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Page 9 text:
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-Ji s i n — f m I HE basic document for the establishment of an arsenal in Augusta is a letter, dated March 9, 1793, filed in the archives of the State of Georgia, from President George Washington ' s Secretary of War, in which it was directed that an arsenal be established with a stand of two thousand arms for protection against the Indians. A log fort had been built in 1735, immediately after a handful of people had pulled their pirogues up the slick sides of the blue Savannah River at the present site of St. Paul ' s Episcopal Church. The first fortification had been called Fort Augusta. However, after several battles during the Revolu- tionary War, the old fort was destroyed. When, after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the United States of America began to feel the growing pains of a free and independent country, it beca me necessary to construct permanent fortifications, Augusta Arsenal was one of the first to be built. As the city was growing so rapidly, it was consid- ered desirable to move the guns and other equipment for protection to a site several miles northwest of the old fort (but still on the Savannah River), the location selected being the place where the Sibley Mills now stand. The property there was approximately 48- 14 16 acres. The new site was given the name Augusta Arsenal and by 1819 many buildings had been erected, at a cost of $163,905.45, and a detachment of thirty en- listed men, two lieutenants and a surgeon, all under the command of Captain Matthew M. Payne, Corps of Artillery, were assigned to duty there. The next year an epidemic of swamp, or yellow fever wiped out the entire garrison. Twenty-three of the enlisted men, one lieutenant and the surgeon were buried in the Arsenal enclosure. The other lieu- tenant and the remaining seven enlisted men were moved to a camp near Miliedge Spring and died there. Captain Payne alone survived. He was visiting the Walkers at their summer place called Bellevue. tV»-
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Page 10 text:
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,„„„, „.,,,,J till • I ' • ' • ' •• ' II • ' ' » ' J J r ' HEADQUARTERS y . . ' , y z-vyc-xx ;- 7V y. - ' ' -r y. ■ Xx - - x-yVTv T % dated HE death of the garrison resulted in the mov- ing and rebuilding of the arsenal buildings on the present site of Augusta College. The 70-acre tract was bought by Act of Congress, May 26, 1826, from Freeman Walker. The land was part of the Bellevue tract in the village of Summerville. One acre was excluded as a grave- yard for the Walker family. The G overnment paid $6,000.00 and received a deed dated November 9, 1826. There were two houses on the land, one called Bellevue (which is still standing), and the other build- ing was marked on a plat as Mrs. Walker ' s house, but no reference as to which Mrs. Walker. After the purchase of the Walker site, some of the arsenal buildings were moved from the Savannah River place, and other new buildings were con- structed. Initially the buildings moved and rebuilt, as well as some new additions, were: Headquarters (now the Administration building), two magnificent sets of officer ' s quarters, a barracks building, and a con- necting thick brick loopholed wall. The loopholes were to be used in the event of attack by invaders. There was an arched sally port under the middle of the Headquarters buildi.ig,- heavy wooden gates per- mitted access to the enclosure within the brick wall, and a wooden picket fence was set all around the place as a boundary. Water was supplied from a deep well. Years later a wooden-pipe line for sewer and water was laid and connected to Augusta ' s sys- tem. When the old wooden pipes were dug up to make way for the modern supply lines, workmen found unidentified human bones. The bones were buried in the military cemetery and marked Un- known. During the first several decades of the Nineteenth century, soldiers from the arsenal, with members of the Richmond Blues, a local home guard, fought against the enemy in the Seminole and Creek Indian wars to the south. In addition to training fighting men, the arsenal stored, repaired and cleaned guns and issued supplies to troops, including Charleston Depot, Mount Vernon and Apalachicola arsenals, Gary ' s Ferry Depot, and the Ordnance at Tampa Bay.
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