A Brief History
On September 17, 1862, the same day that the bloodiest one day battle in American military history was fought (Antietam, or Sharpsburg) the civilian population of suburban Pittsburgh was touched by the worst civilian disaster of the Civil War when the Allegheny Arsenal blew up, killing 78 workers, mainly women (down to 15 years old).
Digging Deeper
A cartridge making industrial plant, the Allegheny Arsenal employed over a thousand workers and supplied the Union forces fighting in the Western half of the conflict. Cartridges at the time consisted of greased paper containing a charge of black powder and either a musket ball or a bullet (Minie ball). Soldiers would rip the paper with their teeth, pour the pre-measured charge into the bore of their rifle or musket, then place the bullet or ball in the bore and ram it all down with the ramrod.
Gunpowder was shipped to the Arsenal from Dupont and Company in wooden barrels, which were returned to the company for reuse. This became an issue later when accusations that leaky, defective barrels were responsible for spreading dangerous amounts of gunpowder over the area.
No definitive cause of the massive explosions, heard miles away, could be determined, though it was posited that the metal horseshoe on a horse caused a spark on the stone road that ignited powder in the street that followed a path of other loose powder up to the main lab where the first giant explosion took place, followed soon after by a second blast, and then a third. Among the dead, 54 of the bodies were so mutilated they could not be identified.
Investigation (Coroner’s inquest) initially blamed the Arsenal commander and his officers, but reinvestigation (military inquiry) found no particular person or reason at fault. The Arsenal commander, a Col. Symington, was retired a few months after the incident.
Accidental explosions of military ordnance is not uncommon, with catastrophic results as explosives have grown more powerful. Incidents in the US during World War II resulted in (not surprisingly!) problems with the labor force handling the explosives. The Soviets suffered a massive series of fires and explosions at Severomorsk over a 4 day period in 1984, killing as many as 300, and wounding an unknown number more. Alfred Nobel, he of the Nobel Prize fame and inventor of Dynamite, lost a brother and several workers in 1864 in an explosion at his factory. Despite mighty efforts to prevent such accidents, they have occurred throughout history and continue to occur.
Question for students (and subscribers): Would you be willing to work at a gunpowder or explosives factory? What would it take to get you to agree to work at such a place? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Lea, Richard. Sermon commemorative of the great explosion at the Allegheny arsenal, at Lawrenceville, Penna, on September 17th, 1862. Library of Congress, 1862.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="11789 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=11789">39 Comments
You would think everyone in the factory would take every precaution to maintain their safety. They shouldn’t have reused the barrels, especially if they were leaking. Such a sad tragedy that could have been prevented.
N.W.
Perhaps the business was so concerned with supplying Union forces that they disregarded safety. All in all, a very tragic incident.
So sad. I would never be able to work in a gunpowder factory. That is very scary.
AM
It’s crazy to think that it is possible the metal horseshoe on a horse could have created the spark that started the fire.
So many deaths in same day- from the war, and those making the weapons of the war. GW
Stories like this are always so sad to read. The Civil War is so interesting to learn about but such a shame at the same time.
This is a saddening read. This story shows how we have to use what happened in the past to make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future
It is amazing how the shoe on a horses foot could cause a spark that would ignite enough gun powder to blow up an armory.
Knowing the conditions of how they would transport such a volatile
material an accident was going to happen inevitably.
That’s so sad that so many people died trying to help with the war, and that’s all they wanted to do.
Extremely sad for these innocent victims. This accident which was not even a direct contact with the battlefield is devistating and proves how deadly war is on every level.
it is sad to see as many people that died bevause they were trying to help
I had no idea that accidental explosions of military
ordinance were so common, even up to WWII.
It is terribly upsetting to hear about innocent lives being lost due to an accidental explosion. I never knew those accidents are so common. I think the most devastating part is how people lost their lives somewhere other than a battlefield during this time.
Working at a gunpowder or explosives factory is definitely a dangerous job. Whoever was willing and is willing to work there is extremely brave. Explosions are common in places like these ones. It is sad how many lives can be lost in just an instant.
I think what was scary about this is that as the weapons get more dangerous, these kinds of accidents only become more deadly. Stories like this should serve as a cautionary tale for those that manufacture and test weapons.
