General Rodman's Plans
General Rodman's plans were submitted to Congress during the session of
1865 and approved. An appropriation was made to begin work on the new
buildings; and from that time forward steady progress has been made until
now Rock Island Arsenal is the fore-most in the United States.
A portion of the Island had been sold under a special act of Congress. The
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company had located their track
across the island and built upon its banks the abutments for their
bridges. When the Government decided to utilize the island for a permanent
and extensive manufacturing depot, it was found necessary to buy out the
interests of the private parties and of the railroad company. A commission
consisting of General J. M. Scofield, Selden M. Church and James Barnes,
was appointed to appraise the lands on the island owned by individuals.
An act of Congress, approved June 27, 1866, appropriated the money
necessary to buy out their claims, authorized the relocation of the
railroad bridge, and provided for compensating the railroad company for
changing its route across the island. The same act made an appropriation
to begin work on the development of the waterpower.
Under this and subsequent acts the Government united with the railroad
company in the erection of the iron bridge, which served the general
purposes until the constitution of the. present magnificent bridge,
sharing in the expense and securing a free wagon way in addition to the
railroad tracks.
By order of the War Department, in July, 1863, Rock Island was made a
military prison for the confinement of Confederate prisoners. During the
same month, Captain Charles A. Reynolds, Assistant Quarter-master United
States Army, arrived, and commenced building a prison and barracks. The
first soldiers for guard duty arrived November 2, 1863. Lieutenant Colonel
Schaffner arrived on the 19th of November and took command. On the 22d,
Colonel Richard Henry Rush arrived and took command of the post, and
Colonel A. J. Johnson was appointed in charge of the prisoners. The first
installment of prisoners, taken at the battle of Lookout Mountain, arrived
from Chattanooga, December 3, 1863; and from that time until the close of
the war a large number of prisoners were kept under a strong guard upon
the island. The whole number of prisoners confined here was 12,215; the
number of deaths was 1,960. About 500 died of small-pox, many of scurvy,
and others of various diseases, chiefly pneumonia. They were put into
rough boxes and buried in trenches. The corner-posts of the cemetery where
their ashes repose, are composed of cannon taken from the Confederates,
planted with their muzzles in the ground, and strung around with chains.
Within this enclosure sleep nearly 2,000 Confederate dead. At a few of the
graves, friends of the deceased have erected plain headstones, and placed
on them a few simple inscriptions. There is also near the head of the
island, a Union soldiers' cemetery where 310 graves are enclosed by a neat
fence.
On July 11, 1862, Congress passed the act authorizing the establishment of
the Arsenal and providing the first funds for beginning the necessary
buildings.
Major C. P. Kingsbury, a well known and competent officer of the Ordnance
Department, was assigned as' the first commandant and under his direction,
a year later, a store-house was erected at the lower or extreme western
end of the Arsenal, which, with its tower and clock, has since been a
landmark and an object of interest, not merely to the inhabitants of the
three cities, but also to all travelers on the main line of the Rock
Island road.
In 1865 General Thomas J. Rodman was assigned to the command, and followed
in 1871 by General D. W. Flagler, who remained commandant until 1886. To
these two officers is mainly due the general plan of the Arsenal as it
exists today, with nearly all its principal buildings; their conception of
the disposition and arrangement of the ten great shops, with the various
subsidiary buildings, was an immense advance over the stereo-typed plan of
all arsenal construction of pre-ceding years, and in subsequent
developments, in response to great demands upon the Arsenal's resources,
has proved most admirably adapted for the purpose for which designed.
These plans as first prepared by Rodman, developed by Flagler, and
followed with only slight modifications by their successors, have resulted
in the erection, principally .of Joliet stone, of a magnificent equipment
of shops, storehouses, barracks, quarters and numerous subsidiary
buildings.
The shops comprise ten stone buildings sixty feet wide, built around three
sides of a rectangular central court, with fronts two hundred and ten feet
and wings three hundred feet long; eight of the shops are of four stories,
the other two of only one, but providing in all over thirty acres of floor
space. Seven of these buildings are now occupied by machinery, the other
three by the raw material for manufacture and by finished stores. There
are also two large storehouses and numerous other small buildings for
boilers for the heating plant and for lumber, coal, oil, etc., for
officer's quarters, soldiers' barracks and for the many other necessities
of a large government manufacturing establishment.
