The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-25

The late William LeRoy Broun. who was va President of the Alabama Polytech- Lieutenant-ColoneI of Ordnance of the Confederate Army. commanding inc richmond Arsenal. contributed the fol- Iorytnss IIowytns s.r article to the Journal of the
 m complying with your request to write an article for your journal, giving experiences and difficulties in obtaining ordance during the war. will endeavor 1elying on my memory and some avail able memoranda preserved, to give yon a statement of the collection and nanu- lecture of ordnance stores for the usa of the Confederats Army. SC far as such and control.
 After years' service in .he field as an artillery officer. I was ordered to Rich mond and made Superintendent of Ar mor1es. with the rank of Major In the regular army. new office in the Con- federate States Army. ani sent to va rious points in North Carolina and Geor- gia 10 inspect and report on the facili- tles possessed by different manufactories Tor making arms. swords, sulphuric acid, etc.
 As general rule the facilities for ma n- ufacturing were meagre and crude, giv- Ing little prospect for an early service able product.
 Early in the spring of 1862 I was or dered to report at Holly Springs, Miss, and take charge of a factory just pur- signed for the manufacture of small arms.
 It was not many months before the defeat of the Confederate Armies under Tenn, caused a hurried removal of all machinery to Meridian, Miss Having reported to the Chief of Ordnance Of Richmond. Va. I was assigned to duty connected with the ordnance department.
 The Confederate Congress had author fzed the appointment of fifty new ord- nance off1cers-and the applications to the War Department became so numerous and persistent for these appointments. that the Secretary of War, Colonel Ran dolph. ordered that all applicants should submit to an examination, and that ap- pointments would be made in order of merit, Is reported by the Board of Ex- amtners, thus, what We are now familiar with as Civil Service examinations, were introduced by the Confederate War De- partment in 1862. in the appointment of ordnance officers.
 I was made Lieutenant Colonel of Ord nance. and as President of the Board, with two other officers. constituted the Board of Examiners. By direction of I prepared a field Ordnance Manual by abridging the old United States Manual and adapting 1t to our service when nec- essary. This was published and distrib- uted in the Army.
 The examination embraced Field Ord nance Manual as contained in the abridg ed addition, the clements of algebra, chemistry and physics with some knowl- nations were held in Richmond. Of course. the fact of the examinations greatly. diminished the number of appli- cants: Of those recommended by the Board. so many were from Virginia that the President declined to appoint them until an equal opportunity was given to the young men of the different armies of the Confederacy in other States.
 ls conduct examinations in the armies of Gems. Lee and Jackson in Virginia, Gen. Bragg of Tennessee, and Gen. Penn berton of Mississippi. Under other officers exan1lnations were conducted in Alabama and Florida.
 The result of this sitting process was that the army was supplied with capable and efficient ordnance officers.
 Early in 1883 1 was appointed Command ant of the Richmond Arsenal. Here the greater part of the ordnance and the ord nance stores were :repared for the use of the Confederate Armies.
 { The Arsenal occupied number of to- bacco factories at the foot of 7th Street, near the Tredegar Iron Works between Cary Street and James River It in cluded all the machine shops for working wood and iron, organized into different departments. each under subordinate of- ficers, arranged to manufacture ordnance stores for the use of the Confederate Army.
 
 Works. including siege and field guns, napoleons, howitzers and banded cast iron guns. Steel guns were not made. We had no facilities for making steel, and no time to experiment.
 The steel guns used by the Confederates were highly valued and with the ex- ception of a few purchased abroad were all captured from the Federals.
 At the beginning of the war the ma chinery belonging to the armory at liar pers Ferry was removed to Richmond and there established. This armory man. ufactured Enfield rifies and the product was very small, not exceeding 800 per month.
 With the exception of a few thousand rifles, the soldiers at the beginning of the war were armed with the old smooth bore muskets. and with old Austrian and Belgian rifles imported. These were ex- changed for Enfield rifles. as they were favored by the fortunes of war
 In the summer of 1862. after the seven days battles around Richmond between General Lee and General Mcclellan. men were detailed to collect arms from the field, which were carried to the Rich mond Arsenal, and then, as quickly as possible. repaired and reissued to the army.
 Subsequently, through the blockade runners. a large importation of excel lent rifles was received and distributed.
 When the men detailed for this purpose were collecting the thousands of Enfield rifles left by the Federals on the battle fields near Richmond. I remember seeing a few steel breastplates that had been worn by the Federal soldiers who were killed in battle They were solid steel in two parts. shaped to fit the chest, and were worn under the coat. These were