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Page 19
When recovering from sickness at Nashville, I spent hours of
investigation in the base of the capitol, used as an armory, where
an immense amount of this work had been done. I have been told that
the basement of our National capitol has been used to prepare bread
for loyal soldiers; _that_ basement was used to prepare them
bullets. At Bowling Green I saw many thousands of rifles and
shot-guns which had been collected for alteration, and the machine
shop of the Louisville and Nashville railroad was used as an armory.
Many of these guns were destroyed, and others left, when the town
was evacuated. Nor should it be forgotten that almost every man of
any position owned a pair of Colt's repeaters, many of them of the
army and navy size. These were eagerly bought up by the Confederate
authorities, who paid from thirty to sixty dollars apiece for them.
They were for the cavalry service. Add to these facts, that every
country blacksmith made cutlasses from old files, &c.; most of them
clumsy but serviceable weapons in a close encounter. Artillery and
cavalry sabers were manufactured at New Orleans, Memphis, and
Nashville, and probably at other places.
In short, at the beginning of the year 1862, there was rather a
surfeit than any scarcity of arms all over the South. Indeed, the
energies of the entire people were employed in the production of
every description of small-arms, and the enthusiasm displayed rivals
the example of ancient Carthage, in her last fruitless struggle
against the Romans. And this enthusiasm pervades all classes. I
doubt not, if the bow was considered a weapon of war now, the fair
maidens of the South would gladly contribute their flowing tresses
for bowstrings, if necessary, as did the women of Carthage. Their
zeal and self-denial are seen in the fact that the ladies have
given vast amounts of jewelry to be sold to build gunboats,
fortifications, &c.; the women of Alabama actually contributing
$200,000, as estimated, for the construction of a gunboat to protect
the Alabama river. Does the reader ask, Why such sacrifice? THEY ARE
IN EARNEST. They think they are fighting for property, home, and
life.
Yet after all that has been said, the largest supply of small-arms
comes from England and France. I have repeatedly heard it said that
300,000 stand of arms have been received from abroad;--that 65,000
came in one load by the Bermuda.
The imported guns are principally Enfield, Mini�, and Belgian
rifles. The first Enfields received had been used somewhat,
probably in the Crimean and Indian wars. The crown marks on the
first importations, were stamped out with the initials of those who
had bought them from the government; the later arrivals, _exhibit
the crown marks uneffaced_. I have seen Enfield rifles of the
manufacture of 1861 and 1862, with the stamp of the "Tower" on the
lock-plate! Officers, in opening and examining cases of these, would
nod significantly to each other, as much as to say, "_See the proof
of England's neutrality!_" The French and Belgian rifles, among the
best arms ever made, are mostly of recent manufacture, and elegantly
finished. Yes, the South has arms in abundance, and good ones; and
they know how to use them, and _they are resolved to do it_.
The question is often asked, Where does the ammunition come from to
supply the Southern army? I would state in reply, that with the
cargoes of arms, ammunition was supplied, at the rate of a thousand
rounds for each gun. While engaged in the Ordnance Department, I
often issued boxes of ammunition, which were put up in London for
the Enfield rifle. The fixed ammunition of England is said by
Southern officers to be the finest in the world. But much was also
made at home. The largest laboratory for making cartridges, of which
I had any knowledge, was in Memphis, afterward removed to Grenada,
Mississippi. Powder-mills were established at various points, one of
the largest at Dahlonega, Georgia; and old saltpeter caves were
opened, the government offering forty-five cents per pound for
saltpeter, and exempting all persons employed in its manufacture
from military duty. Percussion caps were made in Richmond early in
1861, and great numbers were smuggled through the lines, in the
early part of the war. As to the supply of ammunition, my opinion
is, that the South will not lack while the rebellion lasts.
On the 17th of December, I left Camp Beauregard with a car-load of
ammunition, attached to a train of twenty-five box-cars, containing
the 27th Tennessee regiment, Colonel Kit Williams commanding, for
Bowling Green, where a battle was expected. Colonel Williams'
orders were, to go through with all possible dispatch. Here was a
new field for observation to me, and one of great interest. As soon
as I saw my special charge, the car of ordnance, all right, I doffed
my uniform for a fatigue dress, and took my position with the
engineer, determined to learn all I could of the management of the
locomotive. The knowledge I acquired pretty nearly cost me my life,
as will soon be seen,--a new illustration that "a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing."
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