1862 Explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2024
- On the same day of the battle of Antietam, 78 residents of the Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania area, died in the worst civilian disaster of the U.S. Civil War- most of them women, some of them just children. But the disaster was nearly forgotten in the shadow of the battle, and the demands of war. The History Guy remembers the 1862 Explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #CivilWar
The way you honor the victims of forgotten history and shine a light on their lives is truly commendable. Thank you for your indomitable drive to share the Truth of the past to (hopefully) instill perspective on our future.
Lance's compassion towards all of our (almost) forgotten history is the reason his channel drew me in as a subscriber the first time i watched one of his videos.
OORAH! Well said.
I live in Pittsburgh and have driven by the site of the former Arsenal (now Arsenal Park) countless times, and had known simply “of” the explosion without ever having learned any of the details. Thank you HG for this in-depth and honorable lesson in history that deserves to be remembered.
Right on Paul. I was feeling the same way watching the video. I even paused the video with each set of victims names. As you perfectly stated, "Thank you HG for this in-depth and honorable lesson in history that deserves to be remembered." It's sad that, in my adult life as a little league coach, often at Arsenal Park, looking back on it now, some of the Lawrenceville kids I coached have last names that I saw on this list. I would guess there are some descendants among those children. It's a very tight knit neighborhood.
I’ve driven by there a number of times and been inside once during an “open streets” day. I never heard of this explosion until HG.
Would be interesting to metal detect there.
@@lemmdus2119 The area where the arsenal was is very large and has been built up and rebuilt up during the late 1800s early 1900s. And continuing till today, with an overpriced, yet architecturally HIDEOUS condo/retail development on Butler street recently foisted upon my vision. It's a good chunk of an entire urban neighborhood! Many buildings have come and gone just since 1900 (let alone 1862!) in this area. The best possible chances at finding ANYTHING from the 1860's, would perhaps be in Arsenal Park, of the field of Arsenal School.
@@revmo37 It's actually VERY likely that at least a few ARE decedents, as Pittsburgh families are known to "stay put" for generations. I have seen my great-great grandparents and great grandparents (on my mother's side) houses on property maps and other documents (in Millvale, Etna and Sharpsburg) going back to the 1880s. (two of the houses are still standing!) Even though I, myself may live Wayyyy over on the North Side, My sister lives in Sharpsburg, continuing a legacy going back 140 years! ,👍😊👍
As a Pittsburgh native, I remember coming across the 1928 memorial in a local cemetery and wondering how I'd never knew of it. Now I know why. Thank you. Thank you so much. I will continue to tell the story even more often now that I know even more context and details.
That is our mistake. Not challenging anything we are told. We just accept and share
Seeing your note confirms what I said in my post....Local education skipped this little part of our local history. Kind of sad, actually (not a comment on current education as I am a child of the 60's - 70's) There is so much that occurred in Western PA that we probably don't know.
@Jeff Mikula, are you still in Pittsburgh? Some use 'native' as born & raised but no longer in the area.
I'm about 90 minutes SW but attended school & lived there a few years.
I always had questions but didn't take time to research....like many of us daily life took over rather than seeking truth.
Our history hidden from us has been done before
Will be again, history is being destroyed as we speak
Won't type it all but Ecclesiastes simplified
".... what has been done will be again, that which has been is that which shall be ....
There is nothing new under the sun...
It fits into countless aspects of our lives...
it's basically good against evil...
I regret not asking questions all those years ago, talking to elderly to find their knowledge
(& just to spend time with those neglected by family :-(
Peace & Blessings to you & family 🕯️
@@budmatto9205
History has hidden more than this. There's much more we can find out, not just local HIDDEN history
Our public Rockefeller created public school system was created to hide America's history & worldwide.
It's been so whitewashed, changed & hidden.
So many ancient ruins found in America have been destroyed or their origin - LIES..
I appreciate this channel creator, his research has helped open the eyes of many to hidden & subverted history 👍
God bless 🕯️✨🕯️
@@jayizzett
Many people blame the "Boomer" generation. To be fair, they didn't have access to Internet, just radio & several mainstream media news channels...
There's a 70s song, a line goes something like
.....every generation 🎶
blames the one before
..🎶
I've said way to much in this comment section.
☺️too much espresso☕☕☕ or a subject that is interesting, informative & larger than the subject discussed..
God bless 🕯️✨🕯️
I appreciated that you listed the names of the victims of this terrible tragedy. Thank you for honoring their memory.
I paused each page and said each name aloud. Helps bring it home.
A poignant reminder of the inhumane cost of war both on and off the fields of battle. One of your best episodes.
