Arsenal of Democracy: A History of Rock Island Arsenal from Reconstruction to World War I

Courtesy Photo | Rock Island Arsenal functioned as a major depot for equipment used during the Spanish-American War. Of the many things the arsenal produced were items such as the “mess cups”’ seen here, that the individual soldier carried as part of his kit.  

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

07.05.2022

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Corinna Baltos 

U.S. Army Sustainment Command

This is the second of six articles looking at the 160-year history of Rock Island Arsenal. The first article looked at the arsenal from its establishment as a military fort to the end of the Civil War. The second article will focus on the arsenal’s role in supplying the Army during the Spanish-American War and leading up to World War I. The third article will examine the arsenal’s history from 1917 until 1942. The fourth article will look at the arsenal during World War II and the Korean War. The fifth will look at the arsenal from the mid-1950s to the end of the Cold War. The last article will focus on the Gulf War to the present.

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill – When the arsenal was established in 1862 on Rock Island, Illinois, Maj. Charles P. Kingsbury, the arsenal’s first commander, designed and began building the first permanent building on the Island.
Construction of the first building, Storehouse A, began in 1863, with the cornerstone being laid in April of the following year.

However, the need to build and run a prisoner of war camp on the island temporarily shelved Kingsbury’s building projects. After the war, building resumed on the arsenal; however, only the storehouse, located on the western tip of the island, was finished when Kingsbury departed in 1867. The building then known as Storehouse A, is now known as the Clock Tower building, and is the oldest permanent structure on the island.

Building on the arsenal continued and expanded under the command of the post’s second commander, Brevet Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Rodman, who would become known as “Father of the Arsenal.” Under his stewardship, the arsenal was developed into an island-wide installation which was easily accessible by rail and river. During his tenure as commander, “Arsenal Row”, built for the manufacture and overhaul of ordnance and small arms, and “Armory Row” were built.

The arsenal construction period lasted until 1908. By this time, it would boast shops to build machinery, provide sources of power to run and maintain the shops, grounds and roads, as well as an improved bridge connecting the island to Davenport.

While the arsenal was originally established there was a general feeling that there was a need for a “National Arsenal”, to prepare the nation for war. To be prepared, the arsenal would need to be maintained in a time of peace as well. Following the conclusion of the Civil War, the U.S. realized the necessity of maintaining and training a military force to subdue adversaries as Americans pushed westward towards the Pacific Ocean and to prepare for any eventual combat. Due to Rodman’s original vision, the arsenal was in position to play a key role in both the Spanish-American War and World War I.

Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the arsenal would continue to produce small arms and materials for the Army to be used by Soldiers fighting Native Americans in the “Indian Wars” out west.

As the U.S. pushed further west in the decades after the Civil War, the arsenal would be further expanded in what was, at the time, the single largest public works project in the United States. By the end of the 19th century, the arsenal was largely self-sufficient from the community. It had its own water and electricity supply as well as fire and police forces.

The location of the arsenal in the middle part of the country, along the largest river in the land, allowed the Army to manufacture and store military equipment with minimal risk, and, when the need arose, distribute it around the country efficiently and quickly.

After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876, the Army recognized the need to teach its Soldiers proper marksmanship. However, this would require targets to practice on. So, in 1881 the arsenal was tasked with producing military-specific targets to be used by Soldiers during training. This task continues to this day, and the arsenal currently produces all of the targets used in marksmanship training for the entire Department of Defense.

However, during the 33 years between the end of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, the people of the U.S. were more focused on industry, commerce and agriculture than preparing for war.

According to the U.S. Army Center for Military History, the Army at this time consisted of 10 cavalry regiments and 25 infantry regiments. However, most of these regiments were not at full strength. In 1890, there were roughly 28,100 officers and enlisted men serving in the U.S. Army out of a population of roughly 63 million people. To put this in context, the German Army in 1900 consisted of 600,516 officers and soldiers out of a population of roughly 49 million people.

During the latter half of the 19th century, the workforce at the arsenal reflected the relative small size of the U.S. Army, which was not prepared for war. The arsenal workforce consisted of primarily Civil War era technology and supplies and employed approximately 500 men.

However, the size of the workforce and the rate of production would change due to an explosion that took place over 1,300 miles away early in the morning hours of Feb. 15, 1898, when the U.S.S. Maine blew up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.

On April 20, Congress demanded that Spain leave Cuba and allow it to become independent. The military was authorized to use force to carry out the resolution. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S., and the U.S. reciprocated with its own declaration the next day.

The “splendid little war”, as Secretary of State John Hay called the Spanish-American War, would be the arsenal’s first major test to determine if it could meet its requirement of supplying an army at war.

The declaration of war caused the arsenal to increase production of military equipment, especially carriages and harnesses for field guns. With the increase in production, employment at the arsenal increased from a few hundred to nearly 3,000 workers.

Along with field guns, arsenal workers produced a variety of equipment for the Soldiers heading to Cuba. This equipment, blankets, haversacks, mess kits, canteens, etc., was carried by the individual Soldier into battle.

One of the pieces of equipment made by the arsenal were horse saddles for cavalry troops. Some of these saddles were used by the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry unit, better known as the, “Rough Riders.” However, due to the fact that many of the horses didn’t make it to Cuba, many of the cavalry troops ended up as infantry troops and grudgingly called the unit, “Wood’s Weary Walkers” after its commander, Col. Leonard Wood.

By early summer, demand for equipment had increased so much the arsenal had to outsource production of materials to private contractors.

By the summer of 1898, 131 private contractors had delivered to RIA a wide array of materials that would become necessary equipment for a typical Soldier, such as webbing, tin, brass, leather and lumber that would be used during the war.

The Spanish-American War led to the U.S. emerging as a global power. It also had a permanent effect on the arsenal.

The arsenal would permanently expand its workforce, operations and facilities, and begin to rearrange and install automatic machines to improve production. The arsenal also built a new brick water power plant to replace the one destroyed by fire and, in 1901, the first electrical power generators were installed on the island thus allowing production to continue if the power went out.

Workers’ lives improved during the first decade of the 20th century. Electricity was brought to the shops, thus making it safer for second- and, when needed, third-shift employees to work. The arsenal grounds and buildings were also improved and made safer for employees. Additionally, improvements to roads, bike paths and trolleys were added to facilitate transportation around the island.

While the arsenal played a substantial role in helping the U.S. win the Spanish-American War, its capabilities would be tested by World War I.

• Date Taken: 07.05.2022
• Date Posted: 07.05.2022 14:13
• Story ID: 424352
• Location: ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US