Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19

Thread: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

  1. #1
    Southron Sr. is offline
    Team:
    24th Georgia Volunteer Infantry
    Member
    3002
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Gorgia
    Posts
    1,319
    Region:
    Carolina - North Carolina and South Carolina

    Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    The Hazard Powder Company of Hazardville, Connecticut was in business from the mid-1830's to the time the entire plant blew up in January of 1913.

    The Hazard Powder Company supplied approximately 40% of all the powder used by the Union Army 1861-65. Most of it was used to make small arms ammunition because DuPont powder (DuPont supplied another 40% of the gunpowder used by the Union) was earmarked for the Union artillery.

    The owner of the Hazard Powder Company, a Colonel Hazard, was A COLONEL IN THE GEORGIA MILITIA! He had lived in Savannah, GA many years before the outbreak of the Civil War and was very pro-Southern. He had been commissioned in the Georgia Militia and was very proud of the rank. He even kept the title after he moved back home to Connecticut to run the powder works.

    In early 1861 Colonel Hazard sold 80,000 pounds of Hazard Cannon Powder to the State of South Carolina which used much of it for the bombardment of Fort Sumter!

    The finest gunpowder made during the war was made at the Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, GA. The plant extended for two miles along the Augusta Canal and was copied from the British Government's plant at Waltham Abbey in England.

    One of the reasons that the Augusta gunpowder was so superior was that the charcoal that was used in it came from branches of Black Willow trees that grew along the banks of the Savannah River.

    After the war, captured lots of Augusta powder was tested at Fortress Monroe by Ordnance Department officers and found to be a superior powder.

    In August of 1945, the USAAF B-29 "Enola Gay" dropped the world's first nuclear weapon, an Atom Bomb, of the Japanese City of Hiroshima, Japan. The trigger mechanism of that Atomic Bomb used Black Powder!

    Modern GOEX powder used charcoal made from maple trees, at least until the plant moved from Pennsylvania.

    GOEX is the only company in the United States that still produces black powder. The vast majority of the black powder made by GOEX goes to the military-not Skirmishers and other civilian black powder shooters.

    GOEX was purchased by the Hodgdon Powder Company in 2009. Hodgdon also produces the "substitute black powder" Pyrodex at another plant.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    80,000 pounds to South Carolina...I could shoot for a long time with 80,000 pounds of powder.
    Steve Sheldon
    Commander
    4th Louisiana Delta Rifles
    NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Today I learned Augusta College (Now Augusta State) was the Augusta Arsenal! I grew up in Augusta.

    The river looks far away from the college now. I wonder if the river was diverted?
    Steve Sheldon
    Commander
    4th Louisiana Delta Rifles
    NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor

  4. #4
    Southron Sr. is offline
    Team:
    24th Georgia Volunteer Infantry
    Member
    3002
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Gorgia
    Posts
    1,319
    Region:
    Carolina - North Carolina and South Carolina

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Dear Maillemaker:

    The Confederate Powder Works were built along side of the AUGUSTA CANAL. The canal is still there. What is left of the Powder Works is a lone chimney. This was left as a monument to the Confederacy when the rest of the works were torn down to make way for the building of cotton mills shortly after the war. The chimney has recently been restored and dedicated at the cost of $100,000.00 Plus by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and other civic groups in Augusta.

    When the State of Georgia seized the Augusta Arsenal in 1861 it was literally "filled to the rafters" with arms, mostly .69 Caliber Model 1842 smoothbores along with a quantity of Mississippi Rifles.

    I have spent a lot of time in the Georgia Archives in Morrow, GA going thru the original records regarding how the seized arms were issued out to Georgia troops at the beginning of the war:

    A "Captain" (usually a local community leader, businessman, plantation owner, etc.,) would raise a company of volunteers. Now, to be official, the Captain had to be elected to that rank by the members of his volunteer company. When the company was accepted by the state, the Captain would take out a bond in the amount equal to the value of the muskets, bayonets and "leather gear," i.e., cartridge boxes, cap boxes, belts, and bayonet scabbards to be issued to his company. Usually the arms would be shipped via railway express to the station nearest the town from which the volunteer company was raised. The Captain would take possession of the arms and the company would be issued their arms and leather gear.

    Also, a large quantity of powder was found in the Augusta Arsenal when it was seized. The powder was sent down to the State Penitentiary in MIlledgeville, GA and inmates sewed up powder bags for the artillery and loaded the bags with the cannon powder sent from Augusta! They also made small arms cartridges from the rifle and musket powder seized.

    Later, Georgia Armory Rifles were made at the Penitentiary along with knapsacks, cartridge and cap boxes, shoes and amazingly-a railroad spur line was constructed that ran INTO THE PENITENTIARY! Prison inmates constructed rolling stock for the state owned Western & Atlantic Railroad. This included box cars, flat cars and even passenger cars!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Cool stuff!

    Steve
    Steve Sheldon
    Commander
    4th Louisiana Delta Rifles
    NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Forney, Texas
    Posts
    254
    Region:
    Potomac - Virginia, Maryland and Delaware

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Very Interesting!

    I never know what I am going to learn on this BB, and I am very interested in history. I like to learn something about history new to me, that is important. And many times, as far as I know, most people don't know.

