Rock Island Arsenal
Arsenal, Rock Island, Illinois.
- Side
- Union
- Kind
- Arsenal
- Where
- Rock Island, Illinois
- Years
- 1862-1865
- Today
- Industry today
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL
Established by Congress in 1862 on the Mississippi River island that had been Fort Armstrong. During the war the island held the Rock Island prison barracks, which opened in December 1863 and held more than 12,400 Confederate prisoners before closing in July 1865.
Then
Congress established Rock Island Arsenal in 1862 on the Mississippi River island that had been Fort Armstrong, with Major Charles P. Kingsbury as its first commander. Its foundry and armory came in the 1880s. During the war the island held the Rock Island prison barracks.
The prison camp opened in December 1863 with 468 Confederates captured at Chattanooga and held more than 12,400 prisoners before it closed in July 1865. 1,964 Confederate prisoners and 125 Union guards are buried in the adjacent cemetery.
Now
Industry today
The largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States and the only active Army foundry, a National Historic Landmark since 1988. The Rock Island Arsenal Museum interprets the prison camp.
The nearest railroad in service today is a line owned by a smaller railroad, about 0.7 miles away.