Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/14

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Southern Historical Society Papers.

phis, Tenn., Mount Vernon and Montgomery, Ala., New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., Little Rock, Ark., and San Antonio, Tex. The events of the war before long compelled the abandonment of some of these, New Orleans and Nashville being the most important, and from time to time others were added to the list, as, for instance, Columbia, S. C, Atlanta and Columbus, Ga., Selma, Ala., and Jackson, Miss. Of these latter places Atlanta and Selma became most important. At these various places different lines of work were specially pushed as local facilities made feasible. Heavy artillery was at first turned out only at Richmond, though later it was produced handsomely at Selma, first in conjunction with the navy ordnance officers and afterwards by them alone. Field artillery was made and repaired chiefly at Richmond and Augusta, small arms at Richmond and Fayetteville, and caps and friction primers at Richmond and Atlanta, accoutrements quite largely at Macon, while bullets (cast) and small arms cartridges were prepared almost everywhere. In like manner the products of the different arsenals and work shops naturally went in large measure to supply such armies and forts as were nearest, though demand from a distance often had to be met. Thus the Army of Northern Virginia was mainly supplied from Richmond, as was also Wilmington ; the army of Tennessee drew chiefly upon Atlanta and Augusta, on which places also Charleston and Vicksburg, to a large extent, counted; while all the armies and fortified sea ports looked to Augusta for powder. It should be added that large supplies of such articles as saddlery, harness, accoutrements, etc., were obtained by contract with private persons widely scattered over the country. The Tredegar Works at Richmond, under the able management of Gen. Jos. R. Anderson, were of overshadowing importance.

In 1861, the Southern States were almost wholly occupied with agricultural pursuits, and their resources immediately available in the way of manufacturing establishments were poor indeed. There were two small private powder mills in Tennessee, two in South Carolina, one in North Carolina, and a little stamping mill in New Orleans. There were but two first class foundries and machine shops—the Tredegar Works at Rich-