A study of commercial contracts and correspondence between Atlanta’s commander Col. M. H. Wright and various contractors, reveals the most significant amount of detailed information about horse equipment manufacturing of any Western Arsenal .
Atlanta Arsenal: March 1862 – August 1864
The rail crossroads town of Atlanta was a natural southern manufacturing center. As early as March of 1861 the first Convention of Manufacturing and Direct Trade Association of the Confederate States was held in Atlanta in order to organize and affiliate Southern manufacturers in the newly forming Confederacy. It was here that these Southern industrialists […]
Total Horse Equipment Issued from The Augusta Arsenal: July 1862 – April 1865
Fairly complete records exist for “issued” equipment from the Augusta Arsenal. 2,914 Sets of cavalry equipment (some may be English) 138 Sets NEW English cavalry equipment 63 Sets 2nd hand English cavalry equipment 1,062 Saddles (Leather) 475 Saddles (oil cloth) 1,423 Saddle Bags (Leather) 23 Saddle Bags (oil cloth) 1,439 Bridles 1,291 Halters 28 Halter […]
Abstract Summary of Augusta Arsenal Horse Equipment Issues
1861: Through the summer and fall of 1861 the great Confederate Powder Works remained under construction until it was officially opened in the spring 1862. The Arsenal however, having been previously a U.S. facility utilized this important time to expand those facilities and to contract for and manufacture some equipments, ammunition, powder, fuses and other […]
Saddle Manufacturing at the Augusta Arsenal
1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Civilian Purchases, some manufacturing 1861 of various models Jenifer: 1862 – Aug 1863 **McClellen Aug 1863 – End of War
Notations about Augusta Horse Equipment
Sets of English Cavalry Equipments were sold to officer’s in great numbers from Augusta. The majority of these were sold as single sets to individual field officers, provosts, surgeons and Engineering officers for “their own use” but late in the war they appear to have been issued in larger numbers to unit commanders for issuance […]
The Augusta Arsenal Pattern Saddle & Horse Equipment
Saddles: Jenifer, then the McClellan pattern with “webb sling girth”, crupper, covered wooden stirrups, saddle bags and some times a breast strap. Saddles made of cloth appear with regularity as an item of issue in August 1864.
Calvary Horse Equipment Issued from the Augusta Arsenal
Cavalry horse equipments shipped from the Augusta Arsenal include leather and oil cloth saddles, leather and oil coth saddle bags, bridles, halters, nose bags, moss saddle blankets, English “numnahs” (felt saddle pads), English saddle covers, horse brushes, curry combs, spurs, spur straps, bits and some artillery harness. These equipments were often issued in varying numbers […]
Augusta Arsenal: Spring 1861 to end of the war
First established as a U.S. Arsenal in 1819, it was not until 1827 that the present site was located and the first buildings constructed. Augusta was used as a training and storage facility for supplying the troops in the Seminole and Mexican Wars. In 1844, it was also home for six months to Lt. William […]
Bibliography for Clarksville Arsenal Information
NATIONAL ARCHIVES WAR DEPT. COLL. OF CONF. RECORDS, GROUP 109 files of “FIRMS AND CITIZENS HAVING BUSINESS WITH THE CONFEDERACY” Various military contractors. NATIONAL ARCHIVES, M331, MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS, GENERAL AND STAFF OFFICERS, CAPT. HENRY PRIDE (Tape # 203), CAPT. JAMES DINWIDDIE (#76) AND MAJOR WILLIAM S. DOWNER (#78). NATIONAL ARCHIVES CHAPT. IV, GROUP 109: […]
Clarksville Ordnance Harness Shops Production
June 1862 through August 1863 The following production output from the Clarksville Shops represents the only complete records available. Wheel and lead harness 1,146 sets* Jenifer Saddles 206 “Plain” Jenifer Saddles 98 Officers Quilted (seats) & Hoods (Stirrups) Saddle 102 “Shafted” (seats) Jenifer Saddles 4 Skeleton Jenifer Saddles 5,350 Skeleton McClellan Saddles 230 Single English […]
Richmond / Clarksville Arsenal Saddle Issues
