseen attacks. They are liable to be choked by the
enemy's shot, and can only be repaired with much exposure of the men, and they
do not accomplish their intended object. the protection of the men and guns.
Sharpshooters' balls coming obliquely through the embrasures, or glancing off
the gun or carriage, and artillery projectiles piercing the angles of the
cheeks, make the limits of the dangerous space in rear of the embrasures very
vague, and men are often unnecessarily exposed and hit without being aware of
their danger. The barbette-gun not only has a greater field of view, but is more
rapidly made ready, can be concealed from view until wanted, can only be
silenced by being hit, offers a less conspicuous mark than an embrasure, and can
be worked with less exposure of the artillerists. To accomplish this, trenches
were dug in front of the gun and on each side about a yard from the wheels, in
which the artillerists stood while loading and manuvring the gun, their heads
being below the parapet' and only the hands of those ramming being exposed. The
dangerous space was well defined and easy to be avoided, and only the head of
the gunner while in the act of aiming was at all endangered. Mantlets for the
gunners' protection while aiming were proposed, and some were constructed of
thick oak-plank to rest upon the axles and trunnions, and they were used to some
extent. The material of which they were composed, however, prevented their
general adoption; for wooden mantlets would cause the explosion of a
percussion-shell if struck by one, and would themselves make dangerous
splinters. Barbette-guns are easily withdrawn from the enemy's view and fire,
and yet kept ready for instant use.
Magazines were seldom built except where the guns were exposed to a mortar-fire;
dismounted limber-chests covered with tarpaulins being used instead without
disadvantage. A very important adjunct to each battery was found to be a "look
out" upon each flank. The "looking out" is the most important part of the
battery service, not only that no time may be lost on any appearance of the
enemy, but that the aiming of the gunners may be superintended and corrected;
and to insure its being well done it should be made as safe as possible.
Except in the siege of Petersburg the Army of Northern Virginia seldom built
second lines of intrenchments in rear of the first, not from any doubt of their
value, but because they rarely had the force to spare from the front line. Even
when the second line at Petersburg was built it was principally intended as a
means of covered communication which could not be otherwise obtained, and in was
only occupied by a few guns in rear of the most exposed points of the first
line, which were designed to check the enemy should he penetrate them. Where the
ammunition is safe to be fired over the heads of the first line, it would
doubtless be an excellent plan to put all of the rifled guns in detached
batteries in rear of exposed points, where they would have an excellent effect
in checking an enemy who should penetrate and either seek to advance or sweep
down the lines. An instance of the effect of such batteries may be found in the
battle of the Crater, at Petersburg, July 30th 1864, which is indeed about the
only case where the Confederate lines ever had even detached batteries in rear
of a point gotten possession of by the enemy. Flanner's battery in the Jerusalem
plank-road five hundred yards directly in rear of the Crater, and Wright's,
about the same distance towards the left, checked every effort of the enemy to
advance upon Cemetery Hill according to his programme, or to move down the lines
on either side of the Crater for some hours, and until an infantry force was
collected to retake it. Each battery took in flank any advance upon the other,
and the enemy was kept under shelter of the earth thrown up by the explosion. A
somewhat similar position of batteries first checked the Yankee advance after
the capture of Fort Harrison, Sept. 29th, 1864, and the Confederate assault on
Fort Steadman on the 25th of March 1865 was discomfitted in the same way. Indeed
the Federal intrenchments very frequently comprised a second line of redoubts,
if not of infantry parapet, in rear of the first, and its very moral effect
often prevented attempts upon the first which promised well.
