Also known as: ordnance contracts.
| Role | Supplying guns and ammunition through private makers |
|---|---|
| Complement | The output of the national arsenals and armories |
| Record | Contract documents naming the makers and quantities |
Buying the ordnance
Neither the Federal nor the Confederate arsenals could make everything their armies needed, so both governments contracted with private firms for guns, projectiles, and stores. The West Point Foundry, Cyrus Alger, Ames, and many others filled such contracts in the North.
The contract records document who supplied what, and they are a valuable source, along with the makers' marks on surviving pieces, for tracing the origin of Civil War ordnance.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: patents, manuals, catalogues, and reference pages.