Also known as: powder making.
| Ingredients | Saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur |
|---|---|
| Steps | Milling, pressing, corning into grains, and glazing |
| Grain | Sized to the gun |
Making powder
Black powder was manufactured by grinding and thoroughly incorporating its three ingredients, saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur, then pressing the mixture into a hard cake, breaking and sorting it into grains of the required size, and glazing and drying the finished powder.
Grain size was matched to the gun, coarse for the largest cannon and finer for smaller arms. The scale of the work is shown by the great Confederate Powder Works at Augusta, built to supply the Southern armies.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: manuals, reports, and manufacturing references.