ARSENAL EXPLOSION (1862)

Location: 40th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

On September 17, 1862, while the armies of the North and South wrestled to a bloody stalemate at Antietam in Maryland, a mighty explosion ripped through the Allegheny Arsenal in Lawrenceville killing 78 workers, mostly women and girls.

They were filling cartridges, shells and canister with powder. A teamster horse’s iron shoes probably ignited black powder not cleaned up due to the push for increased production. Workers had protested the lack of housecleaning and the new hard stone roadway to the facility.

In a tragic coincidence, the bloodiest day in U.S. military history was the same day as the worst Civil War civilian accident. The explosion was also the worst industrial accident inside Pittsburgh’s boundaries.

Arsenal Armory marker, 40th Street side of Arsenal Park, Lawrenceville

MAP OF FORTIFICATIONS 

The city’s pro-union sentiment, diverse industry, skilled crafts and strategic position on river and rail networks made Pittsburgh an important Union bastion. When Robert E. Lee launched the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania, he sent cavalry leader Jeb Stuart on a wide-ranging raid that spread terror across the state. Pittsburgh responded by organizing more than 10,000 workers to construct 37 fortifications ringing the city in June 1863. J&L ironworkers helped fortify the ridge above Southside. African-Americans formed labor brigades to dig trenches. When Lincoln was assassinated, the Pittsburgh Gazette editorialized:  “He is not a true man who does not vow that he will give himself no rest until Slavery and the spirit of Slavery are thoroughly rooted out of this land.”

Sketch of the defences of pittsburgh