Your kind rememberance of the children killed at the arms factory is touching. You have provided a clear background of the common use of young girls to load bullets with powder. Good story.
Thanks for this episode! I lost 2 relatives in the explosion, Mary and Agnes Davison. 18 and 16 years old. Davison street ends perpendicular to 40th street half way up the hill.
The Agnes M Davison mentioned @15:35?
I live on 42nd street. A block up from Davison. Prayers for your relatives Ted.
"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic." - J. Stalin.
A brutal observation but so true. We oft forget the individual tragedies in the statistics of a mass death.
There's a school on the site now. A few years ago it had to be closed for a couple of weeks because they discovered unexploded 160 year old shells while digging for new construction.
I went to school at Washington Poly Tech across the street from Arsenal and had never heard the story.
@@ralphgesler5110 you have to wonder how much teachers WANT to tell these kinds of stories, but are limited by class time and approved curricula. I had one terrible history teacher who actually hated kids, but there were many others who loved the subject.
Thank you once again for putting such a human face on history.
The sad irony of war is that the people that start wars and profit from the conflict are not the ones who suffer and perish. I had no idea that child labor was that extensive. I grieve over such suffering and tragedy.
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!❤️
Greed is hard to eradicate
I loved your final comment and muster roll of the lost. You always do a great job. God bless.
As a native of the Pittsburgh area, I truly appreciate this episode. Like many things, as time moves on, awareness fades or even disappears. I don't recall hearing of this when I was in school in the late 60's / early 70's even though it occurred only a few miles away. I know that there was a part of town named "Arsenal" but did not know why..... Now I do and I thank you for that....
Pass on is story to your neighbors.
We DID learn of this in school (early 1970's Swissvale, PA) I guess it depended on how interested the teachers were in local history.
What DO they teach in schools these days...?
@@spacewater7 not history nor science.
If the subject of history was delivered in such an engaging manner in schools, it would be everyone's favorite subject.
Possibly the repetition burns out the teachers
150 years later this beautiful man remebered the losses of this poor girls and boys that were victims of the savage times in witch they lived.
And me a total stranger almost 2 centuries later found out about them and remembered them
R.I.P. dear children
Interesting and thank you. It might interest you to know that there was a similar disaster in Jackson, Mississippi November 5th 1862 at the Confederate arsenal where around 40, mostly women and children were killed. They were buried in an unknown mass grave
There waa a major magazine explosion above Mobile a few weeks after the city surrendered. The explosion reached downtown seven miles away. Most of the casualties were african americans, from the Africatown area, used by general Canby's Union Army to stack torpedos and shells, as well as USCT guarding the facility. I don't recall how many died, civilian and military.
One of your best. The ending was beautifully written.
"The ending was beautifully written." And indeed, it was.
As THG said, this is something I had never heard about, as is the case with most people. It broke my heart to see how many families were devastated by their losses that day.
Nice of you to include their names so they can be remembered........
I never really thought of weapons factories employing kids during the civil war. It's like, child workers were a thing but the idea of kids making weapons felt distant until now.
Thanks for opening my brain
child labor in a war that ended Slavery... irony
Reminiscent of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. Well done though heartbreaking.
You sir are a master story teller. Your voice is like a fine tool that you use to change emotion for the listener to wrap them up in the story and humanity of the history.
I wish all history teachers could all tell a story like you. Thank you
I grew up in Pittsburgh and have never heard the story of the neighborhood. I even went to school at Washington PolyTech, which was directly across the street of Arsenal Middle school, which was the former Arsenal High School, which was this former site. We were always told about the namesake of our school, but little was ever mentioned about the rest of the community. So much forgotten history to be explored, and this is why I am a subscriber :)
We used to bus to Washington for shop classes from St. Paul's in Oakland in elementary school. Of course this was late 60's, early 70's
Went to Washington Polytech as well in the early 90's.
Edit-
They told us about the explosion & that Arsenal school had walls extremely thick because it was an originally an Arsenal.
What we found out from other people & ourselves lol...
Washington Polytech in the basement & believe it or not, behind the lockers on the bottom floor, has passage ways that led to tunnels that reportedly connected it all at one point.
They led to a secret passage that led to the river so if escape needed to happen you had a way to get to your boat & leave in a hurry.
Yes kids broke into these tunnels & went down in them on the bottom floor but didn't get very far because they were sort of caved in.
My locker was on the bottom floor. One day my friend goes "You won't believe this but the back of my locker came off & there's a cavern back there". Yep after woodshop class we looked & there was a damn cavern behind the missing wall of his locker.
So many kids went into those tunnels they had a taking to everybody about the danger & what those tunnels were so that nobody else would try going into them. My friends locker became so famous they permanently locked it & moved his locker lol.
