ABSTRACT
The principal aim of this study is to examine the use of unusual manufacturing methods at the Gunpowder Works in Augusta, Georgia, and their possible effect on the resulting powder. These procedures were adopted in response to the challenge facing the largely agrarian southern states of the USA when they opted in 1860, under the Constitution, to leave the Union. It became necessary for them to acquire the ability to defend themselves against some forcible attempt at reunion. The attack began sooner rather than later and found them with little manufacturing capacity, although their military personnel were of a high quality. The supply of finished gunpowder in stock was more than adequate for normal purposes, but it was clear that a major war would necessitate the creation of a manufacturing base where virtually none had existed before. Although there had been many small gunpowder mills in the South in the earlier part of the nineteenth century, most of these had succumbed to commercial pressures from the North and overseas. Only three mills are noted as surviving at the end of 1860, and their combined capacity was a mere fraction of what would be needed.1
