The Springfield Armory: a Study in Institutional Development
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THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY: A STUDY IN INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT BY DERWENT STAINTHORPE WHITTLESEY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER, 1920 Transcribed and edited 2006 by John McCabe, Objects Curator and Richard Colton, Historian Springfield Armory NHS One Armory Sq., Suite 2 Springfield, MA 01105-1299 1 Contents. Pages Prefix Contents and Abstract . 1-3 Chapter 1 The Situation 4-9 Chapter 2 The Revolutionary Laboratory 10-44 Chapter 3 The Storage Depot of the Period of the Confederation. – 1782-1794 45-51 Chapter 4 Founding the National Armory – 1794-1812 52-93 Chapter 5 War, and Readjustment under the Civil Superintendency – 1812-1841 94-178 Chapter 6 Military versus Civil Control – 1841-1861 179-224 Chapter 7 The Modern Armory – 1861-1917 225-237 Chapter 8 Production at the National Armory 238-274 Chapter 9 Summary and Prospectus 275-279 Chapter 10 Bibliography 280-289 Appendix I Popln N.E. towns, 1765-1700 290 Appendix II Act/Cong. Aprl, 1794 291 Appendix III Deeds to Real Estate 292-298 Appendix IV Suptdts & Comdg. Officers 299-301 Appendix V No. of Arms mfd, 1795-1920 302 Appendix VI Armory Reglns., 1816 303-304 Appendix VII Pay Schedules, 1828 305-306 Appendix VIII Models of Muskets, etc. 307 2 THE VIEWPOINT From August, 1918, to September, 1919, I was stationed at the Springfield (Massachusetts) Armory and became imbued with its distinctive spirit, which is the product of its long tradition. A search of the records of the establishment, supplemented by investigations in other New England archives, revealed that the institution had indelibly imprinted the economic and social life of Springfield, had served as a precursor and pattern for other agencies of the United States Government, and had taken a prominent place in the technological advancement of manufacturing in the country. This three-fold development has made of the Armory an institution with character and individuality, and constitutes the central theme of this dissertation. THE MATERIALS Most of the material used was gleaned from manuscript sources. Collections of great value are those of the Springfield City Library Association, the Connecticut Valley Historical Society, The Massachusetts State Archives, The Library of Congress, and certain private citizens in Boston. For the period since 1795 the principal source was the vast Springfield Armory File, containing regulations, payrolls, work records, and correspondence. The published material devoted to the Armory is confined mostly to anecdotes. More valuable are official publications of the United States (chiefly War Department publications, Statutes, and Debates in Congress) and files of local newspapers. For two special periods there is additional matter: the Revolutionary Laboratory is partly disclosed in the Journals of the Continental Congresses, and in published letters of the men involved; a collection of pamphlets covers the Ripley-Stearns controversy. There are a few special studies on arms. Verbatim notes were made from all these sources, and from the notes the story has been drawn. Passages of special importance or vividness have been quoted. The full bibliography appears as Chapter 10 of the work. The appendices which follow Chapter 10 comprise fundamental documents, and such data as require presentation in tabular form. THE DIGEST The following summaries of the chapters set forth the major items in the history of the institution. 3 Chapter I. The Situation Springfield, Massachusetts, was the first settlement in the Connecticut Valley, by virtue of its favorable situation for the fur trade. As this business was replaced by farming, Springfield became eclipsed by near-by towns in more fertile agricultural districts. Recrudescence came with the Revolution, when facilities for transportation and manufacturing caused Springfield to be selected as the site for a munitions plant. Following the War, a second period of decay was arrested by the establishment of the National Armory. Chapter 2. The Revolutionary Laboratory Established by Washington close to the frontier, the manufactory of the Revolution turned out cartridges and fuses, and made repairs to all kinds of ordnance. In addition, a powder factory grew up in the town and local contractors undertook to cast cannon for the government. Springfield became the principal storage center and outfitting point for both ordnance and quartermaster supplies. Operations were carried on in rented quarters, but storehouses and a powder magazine were constructed on the site afterwards selected for the National Armory. The organization provided for considerable differentiation of functions, and the methods of paperwork were much like present-day Army procedure. The personnel were partly military and partly civilian. Criticism by townsfolk of government administration led to an investigation of the conduct of affairs, and ultimately to a court martial, but no penalties followed. The strife seems to have been engendered by social friction inevitable to the operation in war time of a federal organ in a community with powerful traditions of frugality and local government. Demobilization during 1781-2 left a keeper of military stores in charge of federal property. Chapter 3. The storage Depot of the Period of the Confederation At the end of the war a new magazine was erected to store surplus powder - the most prized of ordnance stores at that period. This became the object of attack by Shays and his back-country army in January, 1787. The movement behind Shays’ Rebellion spurred Massachusetts to favor the new Constitution composed the following summer, under which the National Armory was established. Chapter 4. Founding the National Armory A statute of 1794 provided for National Armories, patterning after the French system of government-owned shops for manufacturing muskets. Nevertheless, subsidizing private gunsmiths, a 4 practice inherited from Britain, was not abolished. Washington selected the location because of situation safely inland and yet on water transportation, accessibility to the British frontier, local water power, proven worth of the site, and presence of government-owned buildings. The first land was bought and work was begun in 1795. The three principal officers, Military Storekeeper and Paymaster, Superintendent of the National Armory, and Master Armorer, were civilians and quasi-independent of each other. Strife ensued, to the detriment of the plant, from which the Superintendent emerged supreme, after a struggle of fifty years. For a time the Master Armorer was looked upon as assistant superintendent; all assumed responsibility in the temporary absence of the superintendent, and one succeeded to the higher office; but by 1812 he had become definitely relegated to a subordinate position, along with a recognized hierarchy of lesser officials. The conflict between Superintendent and Paymaster was less easily settled, because the former was responsible for conduct of the plant whereas the latter purchased raw materials, paid the workmen, and took charge of the output. In the very first administration the controversy was carried into the courts, and nearly every succeeding administration took up the cudgels until 1841, when the Paymaster became an appointee of the rival official. The workmen were employed on contract, but were rationed by the government. Moreover, their children attended an Armory school, and business and social-centers sprang up in the neighborhood of the shops. This distinct community grew up partly because of remoteness of the village, partly because armorers who lived on federal property had no legal standing in the Town, and partly because of social cleavage between the Congregational trading and farming townsfolk and the Dissenting artisans of the Armory. Sovereignty of the United States government over the Armory property came into question before the state supreme court in 1811. Loose construction of the Constitution in this case prevented state interference in later years. Chapter 5. War, and readjustment under the Civil Superintendency The War of 1812 precipitated a fresh struggle between Paymaster and Storekeeper, which was complicated by the issue between Federalist hew England and Democratic federal government. It was difficult to speed up production and even to obtain raw materials. In the generation following the close of the War, the Armory was placed upon solid foundations. (1) A comprehensive plan for buildings was adopted, and several of those now standing were 5 constructed. Water power rights were increased. (2) A department for repairing muskets was inaugurated, and oddments were periodically sold at auction. New methods of manufacture were adopted as fast as inventions were made, and coal was tried out for smelting and power. Permanent purchasing agencies were set up in principal centers of supply. (3) Practices of workmen which defrauded the government were curbed. A periodically revised pay schedule was adopted, which made it possible to hold skilled mechanics against competition from private manufacturers. (4) Workmen were stimulated to invention by establishment of the principle that devices worked out in the government shops may be used without compensation by the United States, which patents them without charge. (5) The Superintendent was recognized as the chief officer, with power to appoint all others except the Paymaster, and