    Just one example: There were 8 battleships at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After the attack some were repaired and modernized in California. Some battleships were transferred to the Pacific from the Atlantic. And two new, greatly improved battleships were sent to Hawaii, all by early March 1942. So, by early March the pacific battleship fleet was more powerful than the fleet that was attacked by the Japanese. But only two battleships were in Hawaii, and the other six were in California. The night fighting against the Japanese around Guadalcanal was done with destroyers and cruisers for months. Because the US didn't have enought oil tankers to supply battleships in the Pacific and supply the needs in the Atlantic at the same time.

    Fortuantely the Japanese had a similar problem, so they mostly used destroyers and cruisers to fight in the Guadalcanal battles.

    Neptunes Inferno by James D. Hornfischer (no kidding about the name)

    Sorry for getting off the subject!

    David
    DAVID FRANCE

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Forney, Texas
    Posts
    254
    Region:
    Potomac - Virginia, Maryland and Delaware

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Southron,

    My father was at Tinian and watched when the Enola Gay took off. He said the plane and the group were treated so specially that everyone knew something special going on. And said the two B-29s that took off before the Enola Gay both crashed upon takeoff. They were not in the same group as the Enola Gay.

    He flew in B-29s during the Korean War from Okinawa.

    Dave
    DAVID FRANCE

  8. Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Quote Originally Posted by Southron, Sr.,
    The Hazard Powder Company of Hazardville, Connecticut was in business from the mid-1830's to the time the entire plant blew up in January of 1913.

    The Hazard Powder Company supplied approximately 40% of all the powder used by the Union Army 1861-65. Most of it was used to make small arms ammunition because DuPont powder (DuPont supplied another 40% of the gunpowder used by the Union) was earmarked for the Union artillery.

    The owner of the Hazard Powder Company, a Colonel Hazard, was A COLONEL IN THE GEORGIA MILITIA! He had lived in Savannah, GA many years before the outbreak of the Civil War and was very pro-Southern. He had been commissioned in the Georgia Militia and was very proud of the rank. He even kept the title after he moved back home to Connecticut to run the powder works.

    In early 1861 Colonel Hazard sold 80,000 pounds of Hazard Cannon Powder to the State of South Carolina which used much of it for the bombardment of Fort Sumter!

    The finest gunpowder made during the war was made at the Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, GA. The plant extended for two miles along the Augusta Canal and was copied from the British Government's plant at Waltham Abbey in England.

    One of the reasons that the Augusta gunpowder was so superior was that the charcoal that was used in it came from branches of Black Willow trees that grew along the banks of the Savannah River.

    After the war, captured lots of Augusta powder was tested at Fortress Monroe by Ordnance Department officers and found to be a superior powder.

    In August of 1945, the USAAF B-29 "Enola Gay" dropped the world's first nuclear weapon, an Atom Bomb, of the Japanese City of Hiroshima, Japan. The trigger mechanism of that Atomic Bomb used Black Powder!

    Modern GOEX powder used charcoal made from maple trees, at least until the plant moved from Pennsylvania.

    GOEX is the only company in the United States that still produces black powder. The vast majority of the black powder made by GOEX goes to the military-not Skirmishers and other civilian black powder shooters.

    GOEX was purchased by the Hodgdon Powder Company in 2009. Hodgdon also produces the "substitute black powder" Pyrodex at another plant.
    Excellent information! Really these details are truly valuable and informative. Its very useful for all the shooters. Hodgdon is one of my favorite, i mostly use alliant powder. Thanks for sharing the facts about gun powder and keep sharing more.

    mec reloaders | alliant powder

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Forney, Texas
    Posts
    254
    Region:
    Potomac - Virginia, Maryland and Delaware

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    Since we are swapping historical information, I would like to add a fact that many may not be aware of and most probably wouldn't care anyway.

    This is from memory so details may be inaccurate. After the War of Southern Independence, the US negotiated a settlement with Britain and got a $6,000,000 payment for helping the confederacy. I think they were afraid the US would take it.

    I think every black powder plant that operated in the US blew up at least one time.

    David
    DAVID FRANCE

  10. #10
    jbarber is offline
    Team:
    110th Ohio Voluneer Infantry
    Member
    1483V
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    London,Ohio
    Posts
    30
    Region:
    Midwest - Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

    Re: Interesting Gunpowder Facts

    In response to Dave's surmise that all U.S. gunpowder plants have blown up at one time or another, there is one which I believe escaped destruction. The King's Mill powder plant, located along the west bank of the Little Miami River is, I believe, still standing, though moldering in decay. At least it was still there about ten years ago as I drove down rte.68 from Springfield to Xenia, Ohio. It consisted of several low-lying red-brick structures very close to the river. According to several of my Civil War references King's was a supplier to the Union, though small potatoes compared to Hazard and duPont,
    Fifty years ago I bought black powder from Harold Woods, an old-time gunsmith in London, Ohio. As a young man he worked at King's Mill. He stated that the First World War saved the company from insolvency, but that it failed shortly thereafter. He recalled that the manager would not hire anyone who smoked - Harold was a chewer, still chewing in his 80's when I knew him - nor could you wear shoes with nailed soles. All the shovels and tools were made of copper and the building's roofs were deliberately made lightweight and flimsy.
    As a side note, the King family moved to Warren County, Ohio after the plant shut down, speculating in land and making a financial killing; also becoming prominent in civic and political affairs. The King's Island Amusement Park is named for the family. History surrounds us. (and sometimes takes us on a thrill ride!)

Similar Threads

  1. Interesting letter, Blakely to Dahlgren 1858
    By cannonmn in forum Artillery
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-17-2010, 11:22 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •