CIVIL WAR, UNION, POMMEL SHIELD, SADDLE TAG, ALLEGHENY ARSENAL, DATED 1861

Displays some oxidation due to age and use.

Also known as pommel shield, from the M1859 and M1864 models of the McClellan Saddle. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as saddle shields. Allegheny Arsenal, established in 1814 manufactured not only shields, but cartridges, and employed over 1100 workers. In Sept., 1862, the arsenal exploded. 78 people, mostly young women, were killed with 54 bodies unidentifiable. They were buried in a mass grave in Allegheny Cemetery. It is believed a metal shoe of a horse struck a spark which touched off loose powder in the roadway near the lab, which in turn traveled up to the porch and set off several barrels of gunpowder. On the same day, the battle of Antietem commenced, overshadowing the tragedy. A new lab was built the following year and after the war, continued in business as a storage facility for the Quartermaster Corps. Today, the site of the explosion is a ballfield.