Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/84

 74 Southern Historical Society Papers.

midsummer of 1862. Mines were opened on account of Government in East Tennessee, near the State line of Virginia. They were never valuable, and were soon abandoned. Lead was collected in consid- erable quantities throughout the country by the laborious exertions of agents employed for this purpose. The battle-field of Bull Run was fully gleaned, and much lead collected.

By the close of 1861 the following arsenals and depots were at work, having been supplied with some machinery and facilities, and were producing the various munitions and equipments required : Augusta. Ga. ; Charleston, S. C. ; Fayetteville, N. C. ; Richmond, Va. ; Savannah, Ga. ; Nashville, Tenn. ; Memphis, Tenn.; Mount Vernon, Ala.; Baton Rouge, La.; Montgomery, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark.; and San Antonio, Texas — altogether eight arsenals and four depots. It would, of course, have been better, had it been practicable, to have condensed our work and to have had fewer places of manufacture ; but the country was deficient in the transportation which would have been required to place the raw material at a few arsenals. In this way only could we avail ourselves of local resources, both of labor and material. Thus by the close of 1861 a good deal had been done in the way of organization to produce the material of war needed by an army, as far as our means permitted. But our troops were still very poorly armed and equipped. The old smooth-bore musket was still the principal weapon of the infantry ; the artillery had the six- pounder gun and twelve-pounder howitzer chiefly ; and the cavalry were armed with anything they could get — sabres, horse-pistols, re- volvers. Sharp's carbines, musketoons, short Enfield rifles, Hale's car- bines (a wretched apology), muskets cut off, etc., etc. Equipments were in many cases made of stout domestic, stitched in triple folds and covered with paint or rubber, varnished.

But poor as were our arms, we had not enough of these to equip the troops which were pressing to the front in July and August, 1861. In the winter of i86i-'2, while McClellan was preparing his great army near Alexandria, we resorted to the making oi pikes for the in- fantry and lances for the cavalry ; many thousands of the former were made at the various arsenals, but were little used. No access of en- thusiasm could induce our people to rush to the field armed with pikes. I remember a formidable weapon, which was invented at this time, in the shape of a stout wooden sheath containing a two-edged straight sword some two feet long. The sheath or truncheon could be levelled, and the sword, liberated from the compression of a strong spring by touching a trigger leaped out with sufficient force to transfix an opponent.