Just a few days prior to the evacuation of Richmond in April of 1865, an editorial was published in the Richmond Enquirer showing the principal issues from the Richmond Arsenal from July 1st 1861 through January 1st 1865 . This list, provided by Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas, indicates that 69,418 cavalry saddles (possibly including […]
Richmond / Clarksville Arsenal Saddle Manufacturing
“TROOPERS” SADDLE MANUFACTURING: 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Civilian Purchases, some manufacturing April – Fall 1861 of various models* —————– 1st Model “Patent” Jan. – Nov. 1862 Jenifer ——————– 2nd Model Nov. 1862- Spring 1863 New Jenifer* ———- Jenifer/McClellan June – Nov. 1863 and “Transition “ Saddle ——– 1st Model McClellan Nov. 1863 – April […]
Richmond/Clarksville Saddle & Horse Equipment
Trooper’s Saddles: Predominantly “Skeleton” Jenifer (or “New” Jenifer) pattern saddles were issued to troopers until the summer of 1863. At the same time the McClellan saddle (or some variance of it) was manufactured in limited numbers by a few commercial contractors until the summer of 1863 when the Ordnance Department began a gradual changeover of […]
Horse Furniture for the Confederacy
THE CLARKSVILLE VIRGINIA ORDNANCE HARNESS SHOPS One of the most over-looked aspects of the Confederate war effort has been its production of horse equipments. Nearly all of the South’s Ordnance Bureau Arsenals and Depots produced horse furniture to varying degrees but there was only one that was designated and designed to be the central location […]
Sources for Columbus Arsenal Information
WAR DEPT. COLL. OF CONF. RECORDS, GROUP 109 “CITIZENS FILE” COLUMBUS, GEORGIA IN THE CONFEDERACY by Diffie William Standard, William Fredrick Press, New York, N.Y.. 1954 COLUMBUS GEORGIA CENTENARY, by Nancy Telfair, Historical Publishing Co. Columbus Ga. 1929 CONFEDERATE ARMS, By: William A Alsbaugh and Edward N. Simmons, The Stackpole Co. Harrisonburg, Pa., 1957 YANKEE […]
Saddle Manufacturing at the Columbus Arsenal
1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Enameled Cloth Saddles Mid 1863-May 1864 Texas: May 1864- End Columbus Arsenal Saddle Production: (From single contractor-represents only numbers available) ? 959 ? ?
Columbus Georgia Arsenal Saddles & Horse Equipments
Very little is known about the manufacture of saddlery at the Columbus Arsenal as most all of its records were destroyed by Gen. James Wilson’s expedition from Tennessee through Alabama and Georgia at the close of the war. However, it is known that as of September 1863 the Columbus Arsenal was issuing sets of saddle […]
Columbus Arsenal
The city of Columbus Georgia was a very important contributor to the Confederate war effort. Located on the Chattahoochee River in southwest Georgia it was also a major railroad and shipping center and therefore critical for Southern manufacture. A spur of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad crossed the river from the west while the […]
Sources for Montgomery Arsenal Information
Major Contract Supplier to Montgomery Arsenal
MAY, CHARLES P. 8 Market St., Montgomery, Ala. Another Antebellum and postwar saddlery. This firm produced large numbers of cavalry equipment by contract to the Montgomery Arsenal from May 1861 through April 1864 including: saddles (1,245 Jenifer and three “Spanish”); bridles (1,914 halter-Bridles); valises (2,765); halters (36); bits (33); nose bags (2,805); martingales (93); cruppers […]
Saddle Manufacturing at the Montgomery Arsenal
1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Civilian Purchases, some manufacturing Early 1861 of various models Jenifer: Spring/Summer 1861 – Aug 1863 McClellan: Aug 1863 – End of War SADDLES MNUFTR’D AT MONTGOMERY: (Summary from major contractors only) 3 2,917 1,248 ? ?
Montgomery Arsenal Saddles & Horse Equipments
Montgomery’s war time leather equipment production was apparently significant. Many tens of thousands of infantry accoutrements, saddles and other horse equipment were manufactured here much of it apparently under contract. The following information was taken from the records of two prominent local commercial contractors to the arsenal, “Joseph Gue & Co.” and “Charles P. May”, […]