One of these storehouses replaced an earlier structure destroyed by fire
with its contents was only completed in the spring of 1905. It is most
recently erected of all the main buildings of the Arsenal.
For many years the commandant's quarters and three others of stone have
provided accommodations for the' assistant officers, but within the last
few years two attractive buildings of more modern design, one frame and
the other of yellow brick, have been erected at the eastern end of Terrace
Road, forming a most attractive addition to the residential district of
the Arsenal, and during the present year, the old buildings, relics of the
Civil War, used for many years as a hospital and as stables, have been
replaced by attractive and convenient modern structures.
In May, 1886, Colonel T. G. Baylor, Ordnance Department, succeeded General
Flagler as commandant. He was followed three years later by Colonel J. M.
Whittemore and he, in 1892, by General A. R. Buffington, who continued in
command for five years. Under these officers the main buildings were
carried to completion, manufactures prosecuted at a moderate scale, and
under the latter, the present magnificent bridge from the Arsenal to
Davenport erected.
The island is connected with the three neighboring cities by bridges built
and owned by the Government and maintained and guarded by the Arsenal, and
by its own track with the railways that reach them. The bridge from the
Arsenal to the City of Davenport is the third bridge provided for railway
and subsequently for general traffic. Of the first nothing now remains but
a vine-covered stone pier about a quarter of a mile above the present
structure. It was the pioneer bridge across the Mississippi river from its
mouth to its source and was completed fifty-two years ago, being used by
the Rock Island railroad until October, 1872, when a bridge upon the
present location was finished. Twenty-four years later this latter bridge,
having proved insufficient for the traffic to which it was subjected, the
present magnificent structure was finished. Its total length is 1,550
feet, divided into five spans and one draw. It is double decked, with a
double railroad track above and double street car track and wagon bridge
be-low. The traffic across this bridge is now much greater than formerly
and is an indication of the growth of population in the cities of Rock
Island and Davenport, which it objects. Now it is at the rate of about
40,000 engines annually, over 80,000 passenger cars, and 340,000 freight
cars. In addition over 450,000 teams and nearly 1,000,000 pedestrians.
Only about 1,000 steamboats passed up and the same number down and the
traffic through the draw of barges and rafts has decreased year by year.
A trolley line also crosses the bridge and is traversed during the year by
over 100,000 street cars. A branch of this line was some years ago
extended from Fort Armstrong Avenue, crossing the western end of the
is-land, for about a mile up to the shops and extending beyond across the
branch of the river at the south of the island to the neigh-boring City of
Rock Island. It was built in response to petitions from Arsenal workmen
for their accommodation and under a special revocable license granted by
the Secretary of War for that purpose. It is not available for general
traffic from Davenport to Rock Island, nor from either city to the
Arsenal, being reserved solely for use of the employes.
In March, 1897, Captain Stanhope E. Blunt, Ordnance Department, was
appointed commandant and through successive pro-motions to Major,
Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel, the. latter grade being given-in June,
1906, has through more than ten years' continued in command.
Colonel Blunt's administration has been marked by great expansion in the
Arsenal's facilities for manufacturing war material; over $1,200,000 worth
of modern machinery being installed in the shops, and the power
transmission system changed from the antiquated wire rope transmission of
the water power to a modern hydro-electric plant of amply capacity for the
Arsenal's needs.
The island, containing nearly 1,000 acres, is irregular in shape, about
two and one-half miles long and three-fourths of a mile across at its
widest part.
The main channel of the Mississippi river passes between the island and
the Iowa shore, a much narrower branch separating it from the Illinois
bank. Across this smaller stream, a short distance above the shops, a
masonry dam has been constructed producing, in con-sequence of the reach
of rapids opposite and above the island, a water power of ample capacity;
having a head of from seven and one-half to eleven feet, according to the
stage of the river, and on the dam, operated by twenty turbines, have been
installed three alternating current generators of 1,650 kilowat total
capacity, with the accompanying exciters, switchboard, etc., required for
their operation.
The building housing this installation, with generators, shafting and all
other incidental machinery, has been completed, not only in a substantial
but in a highly ornamental manner, rendering the power house not only one
of the most interesting objects for visitors to the Arsenal, but also from
its appearance one of the most attractive.
At present nearly 3,000 horse-power is thus provided, which can be
increased, if it should ever prove necessary, by utilizing pen-stocks on
the dam now occupied, and installing the corresponding additional
electrical machinery.