Lest some of the statements of this article should be misunderstood to reflect
in any way upon the Ordnance Bureau of the War Department, it is but just to
close it, not only by disclaiming any such intention, but with the express
statement that the energy, enterprise and intelligence which characterized the
administration of this bureau were of the highest order, and that the results
accomplished by it make a record of which its officers may well be proud. On
assuming its duties at the commencement of the war, its admirable chief, General
J. Gorgas, might well have hesitated at the task before him. The emergencies and
demands of the war were already upon him, and the immense supplies which it
became his duty to provide were of a character which the South had neither the
factories nor the skilled workmen to produce. With scarcely a single assistant
instructed in the peculiar and technical details which are the first elements of
an ordnance officer's attainments, and without even an office organization for
the transaction of business, the whole machinery of a department was to be
organized, which, to illustrate with the history of a single article, should
induce the formation of saltpetre from the atmosphere by slow chemical
affinities; separate and refine it from impurities by most delicate processes;
provide for it, and combine with it sulphur and charcoal in the dangerous
operations of the powder manufactory; transport it safely to the arsenal and put
it up in safe and convenient cartridges; transport it to the field of battle,
and have it at hand where the particular gun to which it is adapted shall
receive it ready for use at the moment it is required. And in addition to these
operations, the same department, to prevent waste and loss, and to know and
anticipate the wants of the army, must institute a system of reports and
accounts, which shall not only keep its chief informed of the supplies in the
magazine of every gun, and in the cartridge-box of every soldier in the whole
Confederacy, but which shall trace every ounce of saltpetre in all of its
various shapes, and hold to a rigid accountability every man who handles it from
the moment that it is washed from the nitre-bed until its use upon the
battle-field. With indefatigable energy General Gorgas formed and put in motion
this whole machinery, selecting his important subordinates with such excellent
judgment that the efficiency of the ordnance service was not only always equal
teethe demand upon it, but, in spite of continually increasing demands and
decreasing resources, (from the gradual loss of blockade-running facilities and
of valuable territory,) and in spite of serious interferences with the skilled
labor of the arsenals and workshops by continued conscriptions, its efficiency
continually increased, and all of its functions were faithfully performed as
long as there was an army to need them. It is true that the Confederate armies
were never in condition to use ammunition as lavishly as the enemy frequently
did, but the supply never failed to be equal to the actual emergency, and no
disaster was ever to be attributed to its scantiness. Wherever insufficiency was
apprehended and economy imposed, in fact the scarcity arose far more from the
lack of transportation to carry it with the army than from inability of the
arsenals to furnish it.
E. P. ALEXANDER.
(Source: Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. 11, pages 98-113)
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From the Richmond Enquirer, 10/1/1861, p. 4, c. 3
The Mechanical and Industrial Resources of Richmond.
Under this caption we design giving such occasional statistical information
respecting the extent, resources and progress of the industrial interests of our
city, as shall demonstrate at a glance the rapidly increasing importance of
Richmond as a manufacturing place, and the entire ability of our mechanic, and
businessmen generally, to assert with ease and profit their entire independence
of Yankee capital, and of Yankee enterprise. As a matter of justice to
long-established success, we devote this initial sketch to the Richmond
“Tredegar Iron Works” of Messrs. Joseph R. Anderson & Co., situated at the James
River terminus of _____ street. For a very interesting visit to these extensive
works, on Wednesday, and a detailed explanation of its operations, we rest under
obligations to the courtesy of Mr. Edward R. Archer, its Assistant
Superintendent.
THE TREDEGAR IRON WORKS.
This vast and magnificent establishment, the resources and the important
services of which must constitute a prominent chapter in the future history of
Southern independence, has long enjoyed a very wide spread and honorable
celebrity, not only as the most extensive of its character in America, but on
the score also of the superior and admirable quality of the work which has
issued from it. Established many years ago, and at a period when the mechanical
and industrial inferiority of the businessmen of the South to those of the
North, seems to have been generally conceded even by Southern writers, the
Tredegar works, under the well directed skill and quiet enterprise of its
proprietors, gradually extended its operations, and developed its resources to a
degree which brought it into direct competition with the best establishments of
a similar class in the North, when its superior excellence in many, if not all
the branches of iron manufacture, extorted an unequivocal recognition from the
Government of the United States, which awarded to Messrs. Anderson & Co.,
construction of the engines of the first class steam frigates “Roanoke” and
“Colorado,” and the manufacture of a very considerable quantity of cannon and
ordnance, and projectiles of all kinds.
It was in this latter department – the fabrication of cannon – that the
“Tredegar Works,” achieved its first popular distinction. So decidedly superior
were the ordnance here manufactured found to be, that the fame of the foundry in
which they were cast soon became firmly established, and the U. S. government
thenceforward, and up to within a short time of the election of Lincoln,
entrusted to Messrs. Anderson & Co. the manufacture of the chief portion of the
best ordnance required by the war department. An officer of distinction in the
old Federal navy, and who had been long engaged in superintending the
manufacture and proof of ordnance made for his government, writes of the
Tredegar Foundry, that of some 1,200 guns made there, every one of the number
successfully withstood the tests to which they were subjected, and adds the safe
assertion that “they are fully equal to any made in this country or in Europe.”
