The Selma Arsenal

With its relative safety and convenient proximity to significant resources including iron, timber, labor, railroad lines and year round water transportation, the little cotton town of Selma Alabama grew during the war to become a great center of Confederate manufacture and business. The Selma Arsenal began operation sometime in the Spring of 1862 initially with […]

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Saddles of the Trans-Mississippi (Texas Arsenal and Districts)

In spite of the frontier-like state of civilization various Ordnance Arsenals, depots and manufacturing centers were established in Trans-Mississippi Texas. San Antonio already contained a fairly significant pre-war U.S. Arsenal and other major arsenals or depots were erected in Tyler, Marshall and Houston. Other important ordnance facilities or manufacturing centers were located in cities and […]

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Saddles of the Trans-Mississippi (District of West Louisiana)

Except for the Red river campaign of early 1864, cavalry played an extremely minor role in the operations of this district. Largely garrisoned by artillery and infantry troops defending its many waterways the ordnance facilities here were taxed to the extreme to supply just the bare essentials for their needs. Still, ordnance facilities like those […]

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Saddlery in the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy

Illustrating the history of Confederate saddle manufacturing and supply in the Trans-Mississippi presents a challenge. Relevant records and information from Ordnance facilities there are exceedingly rare. It seems the farther an Arsenal was located from Richmond, the fewer records were kept, or at least survived and thus one can only speculate in broad terms when […]

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