The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres, located on Arsenal Island,
originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of
Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of
Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in
1816, with the building of Fort Armstrong. It is now the largest
government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States. It has
manufactured military equipment and ordnance since the 1880s. In 1919–20 one
hundred of the Anglo-American or Liberty Mark VIII tanks were manufactured,
although too late for World War I. It is designated as a National Historic
Landmark. Established as both an arsenal and a
center for the manufacture of leather accoutrements and field gear, today it
provides manufacturing, logistics, and base support services for the Armed
Forces. The Arsenal is the only active U.S. Army foundry, and manufactures
ordnance and equipment, including artillery, gun mounts, recoil
mechanisms, small arms, aircraft weapons sub-systems, grenade launchers, weapons
simulators, and a host of associated components. Some of the Arsenal's most
successful products include the M198 and M119 towed howitzers, and the M1A1 gun
mount. About 250 military personnel and 6,000 civilians work there. The 2000
census population was 145. History
The island facilities were converted and built in 1863; they were not yet
completed in December of that year, when the first Confederate prisoners were
incarcerated. The construction was makeshift. The first prisoners were 468
Confederates captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee. That month more
than 5,000 total would swell the population of Rock Island Prison. A
total of 41 Confederate prisoners successfully escaped during the prison’s
operation, and many more would try but fail.
A total of 1,964 Confederate prisoners and 125 Union guards are buried in the
adjacent military cemetery, including 49 members of the 108th Regiment of United
States Colored Troops, who served as guards. Most died from disease or
exposure, as sanitation was primitive as in all army encampments. The prison camp
operated from December 1863 until July 1865, when the last prisoners were
freed. After the war, the prison facility was completely destroyed.
During its two years in operation, the prison camp housed a total of more than
12,400 Confederates. Other historical sites in the area
include the Confederate Cemetery, the Rock Island National Cemetery,
19th-century stone workshops, officers' quarters along the river, Col.
Davenport's House, and the site of the first bridge built across the
Mississippi. Following the war, the federal government retained ownership of
Arsenal Island and developed it for use as an arsenal and ordinance
manufacturing center, which led to its being renamed.
Rock Island Arsenal Museum The Rock Island Arsenal Museum was
established on July 4, 1905. It is the second-oldest US Army Museum in the US
after the West Point Museum. The museum has been closed twice, during World War
I and World War II, to provide more space for manufacturing facilities.
Exhibits interpret the history of Rock Island Arsenal and the Union prison camp
during the American Civil War, and the site's role as a military industrial
facility. The museum contains the second-largest collection of small arms
weapons in the U.S. Army, and an outdoor vehicle display.
Indoor exhibits include: Outdoor exhibits include:
Literary references In Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with
the Wind, Confederate officer Ashley Wilkes was imprisoned on Arsenal Island
during the Civil War. In the zombie novel World War Z by Max
Brooks, all of the continental United States east of the Rocky Mountains is
overrun by zombies. Rock Island is noted as one of the isolated zones east of the
Rocky Line that was still manned and defended, as a vital munitions
manufacturing center. See also
List of Civil War POW Prisons and Camps American Civil War
Prisoner-of-war camp Notes
^ Staff. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic
Places. National Park Service. ^ "Rock Island Arsenal". National
Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved
2007-10-13. ^ "Rock Island Arsenal".
GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
^ "Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center - Rock Island Arsenal". U.S.
Army. Retrieved 2009-09-25. ^ a b Chestnut, Mary. A Diary from
Dixie. Gramercy Books, New York. ISBN 0-517-18266-1.
^ a b Speer, Lonnie R.. Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War.
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, c1997. ISBN 0-8032-9342-9.
External links Historic American Engineering Record No.
IL-20, "Rock Island Arsenal" Official website
The Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing & Arsenal at
GlobalSecurity.org Technology Center The Rock Island Arsenal profile at
globalsecurity.org Rock Island Arsenal Museum
Rock Island Civil War prison Rock Island National Cemetery, Arsenal,
and Confederate POW Camp Rock Island Memorial POW Camp #2229
Rock Island Arsenal Wikimapia