In proof of this opinion, the fact may be mentioned here that several of the
Tredegar guns have endured, without injury, upwards of 1000 rounds, and in one
memorable instance at least, the piece safely withstood the excessive test of
1,800 consecutive firings, to which it was subjected, for the purpose of
ascertaining its actual power of endurance. A chief cause of this remarkable
excellence of the ordnance made here, is said to exist in the admitted fact that
the iron used in their manufacture, and which is principally obtained from the
“Cloverdale Mine” in Botetourt county, Virginia, is the best in the world for
that purpose. It is certain, however, that the laudable professional pride and
mechanical skill of Messrs. Anderson & Co., have contributed no little to their
fame in this respect.
The experience and the facilities which the “Tredegar Works” have thus been
enabled to acquire, would seem to have been the result of a special direction,
which the enthusiastic patriot may well be excused for regarding as
providential. With the establishment of Messrs. Anderson & Co., and the
opportune possession of the Gosport Navy Yard, it is difficult to conceive how
the South, relying solely upon human agencies, could have successfully resisted
the assaults of a neighboring, powerful, and well-appointed enemy. The
importance of these works to the South does not appear to have been underrated
by our enemies [remainder of line illegible] of the “On to Richmond” march, was
their destruction and consequent crippling of Southern resources of war.
The number of ordnance, of all calibers, furnished to the South by the Tredegar
Works, we have it not in our power now to states; but, taking certain facts
within our possession as the data of the estimate, it must reach to hundreds. At
present the utmost activity is being displayed in this department, and from six
to eight small, and about six large guns, are turned out weekly. The floors of
the machine shop are crowded with projectiles of all sizes and shapes, varying
in weight from the one hundred pound percussion shell of the rifled Columbiads,
to the six-pound shells of the jaunty and symmetrical, but destructive, little
rifled “Tredegar gun,” as it is termed.
The percussion shells, of which a large number are now being used, are provided
with Bormaun’s celebrated graduated fuse, with a safety attachment – the
invention of Dr. Robert S. Archer, a member of the firm – to prevent premature
explosions by the careless dropping of the shell. Quite a number of these
terrible projectiles are ready packed for transshipment to Charleston, are about
200 shells are each day sent to the laboratory to be filled. The machinery for
boring and rifling cannon are of the most improved and powerful description, and
are kept constantly employed. During our visit on Wednesday, a monster 10-inch
Columbiad weighing about 17,000 pounds and having a range of four miles, was
being rifled – a process which would occupy about two days. Three of these
enormous cannon are cast each week (in the average), and six of them were,
during our visit, undergoing the process of boring, preparatory to being rifled.
The operation of boring is by far the most tedious of all connected with the
manufacture of a gun, occupying from five days to two weeks, according to the
quality of the iron or the excellence of the tools used. There are six boring
beds, or mills, and a proportionate number of planers, or lathes, for smoothing
and finishing the piece after it has been bored. The light “Tredegar Gun,” and
rifled field pieces of ordinary caliber are turned off with great rapidity, and
removed to suitable fields of action as soon as finished. Among the guns now
being rifled for field service, are some fifty bronze and iron guns of small
caliber, belonging to the State of Virginia. There had heretofore been regarded
as wholly useless, but will, in their altered forms, become exceedingly
effective. The latter pieces will be confided, it is supposed, to the care of
the Home Guards throughout the State. A number of formidable looking eight-inch
siege howitzers have also been completed, and are now ready for shipment to
different points of action. The process of fabricating the le instrument of
death, is full of interest to the uninitiated. The guns are cast solidly, and
after being reduced of their surplus length, are placed upon the boring beds,
and from thence transferred to the turning lathes, where the pieces are then cut
down to their proper shape and dimensions, and smoothed or polished.
The establishment is also largely engaged in the manufacture of gun carriages
for field batteries and for heavy ordnance. Quite a large number of these, made
in the best and most substantial manner, have already been sent away, and others
are being almost daily conveyed to the different fields of action. It was in
this department that the most difficulty was anticipated in meeting the
requirements of our armies; yet here, also, the energy of Messrs. Anderson & Co.
has demonstrated the entirely self-sustaining powers and resources of the South,
by turning out from their establishment carriages and all the appurtenances of
field batteries, which challenge the closest critical comparison with the best
work of the Northern manufactories. A traveling forge to accompany the batteries
into the field – and numbers are being here made after an original design –
struck us as being one of the most complete, and practically available in all of
its arrangements we have yet seen.
Another decided improvement in the mechanism of artillery, which this firm has
originated are wrought iron carriages for barbette guns, which have been found
to far surpass the cumbrous oaken ones now generally used, both in strength and
in the ease with which the heaviest ordnance may be worked upon them, while they
fall as far below the latter in weight and its expense of construction. The plan
of these carriages was highly approved by the old government, who were about to
order them for the more important fortifications, along the coast, when Lincoln
went in, and the Union became thenceforward as the “baseless fabric of a
vision.” Several of the improved wrought iron carriages are now under
construction and one of them has been already completed – for certain Southern
forts.
Many of the improvements which have here been originated in the manufacture of
cannon, projectiles, &c., may be traced to the practiced skill and the
experience of Dr. Robt. S. Archer, one of the firm, who was formerly in the
United States Navy for many years, as surgeon, and who has devoted a
considerable portion of his life to experimenting in fire-arms, projectiles, &c.
The “Tredegar Gun,” to which reference has before been made, is of an original
design, and upon an entirely new principle. It is a six-pounder iron rifled
field piece, furnished with a patent friction primer instead of a percussion
hammer, and having a graduated sight, by means of which the gun may be fired
with the accuracy of a rifle. It is quite likely the Yankees will soon hear of
this busy little artillery hornet in the vicinity of Washington. Extensive
additions will shortly be made to the work now in operation, ad which will much
facilitate the speedier manufacture of guns of the heaviest caliber.
We have been thus full in our sketch of the military operations of the Tredegar
Works, because they exhibit at once their unlimited capacity and the indomitable
energy of its proprietors, and because that the entire vast establishment is now
wholly devoted to the pressing requirements of the military service of the
Confederacy. But while the manufacture of ordnance, &c., exhibit the capacity of
the establishment, they by no means afford a just idea of its resources or the
variety of its manufactures.
Very few intelligent Southern readers need to be reminded, we imagine, that in
the manufacture of locomotives, the Tredegar Works stand second to none on this
continent. The fact is amply demonstrated by the popularity of the admirable
engines of the Tredegar stamp, upon the Southern roads, and even upon those of
Cuba, which are extensively furnished with them we believe. But even the most
intelligent Southern ____ may well be surprised at the variety of delicate and
complicated machinery and steel ware, manufactured by Messrs. Anderson & Co.;
and only by a walk through their establishment – the work of hours by the way –
can a just idea of its actual operations be obtained. The list of manufactures
which the Works are capable under ordinary circumstances of turning out,
includes, in addition to locomotives and every description of iron work
connected with the construction of railroads, sugar and saw-mills &c., planing
machines, ship spikes, chains, iron and brass castings, portable and stationary
steam engines, machinery for plantation purposes, circular saw plates, carriage
axles, and tool and machinery steel of every shape and size. To the manufacture
of cast steel especial attention has been given; sine(?) steel furnaces with
proper machinery, are employed in this department, and the work turned out is
confidently claimed to be fully equal to the best English brands for tenacity,
soundness and uniformity of temper.
