(Click Banner For Instant Access To Home Page) Production of Gunpowder     The use of ammunition rested upon the key ingredient to its implementation, gunpowder, which the South was able to produce quite effectively.  The importance of gunpowder was immense, since during the 1860s it was the sole explosive used (Brock 1909, 9).  The production of gunpowder proved a much more painstaking task than did the manufacturing of ammunition, however, it was clear “that not only was there no powder for the field artillery on hand in the south before the war, but that no mills of any but the smallest capacity existed in the south for its manufacture” (Wise 1915, 42).  Not only was there no means for production, but there was a lack of key components to make gunpowder (most notably Saltpeter or potassium nitrate).  Finally, there was the issue of safety and the lack of workers.  The war effort created a labor shortage that paralyzed the production of supplies, and even the workers available could meet serious injury or death leading to an even smaller labor force.     With only 60,000 pounds in the entire South, the need for gunpowder in the spring of 1861 was enormous.  Considering that the artillery alone needed 175,000 pounds the demand had to be met swiftly by the Ordnance Department.  Efforts to quench the demand were first attempted by obtaining powder from the north.  The Confederacy was initially able to gain some powder through northern factories, however, this ceased when Jefferson Davis ordered the attack on Fort Sumter.  With the reality that the North would no longer equip the Confederacy with powder, they turned to their own means of production and manufacturing (Brock 1909, 41) The first of the permanent works undertaken was a first class powder mill, the erection and equipment of which were placed in charge of Col. G.W. Rains of North Carolina, who had been an officer of the U.S. regular army, and was a most accomplished and energetic man.  The site selected was a large piece of land on the line of the canal at Augusta, Ga., where work was begun in September, 1861.  All of the massive machinery was constructed in the Confederate States, the largest parts, the heavy incorporating rollers and pans, being made at the Tredegar Works at Richmond.  Powder began to be produced in April, 1862, and the works continued in successful operation up to the end of the war, furnishing all the gunpowder needed, and of the very best quality (Brock 1909, 4).     The powder mills at Augusta, Georgia, were extremely important to the Confederacy.   Josiah Gorgas wrote that “the powder mills at Augusta, Ga., which I have already mentioned as the direct result of the order of President Davis were wonderfully successful and never met with serious accident, a safe indication of the goodness of its arrangement” (Fuller and Steuart 1944, 122).  The extreme necessity of the Augusta powder mill was evident in who it supplied.  Ammunition in the Confederacy was allocated geographically, as were most supplies.  The army nearest the ordnance shop would disperse the bullets since the Confederacy had poor internal transportation.  In regards to ammunition and other supplies the Army of Northern Virginia was equipped by Wilmington and Richmond, and the army of Tennessee gained its supplies from Atlanta and Augusta.  All the armies, including the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee, got their powder from Augusta (Brock 1909, 6).  There was no other option available to the Confederates; the poor internal transportation of goods needed to be overcome to furnish the armies with gunpowder.     Another of the South's biggest problems was the lack of natural resources that it used to make gunpowder.  “To manufacture powder it takes half a pound of saltpeter, one-fourth pound of sulphur, and one-fourth pound of charcoal to make one pound of powder.  Put all in a mortar and beat it up together and pour in water until it is thick dough, then grain and glaze, and you have Confederate powder” (Johnston 1990, 127).  Large amounts of sulphur in Louisiana were imported to produce sugar.  Charcoal was chiefly produced from “cotton-wood from the banks of the Savannah River, in which locality it was abundant and gave an excellent product” (Wise 1915, 42).  The third ingredient, nitre or saltpeter, was less abundant and harder to come by.  “As regards the materials for making gun powder, search was made for nitre earth, and considerable quantities were obtained from caves in Tennessee, Georgia and North Alabama, as also from old buildings, cellars, plantations quarters and tobacco barns. Col. I. M. St. John was, in 1862, given separate charge of this work, and developed it systematically on a large scale” (Brock 1909, 10).  Nevertheless most of the nitre used at Augusta came from abroad through the blockade, not from internal search efforts.