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Tredegar Iron Works-"The South's Major Arsenal"
"Will make anything you want- work day and night if necessary, and ship by rail", read the telegram to the Confederate government at the start of the Civil War. Joseph R. Anderson, the brilliant industrialist who was owner and manager of the Tredegar Iron Works, was pledging his talents and his company's production to the service of his new country. He honored his pledge tenfold.
The Tredegar Iron Works, located on the bank of the James River at Richmond, was the only major foundry and rolling mill in the South. In 1860 this first-class operation employed 900 slaves and skilled workers and was producing cannon and gun carriages for the U.S. government, as well as locomotives, boilers, cables, and naval hardware. But after the start of the Civil War, Tredegar became the major arsenal for the South, specializing in heavy coastal cannon, 12-pounder Napoleons, and three-inch ordnance guns. The company made almost half the cannon produced domestically, along with artillery projectiles, naval mines, experimental submersible vessels, armor plating for ironclads, and heavy equipment for other arsenals and powder mills.
The company also operated nine canal boats, a sawmill, and a firebrick factory. Anderson bought coal mines and blast furnaces to help ensure a supply of raw materials. To clothe his 2,500-man work force, Anderson built a tannery and shoe factory and brought cloth in through the blockade in his own boats. He also sent agents into other states to purchase livestock that he then butchered and sold to his workers at cost to help relieve the food shortage.
As the Union armies swallowed more and more Confederate territory and other centers of manufacturing, Tredegar became increasingly important to the Rebel war effort. The iron works faced shortages of raw materials and transportation problems, and as more and more of the workers were drafted into the military, a severe shortage of skilled workers.
Tredegar Iron Works-"The South's Major Arsenal"
"Will make anything you want- work day and night if necessary, and ship by rail", read the telegram to the Confederate government at the start of the Civil War. Joseph R. Anderson, the brilliant industrialist who was owner and manager of the Tredegar Iron Works, was pledging his talents and his company's production to the service of his new country. He honored his pledge tenfold.
The Tredegar Iron Works, located on the bank of the James River at Richmond, was the only major foundry and rolling mill in the South. In 1860 this first-class operation employed 900 slaves and skilled workers and was producing cannon and gun carriages for the U.S. government, as well as locomotives, boilers, cables, and naval hardware. But after the start of the Civil War, Tredegar became the major arsenal for the South, specializing in heavy coastal cannon, 12-pounder Napoleons, and three-inch ordnance guns. The company made almost half the cannon produced domestically, along with artillery projectiles, naval mines, experimental submersible vessels, armor plating for ironclads, and heavy equipment for other arsenals and powder mills.
The company also operated nine canal boats, a sawmill, and a firebrick factory. Anderson bought coal mines and blast furnaces to help ensure a supply of raw materials. To clothe his 2,500-man work force, Anderson built a tannery and shoe factory and brought cloth in through the blockade in his own boats. He also sent agents into other states to purchase livestock that he then butchered and sold to his workers at cost to help relieve the food shortage.
As the Union armies swallowed more and more Confederate territory and other centers of manufacturing, Tredegar became increasingly important to the Rebel war effort. The iron works faced shortages of raw materials and transportation problems, and as more and more of the workers were drafted into the military, a severe shortage of skilled workers.