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We went to Richmond for the same reason that other people climb mountains: because it was there. Or more precisely, on our route from New York, New Jersey, and Washington, DC to the south: the Carolinas and Florida. As we suppose of the chicken who crossed the road, we are glad that we did because Richmond has a rich history, always a plus for us, and we were glad to take a few days to increase our understanding of it. Richmond, State Capital Virginia State Capitol Building Twice Richmond has been selected as a capital and twice it was because of location. The first time was as Virginia's capital in 1780 because it was on the farthest point inland on the biggest navigable river in Virginia, the James. The photos here are of the Capitol building, designed by Thomas Jefferson, completed in 1788 and extended in 1906, and of statues that adorn the gardens that surround the Capitol. Major statue on grounds of Virginia Capitol Detail of statue on grounds of Viriginia Capitol Richmond, Capital of the Confederacy - Jefferson Davis Home Jefferson Davis House Richmond's second time as capital was as the capital of the Confederate States of America (often shortened to "the Confederacy" and known familiarly as "Old Dixie"). Richmond was chosen because unlike its predecessor, Jacksonville Alabama, it was close to that other capital, the one on the Potomac. Its position as capital of Virginia has endured of course while that as capital of the Confederacy collapsed with the defeat of the breakaway slave s$tates. The photos here are of the house in Richmond where Jefferson Davis, the President of the CSA, lived with his family. Jefferson Davis House Jefferson Davis House Richmond, Industrial Center - the James River Canal James Canal Richmond has always been an industrial center because of its position on the James River. The construction of the James River Canal allowed vessels to bypass the falls at Richmond which themselves became a source of electrical power, another impetus to industrialization. The photos here show some remnants of the canal works that are displayed near the canal, now a pleasant city park; factory buildings bordering the canal, and yours truly with the James River itself in the background. James Canal James Canal Richmond is becoming a third capital, a regional one. Its heavy industry has all but disappeared, but is now being replaced with high tech companies that appreciate the quality of life here and its affordability. Richmond easily grows on you. It is big enough to have everything you need and small enough for you to find it. The climate is pleasant most of the year with fairly mild winters but hot, humid summers. As you can see, Gerry was in shirt sleeves in early March. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson: famous citizen of Richmond Bo Jangles, jazz musician Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1878 and died in Harlem in 1949, Bojangles Robinson worked as a child in Vaudeville but as an adult migrated to nightclub performances and then movies for largely white audiences where he showed off his tap-dancing skills including step innovations like his famous "stair-dance". He is also credited with creating the term "copasetic", to mean AOK. National Historical Park: Tredegar Iron Works. Tredegar Iron Works While in Richmond, we spent a very interesting morning at the National Park's Tredegar Iron Works, on the banks of the James River. Once the Confederacy's main supplier of canon, the former rolling mill survived the collapse of the secessionist forces and the ensuing burning of Richmond to contribute mightily to the South's reconstruction efforts. But it couldn't survive the transition from iron to steel production in the late 19th century as a national enterprise, becoming a small local operation instead. The buildings were severely damaged by fire in the 1950's before being acquired by the National Park Service and converted to their present function as a historical park. These photos show the exterior of the old factory buildings, a surviving piece of machinery, and a National Park ranger explaining how Civil-War era canonballs and powder were configured for loading into the cannon. This was only a small part of a much longer demonstration of the work of a cannon crew in battle, that we very much enjoyed. Tredegar Iron Works Tredegar Iron Works

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Updated August 9, 2003

Tredegar Iron Works
http://www.nps.gov/rich/spr00p6.html

Tredegar Iron Works: An Introduction
By Janet Schwartzberg One of the most formidable problems the Confederate States of America grappled with during the Civil War was the acquisition of artillery. Throughout the conflict, the Confederate government filled its need by purchasing European cannon, capturing Union pieces, and increasing domestic production. This last source proved to be the most reliable, eventually supplying Confederate armies with more than 2,200 cannon. Of this total, the Tredegar Iron Works forged nearly 50%.

A private firm, Tredegar was the South's largest major antebellum rolling mill capable of producing cannon and railroad rails. Since 1843 its proprietor had been Joseph Reid Anderson, a West Point graduate and ardent secessionist. Under Anderson, Tredegar's foundries and machine shops developed into a first-class operation, fabricating cannon and gun carriages for the U.S. Government.

With Virginia's secession and the advent of war Tredegar, employing 900 workers, was flooded with state and private contracts. The iron works concentrated initially on casting heavy-caliber seacoast and siege guns. It also rifled and rebored scores of antiquated field cannon from the Virginia State Armory, pieces that served Confederate forces in Virginia while new cannon were being made. Pig-iron supplies, however, diminished rapidly, and soon were completely exhausted. For nearly a month late in the summer of 1861, Tredegar Iron Works produced not a single cannon.

 
By 1863, Tredegar had expanded its work force to 2,500. The works also operated shoemaking shops, a firebrick factory, a sawmill, a tannery, and nine canal boats. Anderson even dispatched agents into other states to purchase livestock, which he ordered slaughtered and sold to employees at cost to help relieve the problems they faced with food shortages.
But the scarcity of skilled mechanics and raw materials plagued the foundry's operations throughout the war. In November 1863, the Ducktown copper mines outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, the source of 90% of the Confederacy's copper, was captured by the Federals. This brought the production of the bronze light 12-pound Napoleon to a halt. The foundrymen, however, had developed an iron Napoleon that partially filled the need.

The shortage of skilled labor increasingly affected the production of cannon due to the lack of Tredegar mechanics who were organized into a defense battalion which late in the war was often called upon to serve in Richmond's defenses.

By 1865, a shortage of iron had affected both the quantity and quality of Tredegar ordnance. Production at the gun mill came to a complete halt by March 1865. Richmond was evacuated the next month. A battalion of 350 Tredegar workers successfully repulsed fire and mobs during the Confederate evacuation of Richmond, sparing the Tredegar Iron Works for a major role in post-war Southern reconstruction. The United States Army occupied Tredegar for about four months following the war and considered possible government use of the works. Anderson and his partners were able to secure Presidential pardons and quickly reopened the Iron Works with the aid of Richmond industrialists.

In 1867, Anderson and his partners reorganized the firm into a new operation, the Tredegar Company, which saw six years of expansion and prosperity. New department were established and technological improvements included the upgrading of rail rolling facilities and introducing new chair mills, spike machines, and, after 1870, horseshoe machines.

Tredegar faced a depression in 1873 from which it never fully recovered. Iron gave way to steel in the 1870's and 1880's. Tredegar Company, hampered with a large debt, lacked the capital to make the transition. Richmond eventually had to give up its position as the industrial capital of the South to ever-growing Birmingham, Alabama.

Before Joseph Reid Anderson died in 1892, he had built the Tredegar Iron Works into a profitable, primarily local, operation. Unfortunately, a fire in 1952 gutted the old plant, leaving behind only a few buildings as a testimony to the industrial economy of the South that once thrived on a few acres of land in the capital of the Confederacy.

Bibliography:

Daniel, Larry J. and Gunter, Riley W. Confederate Cannon Foundries. Pioneer Press: Union City, TN, 1977.

Dew, Charles B. Ironmaker to the Confederacy: Joseph Reid Anderson and the Tredegar Iron Works. Library of Virginia: Richmond, VA, 1999.

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