Arsenal or Armory?

[Stoney Dee]

My thinking is that an arsenal would be a place of manufacture for weaponry and short-term storage before being delivered to an armory where the weapons would be stored awaiting delivery to the troops. Perhaps they are just synonyms? A list of all the arsenals/armories of the Trans-Mississippi Theater has proven difficult for me to locate. Have read of St. Louis, Little Rock, New Orleans but not aware of others.

 

[UCVRelics]

My thinking is that an arsenal would be a place of manufacture for weaponry and short-term storage before being delivered to an arsenal where the weapons would be stored awaiting delivery to the troops. Perhaps they are just synonyms? A list of all the arsenals/armories of the Trans-Mississippi Theater has proven difficult for me to locate. St. Louis, Little Rock, New Orleans but not aware of others.

Are we talking CS or yankee. An arsenal would be for repairs and the making of small arms ammo. The armory was for storage. During the CW the South had moving arsenal that were setup in different areas as needed.

 

[delta rifles]

There was an arsenal in Baton Rouge as well. General Thomas Williams was killed on its grounds while organizing the Union defenses during the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862. The state runs a museum on the grounds now.

 

[Stoney Dee]

Are we talking CS or yankee.

Either side but limited to the arsenals/armories in Trans-Mississippi Theater.

There was an arsenal in Baton Rouge as well. General Thomas Williams was killed on its grounds while organizing the Union defenses during the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862. The state runs a museum on the grounds now.

Good to know. I am planning an RV trip down that way this spring, so will add it to my itinerary.

 

[UCVRelics]

Be sure to include Mt. Vernon and the Selma arsenal in Alabama.

Mt. Vernon Arsenal & Barracks - Mt. Vernon, Alabama

The Mt. Vernon Arsenal & Barracks are located in Mt. Vernon, Alabama. A major military post throughout the 19th century, it was here that Geronimo and hundreds of Apache prisoners were held in 1887-1894.

www.exploresouthernhistory.com

Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry | Encyclopedia of Alabama

Selma Naval FoundryThe Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry, also known as the Selma Naval Foundry and Ironworks and the Selma Arsenal and Gun Works, was a leading manufacturing center for the South during the Civil War. The facility, located on the Alabama River in Dallas County, produced finished...

encyclopediaofalabama.org

 

[Lampasas Bill]

The San Antonio, Texas, Arsenal was established in 1859.

 

[J. D. Stevens]

The San Antonio, Texas, Arsenal was established in 1859.

I got curious about the San Antonio Arsenal and found this at Texas State Historical Assn. Online. A lot more interesting than I expected.

SAN ANTONIO ARSENAL. The San Antonio Arsenal was founded in 1859 to furnish arms and munitions to the frontier forts in Texas. During the Civil War the twenty-one-acre reservation was occupied by Confederate forces and the supplies were used for the Confederate war effort. After the war the United States Army once again took possession of the complex, and over the course of the next half century it was gradually enlarged; by the end of World War I the arsenal comprised thirty-eight buildings. During both world wars it served as a major supply depot. The volume of operations reached its height during World War II, when it shipped more than 337,000,000 pounds of ammunition. The arsenal was closed in 1949, although its buildings continued to be used as federal government offices. In 1972 two acres and three buildings were transferred to the city of San Antonio to be used as parkland under the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. Several of the remaining buildings were torn down. In 1985 H-E-B bought the remaining ten acres on the bank of the San Antonio River and remodeled the existing structures for the grocery company's corporate headquarters.

 

[Lampasas Bill]

I have a more than passing history with the San Antonio Arsenal. In 1861 my great-uncle went to the Arsenal to enlist in Tom Green's Fifth Texas Mounted Rifles (he may even have been at the initial seizure of the Arsenal by Ben McCulloch in February of that year). In the 1950s my Cub Scout den visited the Arsenal for a tour of the FBI regional office. Later, as a Boy Scout, we were allowed to use an indoor rifle range in the arsenal complex to earn NRA marksmanship certificates. My last visit was in 1968 when I went to the Recruit Center there to enlist in the Navy.

 

[Lyle Smith]

There was an ordnance works/arsenal setup in Tyler, Texas. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=91303 and https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=91302

Also, Richard Taylor had temporary arsenals/armories set up behind his lines when he took over command of the Western Louisiana District. I believe this was first located in New Iberia, Louisiana or somewhere near there. These small facilities closed or moved farther north and west as Taylor retreated out of the Teche and Lafourche regions.

 

[DixieRifles]

I learned last week that there was an "arsenal" in Holly Springs, MS. It was opened to repair rifles and modify flintlocks to percussion. They never really produced that many due to their quality and the events of Grant's campaign. I think I heard the local historian refer to it as an "armory".

Located approx. 400 yards north was the Jones-McElwain and Co. Iron Foundry,
established 1859. In 1861, the firm was awarded a Confederate contract to
produce rifles and muskets. Before any weapons were made, Holly Springs
was threatened by Union forces and the machinery was moved to Macon,
Georgia. Federal troops occupied Holly Springs on November 13, 1862,
and began converting the factory into a hospital. The unfinished hospital
was destroyed during Van Dorn's raid. Only the base of a chimney remains.

Location. 34° 46.317′ N, 89° 26.2′ W.
Marker is in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in Marshall County. Marker is at the intersection of East Salem Avenue (State Highway 4) and Bonner Street, on the left when traveling east on East Salem Avenue.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

An arsenal would be for repairs and the making of small arms ammo. The armory was for storage.

I think @ucvrelics provides a great definition between the two.

Many folks have heard of their local National Guard armory ... (sites where weapons and ammo are stored).
Not manufactured or repaired.