None of the navy yards or other arsenals possess this combination of ample
water power and electrical transmission, and the development of the power
plant to its present really magnificent condition, permitting the greatest
economy, with also the greatest facility and convenience of operation, is
one of the principal distinguishing features of the Rock Island Arsenal.,
Several years ago Congress made a preliminary appropriation for the
necessary machinery for manufacture of small arms at the Arsenal,
following it at the next session with a sufficient sum to permit the
installation of a plant that should turn out about two hundred and fifty
finished rifles per day.
The complete establishment of the plant required a material increase in
the power provided and also its transmission to the new armory; it also
included the completion of three of the large shops, with elevators, a
steam heating plant, lavatory conveniences, work benches for employes,
rooms for fore-men and inspectors, and the introduction of the. many minor
but essential appliances requisite for economical and efficient operation,
including even tunnels connecting the basement floors of the different
shops, which afford passage for the heating pipes, fuel oil pipes,
electric power and lighting wires, and for small trolley cars for
transportation between buildings of the various components of of the
rifles in the different stages of their manufacture.
In this small-arms plant and in the shops of the southern row over 2,400
machines of a great variety are disposed, with the shafting for their
operation and the necessary benches, and the other numerous appliances
requisite for their occupancy by workmen. Operation of the shops upon the
scale now required for the manufacture of gun carriages, equipments, small
arms, etc., employs at present about 2,000 men, at a monthly charge for
wages of from $125,000 to $130,000. If compared with its operation ten
years ago it will be observed that four times as many men are now employed
as at the earlier date and that the monthly wages are about five times
greater. The annual tonnage of receipts and issues is also five times
greater than in 1897. The total expenditures at the Arsenal in the fiscal
year 1897 for all purposes amounted to $683,000; while for the last three
fiscal years it has averaged nearly $4,000,000 annually.
The Arsenal upon the scale now operated provides the soldiers' ordnance
equipment for an army of 60,000 men, and is besides constantly adding to
the reserve supply. By merely taking on additional employes it could,
without delay, increase its output to meet the demands of an army of half
a mil-lion men, and by adding additional machinery, for which necessary
space and power has been provided and its disposition arranged for, and
also the employes for its operation, this output could be still further
immensely increased.
Besides the saddle in all its parts, beginning with the lumber used in the
saddletree, the bridle, saddlebags, rifle scabbard, halter, horse-brush,
cartridge box, saber belt, and many other articles included under the
general designation of infantry, cavalry and horse equipment, are also
made. The haversack, canteen, cup, meat can, knife, fork and spoon, of
duck and other material, which constitute the soldiers' more personal
equipment, and of metal the bits, spurs, picket pin, etc., which he also
uses, are included in the manufactures.
Many sets of artillery harness are annually made and also the numerous
parts and general supplies pertaining thereto. Also pack outfits for
mountain artillery by means of which guns, their carriages and ammunition
are carried on mule back.
The Arsenal has recently completed some six-inch barbette carriages for
seacoast forts and for four years past has been regularly engaged in the
manufacture of a large number of the new three-inch field gun carriages,
model of 1902, with the accompanying limbers, caissons, battery wagons,
and their tools, implements, etc. This is of itself a most important work,
requiring the services of a number of the best mechanics, and would alone
be deemed elsewhere a sufficient task for many an establishment, though at
Rock Island it comprises, as stated only a. portion of the manufacturing
work.
In order that the field artillery carriages manufactured at the Arsenal
may be tested before issue to develop any unknown defects if they should
exist, all such material is . proof fired at grounds specially laid out
for that purpose at the upper or eastern end of the island. This included
. a large timber and sand butt into which the projectiles are shot. and,
which is of such dimensions that they cannot emerge therefrom. The many
additional instruments for determining the velocity of the projectile,
velocity of recoil of parts of the carriage, or pressure of the powder
charge in the bore, and other features necessary to give the constructing
officer of ordnance the information which he needs. in de-signing other
material, or in verifying the correctness of the design undergoing proof,
are also installed in special structures erected at the proving ground for
their reception. With these buildings is included an observation tower
permitting by its use a river range for firing up the river of
approximately 6,500 yards and enabling these carriages to be tested and
proof fired under an. elevation.
The Arsenal also makes the wooden targets of different designs and all the
paper targets, steel silhouette frames, and pasters used in target
practice, as well as the insignia indicating the soldiers' classification
in markmanship, and the various insignia on saddle cloths, rosettes on
bridles, and similar ornamental jewelers' work.
