The products of the Macon Armory were varied. Initially, the armory's objective was to fashion gun stocks for the Richmond Armory. The Macon Armory did fabricate approximately 1000 - 1500 gun stocks each month for the Richmond Armory from November 1862 to July 1864. These gun stocks went on to become part of the greater than 30,000 longarms manufactured at the Richmond Armory.
The C.S. Armory at Macon was created to be permanent national armory for the manufacture of longarms. It was to be the Confederate States' equivalent to the Springfield Armory. The plans called for a factory capable of producing 75,000 stand of Enfield-pattern rifles. An example of a generic Enfiled is illustrated below.
The armory also purchased the revolver manufacturing works of Spiller & Burr of Atlanta. Beginning in March 1864, the Macon Armory began manufacturing Spiller & Burr pattern revolvers. Operations were curtailed after late July 1864 secondary to General Sherman's movements to the north around Atlanta. But before operations totally ceased on April 20, 1865 the armory manufactured 677 revolvers of this pattern. Pictured here are a few fine examples of Spiller & Burr pattern revolvers. For more information and illustrated examples, see the Spiller & Burr Home Page.
Courtesy of North Carolina Department of History.
© 1998 Matthew W. Norman. All rights reserved.
