Hang Fire
02-21-2012, 05:03 PM
A good read as to what it took to produce the holy black in vast quantities I found interesting for had no idea as to what was invloved,
Last night I was browsing and came across “History of the Confederate Powder Works” so downloaded as an EBook to Kindle. Have read some accounts as to the works furnishing gun powder to the Confederate forces of unusual high quality and sufficient quantity, whereas it was one war material the Confederate forces never lacked for. But had not given thought as to how this was accomplished.
But as I started reading, I had no concept as to the size of the works at Augusta, Georgia and how the powder was actually produced. At that point in time, it was the most modern powder works and 2nd largest in the world. What makes that more amazing is they had no experts in the field, no detailed written material as to construction of the works or qualified workman experienced in the making of powder.
The men in charge had to start from the ground up on a very steep learning curve, but learn they did. The works stretched for two miles along both sides of a canal, every aspect of the care for safety incorporated in the construction, insured at least 1,000 feet between buildings where explosions might be probable. To prevent sparks, extensive utilization of copper was used, workmen in the drying and granulation buildings had to wear rubber shoes on the floor where compacted sawdust was utilized There was only one minor explosion in the powder production areas proper and a major one (15 tons went up) where the powder was stored for packing prior to shipment. But here too, the forethought for safety contained the explosion to that one place of storage as all other storage buildings in the area were well separated from one another.
Where the actual production of the powder in such volume is described, it shed a light on black powder I had never even considered as to what was involved in such an undertaking. As sufficient Willow for charcoal could not be obtained, it was found Cottonwood proved to be equal as to quality. The procedure for making the purest charcoal involved a retort distillation process where the combustible gases were then piped to supply supplemental fuel for heating the retort cylinders, boilers, wood drying kilns and powder drying heat. (hmn, renewable energy fuel in 1861) The process for refining an inferior grade of saltpeter to remove all impurities was very complicated, but the resulting end product was the purest saltpeter for gun powder in the world.
When foreign dignitaries visited, they could not believe how modern the works and actual methods of production were. An Englishman from the large powder works in England was amazed how far ahead the Confederate powder works were as compared to their own.
The works produced millions of pounds of powder. Another thing I was unaware of, was they manufactured thousands of hand grenades using the finest quick burning powder dust and a self igniting timed fuse. Don’t recall reading of hand grenades used in the civil war, perhaps they were called bombs and I never made the connection.
I found it fascinating reading and have only touched on very few things contained in the publication.
Can either be downloaded as a file or read online.
http://www.digilibraries.com/ebook/107402/History_of_the_Confederate_Powder_Works/
Last night I was browsing and came across “History of the Confederate Powder Works” so downloaded as an EBook to Kindle. Have read some accounts as to the works furnishing gun powder to the Confederate forces of unusual high quality and sufficient quantity, whereas it was one war material the Confederate forces never lacked for. But had not given thought as to how this was accomplished.
But as I started reading, I had no concept as to the size of the works at Augusta, Georgia and how the powder was actually produced. At that point in time, it was the most modern powder works and 2nd largest in the world. What makes that more amazing is they had no experts in the field, no detailed written material as to construction of the works or qualified workman experienced in the making of powder.
The men in charge had to start from the ground up on a very steep learning curve, but learn they did. The works stretched for two miles along both sides of a canal, every aspect of the care for safety incorporated in the construction, insured at least 1,000 feet between buildings where explosions might be probable. To prevent sparks, extensive utilization of copper was used, workmen in the drying and granulation buildings had to wear rubber shoes on the floor where compacted sawdust was utilized There was only one minor explosion in the powder production areas proper and a major one (15 tons went up) where the powder was stored for packing prior to shipment. But here too, the forethought for safety contained the explosion to that one place of storage as all other storage buildings in the area were well separated from one another.
Where the actual production of the powder in such volume is described, it shed a light on black powder I had never even considered as to what was involved in such an undertaking. As sufficient Willow for charcoal could not be obtained, it was found Cottonwood proved to be equal as to quality. The procedure for making the purest charcoal involved a retort distillation process where the combustible gases were then piped to supply supplemental fuel for heating the retort cylinders, boilers, wood drying kilns and powder drying heat. (hmn, renewable energy fuel in 1861) The process for refining an inferior grade of saltpeter to remove all impurities was very complicated, but the resulting end product was the purest saltpeter for gun powder in the world.
When foreign dignitaries visited, they could not believe how modern the works and actual methods of production were. An Englishman from the large powder works in England was amazed how far ahead the Confederate powder works were as compared to their own.
The works produced millions of pounds of powder. Another thing I was unaware of, was they manufactured thousands of hand grenades using the finest quick burning powder dust and a self igniting timed fuse. Don’t recall reading of hand grenades used in the civil war, perhaps they were called bombs and I never made the connection.
I found it fascinating reading and have only touched on very few things contained in the publication.
Can either be downloaded as a file or read online.
http://www.digilibraries.com/ebook/107402/History_of_the_Confederate_Powder_Works/