Confederate States armory: Confederate lifeline

              CONFEDERATE STATES ARMORY
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Determined Production
C O N F E D E R A T E L I F E L I N E
In April 1861, Louis Froelich, a
Bavarian immigrant, began manu-facturing
uniform buttons in Wilm-ington
for North Carolina soldiers.
With Hungarian partner Col. Bela
Estván, Froelich operated his first
arms factory for the Confederacy
from November 1861 until March
1862, when the partnership was
dissolved. Froelich continued alone
until yellow fever closed the armory
in September, when he bought 2.5
acres here from Alsa Southerland.
Although he reopened the Wilming-ton
facility in November, a fire
closed it for good the next month.
In March 1863, Froelich moved here,
and he opened the Kenansville
armory by May. On July 4, however,
Lt. Col. George W. Lewis’ 3rd New
York Cavalry burned it down while
raiding Confederate lines of com-munication.
Froelich rebuilt it and
continued to produce military
equipment, forming a partnership
with Jacob H.N. Cornehlson in
January 1864. The armory is last
known to have operated that June.
After the war, Froelich turned to
agriculture, selling scuppernong
wine and other farm products.
He later moved to Halifax County,
where he died in 1873.
Kenansville’s Cowan Museum
displays an iron metalworking
block once used at the armory. The
Kenansville Sword, identified by
the letters CSA in the handguard,
is the best known of the Froelich
swords and the only one clearly
identifiable as having been produced
by him. The few that survive are in
museums and private collections.
Liberty Hall Plantation in Kenans-ville
displays a Froelich sword once
owned by Col. Thomas Kenan.
Liberty Hall, the Kenan family home, was built
in the first half of the 1800s. It has been fully
restored to reflect the lifestyle of the mid-19th
century. You can tour the main house, ten out-buildings,
and the gardens.
Admission fee. Hours: Tues.-Sat., 10-4; Sun., 2-4.
(Closed Mon., Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and
New Year’s Day.)
Confederate staff and field officer’s sword and scabbard manufactured by Froelich and Company, Confederate
States Armory, Kenansville, North Carolina – Courtesy Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.
Confederate States Armory sword guard cast in let-ters
CSA, Confederate States Armory, Kenansville,
North Carolina – Courtesy Liberty Hall, Kenansville, N.C.
CONFEDERATE STATES ARMORY PRODUCTION
Wilmington and Kenansville, N.C.
April 1861–March 1864
Surgical Instruments 18 sets
Buttons (sunburst & state seal) 800 gross (12 dozen)
Lance Spears 3,700
Saber Bayonets 6,500
Cavalry Sabers 11,700
Officers’ Sabers 2,700
Naval Cutlasses 600
Artillery Cutlasses 800
Infantry Accouterments 1,700 sets
Saber Belts 300
Knapsacks 300
CONFEDERATE STATES ARMORY
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Cutting the Supply Line
C O N F E D E R A T E L I F E L I N E
Throughout the Civil War, North Carolina furnished much of the material
that the Confederate armies needed to sustain field operations. Here in
Kenansville, the Confederate States Armory produced military supplies
ranging from swords to knapsacks. Blockade runners smuggled contraband
goods that were then funneled to Virginia (heart of the war’s Eastern The-atre)
via the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and the Petersburg Rail-road.
Disrupting the rail line became a major Union objective.
On July 4, 1863, U.S. cavalry struck the Confederate States Armory
here. Lt. Col. George W. Lewis, leading 640 men of the 3rd New York Caval-ry
to destroy Wilmington and Weldon Railroad track, sent a battalion to
The blockade runner Robert E. Lee, photographed about 1864, penetrated the coastal blockade more than 20 times
before being captured trying to reach Wilmington, N.C., in Nov. 1863. Converted to USS Fort Donelson, it joined
the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and helped capture Fort Fisher. – Library of Congress
Kenansville under Maj. Ferris Jacobs, Jr. According to Lewis’ after-action
report, Jacobs arrived here after dark, “surprised and completely dispersed a
company of cavalry, commanded by Captain [William K.] Lane [Co. F, 7th N.C.
Cavalry], taking all their transportation, nearly all their horses and equip-ments
and arms, and 4 or 5 prisoners.” Lewis and the rest of the regiment
then joined Jacobs, and together they burned the armory, “with a large quan-tity
of sabers, saber bayonets, knives, … boiler, all the tools, saddles, and
all the stock.” The New Yorkers bivouacked here, then continued their raid
the next day. Despite the destruction, owner Louis Froelich, “sword maker
for the Confederacy,” rebuilt the armory and soon was back in operation.
North Carolina supplied much of the clothing, shoes,
hats, and blankets used by Confederate soldiers such as
these captured at Gettysburg, Pa. – Library of Congress
“An armory was destroyed which
contained some 2,500 sabers
and large quantities of saber
bayonets, bowie knives, and
other small-arms, a steam-engine
and implements for man-ufacturing
arms. A store-house
… a manufactory of knapsacks,
and some commissary store-houses
were burned.” –
Gen. John G. Foster, July 7, 1863