The amount of machinery, forges, mills, &c., required in the various departments
of the Tredegar Works are of course enormous, and would require, in their
hurried description even, more technical knowledge than we could summon up, and
far more space than the demands of the public will enable us to give. – There
are in all about fifteen shops, each one of which is employed in a distinct
branch of the general manufacturing business of the firm. These comprise: The
Rolling Mill, with furnaces for melting and puddling iron, and pondrous
machinery for rolling it into the several requisite forms of merchantable iron;
Spike Factory, for the manufacture of ship and rail road spikes, about thirty
tons of which can be made in the course of one day; Cooper Shop; the Foundry,
where all the castings are made: this department is in three divisions, the
first of which is devoted to heavy castings, inclusive of gins, &c., the second
to rail road, engines, and other ____ machinery – and the third to rail ___
there is now being In the 6 ___ casting a peculiar mould, the name and object of
which it would not be judicious to disclose, being for Government purposes,
which will require about three weeks for its entire casting, and will, when
completed, weigh upwards of 17,000 pounds; Car Wheels; Brass Foundery, where the
brass castings of locomotives, &c., are made. The First Machine Shop, where
carwheels and cannon are bored, turned and rifled; In this shop is an immense
Hydralic press for forcing the car wheel on the axle, and which possesses a
power of compression equal to two hundred tons; locomotive shop in which
locomotives, mills, engines, and the more delicate machinery generally are all
made. The armory, designed for the manufacture of rifled muskets, but not in
operation; Carpenter shop; Boiler shop; Pattern shop; Cast steel foundry; wheel
and Mill-wright shop; and Blacksmith shop. In the latter building, which is 180
feet long, and well supplied with trip hammers for light work, and every
requisite appliance, forty forges are kept constantly employed. The Laboratory,
where shells and grape shot are filled, and other projectiles prepared, is a
separate department called into existence by the exigencies of the times.
There are at present employed in the works about 1,000 men, who, were they
called into service, would make a formidable regiment of strong armed defenders;
and for such a service they are fully prepared, for, influenced by the warlike
tendencies of the times, the men, some time ago, organized from among themselves
a full battalion, and elected as their commander, Major Joseph R. Anderson, one
of the proprietors. Procuring arms, they, after some weeks passed in industrious
drilling, tendered their services to the Government through their commander. The
President very judiciously declined the tender, upon the ground that the
Tredegar Volunteers could be of infinitely more service to the cause they
desired to serve, in the work shops than in the field. Recently Major Anderson
has been called to a brigadier generalship in the provisional army of the
Confederacy, and the battalion are temporarily without a commander. They
preserve, however, their regular organization, and drill with assiduous care
once a week. From their ranks a guard is nightly detailed, and the establishment
placed under strict military surveillance. The latter precaution has been
rendered necessary by the attempts to destroy these all-important works, which
have twice been made by Yankee emissaries in our midst, and which attempts were,
fortunately for our cause, twice frustrated by the vigilance of some of the
employees in the works.
The supply of anthracite coal having been cut off by the blockade, Messrs.
Anderson & Co. are about to resort to the use of coke, which material is wholly
used in England for manufacturing purposes. A large furnace for the purpose of
converting bituminous coal into coke has been erected, and is now ready for
active operations. The coke, when made, will be mixed with anthracite coal, a
quantity of which the firm have managed to retain. – The supply of earth for
moulding purposes has also been cut off, but the demand is fully met by an
abundance of the requisite article procured in the immediate vicinity of this
city. It was formerly obtained from Troy, New York, The dealings of Messrs.
Anderson & Co. with the North, before the interruption of commercial intercourse
between the two sections, amounted annually to about $400,000 – nearly half a
million of dollars – all of which enormous revenue has, we trust, been now lost
to Yankeedom forever. Among the articles for which we relied wholly upon the
North was boiler or plate-iron, and already its manufacture, in ample
quantities, has been achieved by Messrs. Anderson & Co. The firm are now
supplying the Government with large quantities of excellent plate-iron. The
purpose to which it is applied will be ascertained through Yankee sources sooner
or later.
The Tredegar Iron Works, it remains only to say, are operated wholly by water
power, from the inexhaustible and unrivalled sources of the noble James river.
The following gentlemen comprise the firm of Anderson & Co.: Joseph R. Anderson,
Robert Archer, John F. Tanner, Robert S. Archer. The officers of the Works are
as follows: Alexander Delaney, Superintendent; Edward R. Archer, Assistant
Superintendent; P. S. Derbyshire, Foreman of the Houndry; John Morfitt, of
Machine Shop; J. W. Hercus, of Setting-up Shop; J. W. Curtis, of Finishing Shop;
William H. Leach, of Blacksmith Shop; John Reid, of Pattern Shop; Thomas Hays,
of Boiler Shop; and Guido Weis, of Carpenter Shop.