In its armory shops the daily output for several years past has been from
one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five finished magazine rifles per
day, an industry. in itself of greater magnitude than that of the army's
other small arm factory until within very recent years.
Besides its manufactures the Arsenal is also the distributing. point to
all parts in the middle west for the product of other arsenals and of the
private establishments from which the government purchases.
The total cost of the Arsenal from its establishment to July 1, 1907,
including the erection of the permanent buildings, the acquisition,
development and later improvement of the water power, the large bridge
across the Mississippi, and the smaller ones to the Illinois shore, and
the purchase and installation of the machinery in the shops, under the
different commandants is as follows:
Major C. P. Kingsbury, 1863-65, $231,384.-72; General T. J. Rodman,
1865-71, $2,302,-626.30; General D. W. Flagler, 1871-86, $4,982,481.45;
Colonel T. G. Baylor, 1886-89, $663,450.00; Colonel J. M. Whittemore,
1889-92, $377,318.48; General A. R. Buffington, 1892-97, $477,375.50;
Colonel S. E. Blunt, 1897-07, $2,051,198.88; total, $11,085,835.33.
The total disbursement for labor has been $17,213,056.90 since the
establishment of the Arsenal. to July 1, 1907.
During the first twenty-five years, or up to the conclusion of General
Flagler's administration, construction of buildings, bridges, roads, etc.,
and the earlier steps in development of water power formed the principal
work, the very limited amount of machinery which had been installed, being
operated to only a moderate extent and the disbursements, including wages,
being mainly in connection with building construction.
In the second period, continuing until about the time of the Spanish War,
construction except for the rebuilding of the bridge from the Arsenal to
Davenport, nearly ceased, while the manufacturing operations of the
Arsenal continued at a slightly increasing but still very moderate extent.
The third period embraces the great in-crease in amount and variety of
manufacture, including that of small arms, and accompanying expansion of
plant, with some incidental building operations, commencing in the latter
part of 1897, during the first year of the administration of Colonel
Blunt, slightly before the earlier days of the Spanish War, and continuing
to the present date.
Senator Allison, to whose faith and interest in the Arsenal must be
largely ascribed the generous appropriations granted during many years
past for its construction and development, is quoted as saying that "Rock
Island Arsenal, during the few months of the late Spanish War, more than
returned in advantage to the country the great cost of its construction;
and unquestionably in a war of any magnitude and duration this cost would
again be repaid many fold.
The Arsenal from March, 1897 to August, 1907, was commanded by Colonel
Stanhope E. Blunt, Ordnance Department. The other officers are now Majors
Babbitt, Thompson and Burr; Captains Gallup and Hillman and Contract
Surgeon Craig. The garrison is a detachment of one hundred soldiers of the
Ordnance Department,
Commencing in the spring of 1907, the superstructure of the old truss
bridge, over Sylvan Water, connecting the Island with the Illinois shore,
was removed, for the preparation of the new viaduct concrete bridge. The
old four stone piers, with two abutments, were used in the new
substructure, and owing to the girder style of construction of the new
bridge, four new concrete piers were built. The new viaduct bridge was
designed by Ralph Modjeski, the noted architectural engineer, and built
under the supervision of the war department; the contractors being Bayne
and Hewett of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Its construction represents an expenditure by the government of $125,000,
with $1600 additional, for widening the causeway, between the bridge and
Fort Armstrong Avenue, and bridge sidewalks. The Tri-City Railway Company,
assuming the cost of the brick cemented driveway, trolley poles, and new
tracks, amounting to $10,000; making a total cost of $136,600. The new
bridge was opened for street car and passenger traffic December 12, 1907;
opened for general traffic, December 18, 1907, and was accepted by the
government, January 16, 1908.
The width of the structure is twenty feet between curbs, with two
sidewalks, each six feet.
The incline approach from the City of Rock Island side consists of the
original stone wall one hundred and twenty-four feet long; the new
concrete wall, joining same, extending to railroad track abutment, is one
hundred and seventy .feet long. The bridge proper consists of eleven
spans, making a length of 801.1 feet, and total length with approach
approximately 1096 feet. The solidity of the entire structure is evident
in every detail.
The present commandant (1885) of the Island, is Colonel S. E. Hobbs.
Source: Historic Rock Island County, pub. Kramer & Company, Rock Island, Illinois, 1908