Josiah Gorgas Josiah Gorgas ( July 1 , 1818 – May 15 , 1883 ) was one of the few Northern - born Confederate generals and was later president of the University of Alabama . As chief of ordnance during the American Civil War , Gorgas managed to keep the Confederate armies well supplied with weapons and ammunition , despite the Union blockade and even though the South had hardly any munitions industry before the war began . In this effort he also worked closely with the Fraser , Trenholm shipping company that brought in shipments of ordnance by means of blockade runners . He kept diaries during the Civil War which are now a popular subject of study for historians . Early life . Josiah Gorgas was born in Dauphin County , Pennsylvania . He was graduated from West Point in 1841 and was assigned to the Ordnance Department . He served in the Mexican - American War and was promoted to captain in 1855 . In 1853 , he married Amelia Gayle , daughter of former Alabama governor John Gayle . Gorgas served in arsenal s in different parts of the country before the Civil War broke out . Early in his career , Gorgas served at Watervliet Arsenal near Troy , New York , and at the Detroit Arsenal . Following the Mexican - American War , Gorgas served in Pennsylvania and in November 1851 was transferred to Fort Monroe in Virginia . There he began his association with the Tredegar Iron Company , which would become an important Southern foundry once the Civil War began . Gorgas went on to serve at the Mount Vernon Arsenal north of Mobile , Alabama beginning in 1853 . He was commanding the Frankford Arsenal when he resigned from the United States Army on March 21 , 1861 ( effective April 3 ) . Civil War . Having made the decision to secede , apparently motivated as much because of professional conflicts as by political principle , he moved to Richmond and became Chief of Ordnance for the Confederacy with the rank of Major . Having served in nearly every arsenal in the nation he was the perfect choice for the position . In this capacity , he worked to create an armaments industry almost from scratch . The South had no foundry except the Tredegar Iron Works . There were no rifle works except small arsenals in Richmond , and Fayetteville , North Carolina , plus the captured machines from the Union armory in Harpers Ferry . In the procurement of arms Gorgas also corresponded with Charles Prioleau who headed Trenholm ' s Liverpool office , arranging for the shipping of arms and other supplies to the Confederacy . Most of the arms sent to the Confederacy departed from Liverpool . During the summer of 1861 Gorgas stockpiled supplies and prepared his first load of cargo while Trenholm company procured a suitable ship for the voyage . A 1 , 200 ton iron - hulled steamer , the " Bermuda " , was chosen to make the voyage . Gorgas established armories and foundries , found alternative sources for saltpeter , and created a huge gunpowder mill at the Augusta Arsenal . Thanks to his efforts , the Southern armies never lacked weapons , though they were short on almost everything else . On November 10 , 1864 , Gorgas was promoted to brigadier general . Postbellum . After the war , Gorgas purchased an interest in the Brierfield Furnace in Bibb County , near Ashby in Alabama , which had helped supply the in Confederate Naval Ordnance Works in Selma . The other directors appointed him to manage the iron works and he moved his family to the furnace site . Due to high operating and management costs he was forced to lease the iron works after just a couple of years in operation . In 1870 Gorgas accepted a position at the newly established University of the South in Sewanee , Tennessee . In 1878 , he was elected president of the University of Alabama and moved into an 1829 mansion on campus . When he was forced to resign due to ill health , the trustees gave him the house for his retirement . The building was dedicated as a memorial to the family in 1944 , and is now known as Gorgas House . Gorgas died at the age of 65 in Tuscaloosa in 1883 . His widow was installed as the university ' s librarian . The main university library is named the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library . Their oldest son , William Crawford Gorgas ( born 1854 ) served as Surgeon General of the U . S . Army and is credited with implementing preventative measures against malaria that allowed for the completion of the Panama Canal .