I definitely think this disaster could have been prevented. When thinking about war, many people do not give enough credit to the people at home that were not on the front line and helping the war without actually having to fight. That scares me that accidents like these still occur.
It’s so unfortunate that such a disaster would occur in a gunpowder factory. At that time, there weren’t the same safety precautions we have in place now and unfortunately accidents would occur. This explosion reminds me of another unfortunate factory accident I had Learned about previously. I don’t remember what the incident was called but it involved a factory of seamstresses burning to death because the doors opened in not out in the factory. The only good thing about these incidents is that we’ve learned and now have safety precautions in place.
What an terrible accident that could of struck because of a horse’s metal horseshoe and bad transportation of the gun powder. The transportation of weapons and ammunition at the time of the Civil War was routine and no worries because it was a habit and nothing had went wrong. The bad routines of not caring if the barrels leaked backfired on the factory I was surprised only 54 people died from 3 massive explosions.
Gunpowder being spread around the community was surely linked to the alleged spark from the horse leading to the plant where the initial explosion occurred. I agree that it would be tough to blame one person for a disaster like this, and I am glad that after investigation it was determined that it was no one’s direct fault.
It’s a shame that so many people died in this explosion. I guess working with gunpowder all day is a dangerous job, and sometimes these events are inevitable. These men and women knew the risks involved with working with gunpowder.
It’s crazy to think that something as simple as a horseshoe could have caused the explosion and been responsible for so many horrible deaths.
Unfortunate to think that innocent people, who were trying to help out during the war, ended up dying by this explosion. It is a good thing something tragic like that does not happen these days with all the precautionary steps involved with dealing with such explosives.
It’s astonishing to think that a horseshoe from a horse was the sole cause of the ignition of this explosion. The explosion was tragic during a time of war. These types of events were not uncommon during this time as a lot of gunpowder was needed to work the weapons of the time.
It really is a tragedy that 78 lives were lost just by being at their job. It is crazy to me that DuPont was so lax with their safety standards.
I never hear about this disaster. It seems as if the battle of Antietam took more precedence with publicity than the disaster in Pittsburgh.
You would think that with all the gunpowder and explosives around, they would be a lot more careful as to where they would store it and who would keep eyes on it. Very sad the 78 lives were lost that day, not to mention the youngest of the deaths was 15 years old.
I guess working at a gunpowder or explosives factory comes with more risk than we think of. It is sad that so many lives were lost, and it goes to show how many people, even those not in battle, are affected by war.
How ironic for this disaster to happen on the same day as the bloodiest one day battle in American military history. It is crazy that just a spark from a horse’s metal horseshoe could take this many lives and cause such a disaster. Whoever was in charge of the barrels should not have been as careless when gunpowder was leaking out.
Unless I was forced to work in a gun powder factory I would never step near one. It is very unfortunate that the explosion occurred on the bloodiest day of battle. The combined devastation most likely brought down morale and made many upset by the fighting of the war.
Anytime gunpowder gets spread by accident will always cause a huge explosion. This idea has been seen in history before and it unfortunate that 78 workers died because of the leaky gunpowder.
I could never work in a gunpowder power plant. You have to go into everyday that there is a high probability of the plant exploding. Such a sad event to read about, especially considering it was an accident and not an attack.
This is such an unfortunate disaster that could have been prevented with easy measures. It is a shame innocent people trying to help the Union cause died because of it. But I suppose that is just one of those terrible repercussions of war.
This war was so terrible that of the dead, 54 bodies were mutilated and they could not be identified. Such a terrible disaster.
What a terrible accident! I would never work in a gunpowder factory because of the chance of something like this happening. I feel bad for the families affected by this terrible accident. It is a shame that these innocent people lost their lives.
I could not imagine ever working with explosives. Too risky for me. It would take a lot of compensation to convince me otherwise.
Working in a gunpowder plant has to be one of the most, if not the most dangerous job out there. Not a job for me.
A very tragic event that also unfortunately occurred the same day as Antietam. I did not realize that a gunpowder factory employed such a large number of women during that time.
It is crazy to read about such a horrible tragedy where 78 workers died. Some were even the age of fifteen!