Existing comment:
Operations:
In March 1802, one wing of the Virginia Manufactory of Arms began production. Most of the gunsmiths came from the northeast, and many of the tools were obtained in Birmingham, England. The design of the First Model musket was based on the US Armory Model 1795. The initial guns were completed in October 1802, and by year's end 336 muskets with bayonets had been made.
In 1803, the first full year of operation, 2,032 muskets were made. By the end of 1804, eighty-seven persons, skilled and unskilled, were employed. John Clarke, who had planned and built the Manufactory, was appointed superintendent. He described it in 1806 as "the best and most economical means of procuring arms." It produced "a quality greatly superior" to arms purchased elsewhere, with the advantage that the arms "are manufactured with uniformity in all their parts," yet at a lower cost per unit. Moreover, "the money paid for Arming our Militia is kept in circulation among our citizens, and tends to encourage their skills and industry." Clarke added that "an art is diffused not only advantageous to our youth, but important to the protection of our country's rights."
From 1802 to 1821, the Manufactory produced some 58,000 muskets, nearly 3,000 per year. Although muskets were the bulk of the output, the Manufactory also produced 18,000 other weapons. The Manufactory made cannon, too, but not in large quantity. The foundry and boring mill for large ordnance were completed in 1809 and active until 1813. In that period, 235 iron cannon were produced. |