Also you might be interested that Allegheny Cemetery has a grave named, & I'm not kidding, 'Grant's Tomb' & you can go to it this very day... It's NOT an actual grave. It's another escape route that reportedly led to the river. The locals of the time reportedly all knew if you had to flee Lawrenceville get to Grant's Tomb & follow the tunnels.
Now Grant's Tomb is bricked up & you can't enter BUT I've been in there before they did so & yes it was tunnels. Friend's of mine went way into them saying there's still items in there from that time period but that they're heavily flooded.
So as crazy as that all is off you didn't know any better you'd pass Grant's Tomb, see it bricked off & think it's some normal Tomb & never know that was a serious escape route.
Pass Washington Polytech & not know it connects underground to Arsenal & to the river.
God love you…. Thank you for keeping history alive….
Amen to that my friend.
The way you talk about the victims, like you knew each one, personally, is incredibly touching and much appreciated. It helps remind me that history is made up of real people, so thank you.
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!!❤️
Thank you for remembering the victims of a little known disaster. They did deserve to be remembered 😔
I learned about the dangers of black powder some 64 years ago. From then on, I always treated it with respect...
To respectfully publish, as you have, the names of those who perished in this disaster, truly keeps their memories alive. Well done again History Guy.
I can't say I ever recall hearing about this - such a tragedy truly does deserve to be remembered.
Incredibly nice touch adding the names of the dead. Thanks so much.
Civil War buff from Pittsburgh and never heard of this .
The wrap up section of History Guy videos are usually my favorite part. It is when the event is shown why it matters. This wrap up was so poignant, so well said, I was completely caught breathless. Thank you for a magnificent video.
Hello there 👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!❤️
Yet another event that I had never heard of. Excellent video THG and a shout out to Heidi for locating so many historical documents and old photographs.
No disrespect to Ms History Guy, but I generally collect the media. She is our social media guru.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Well, good on you then instead. But I am still going to give a shout out to your wife, to Carolyn, and to your son as well for all of their efforts that allow us to watch your wonderful videos.
@@stevedietrich8936 yeah I'm digging his son's added commentary on the podcast, it kind of gives you some insight into the home life of a total history nerd.
sad times. RIP to all the victims. History worth remembering.
I live in Central PA and never heard of it. Thank you! I need to find that memorial!
My ancestor, Mary Dripps lost her life there that fateful day. She was 14 years old. She was buried along with the other bodies that could not be identified (or more accurately, the pieces of bodies and clothing) in that hole, with the black stone etched with their names. My mothers family had a large Bible with her families history, and relevant dates marked inside. Mary Dripps’ father lost his life several weeks later in the war.
It’s unknown if he knew his daughter perished in the Arsenal explosion, but her mother, grief-stricken moved back in with her father at his Squirrel Hill farm (both towns are now neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, just a couple miles apart).
Thank you for creating this video record. You are right, so many people have forgotten this tragedy; sadly, even many Pittsburghers. Only very recently has interest in this story reemerged.
Rest In Peace little Mary, your family still remembers you.
She gave birth to your ancestor at 14? Prob not so she would not be a ancestor. realated but not directly
We will remember them, these events provide a grotesque juxtaposition for today's understanding of 'struggles and hardships'.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and drove by the Allegheny Arsenal many times for many years. I did not know the story until now. Thank you sir for keeping the names alive of those who perished in this tragedy. It is only by understanding what happened, and honoring those who sacrificed, that we can improve.
Throughout all of my schooling I had never once teared up from any of the history I had been taught. However The History Guy has made my eyes well up more than a few times.
Poignant and professional as always. Good stuff.
History Guy is a national treasure, and deserves to be viewed!!!🙏👍😷
You forgot polished
@@mauricedavis8261 One 10 minute "THG" episode has more ACTUAL HISTORY than 10 YEARS of The "History" channel. Thank G_d Cable TV is dying!
@@jamesslick4790 Sir, I totally agree with your assessment on THG!!!🙏👍📖😷
Wow! This one really set you back in your seat. How heartbreakingly sad...
Wow, I live about 15 minutes drive from Lawrenceville. I've never heard of this either. I scarcely have heard of the arsenal itself even.
Thanks for sharing this.
😎🇺🇸
Edit: Clearly losing a beloved family member, or close friend is so shocking and disturbing to most, that often the affected seek some form of retributive punishment or persecution of the nearest "responsible party" to the unfortunate event. And, most obviously if negligence is afoot that is appropriate and deserving.
Yet, sometimes things happen...horrible things, and there is at times no one at fault, no party to punish.
Because accidents happen, and sometimes the responsibility lies with the deceased.
RIP
This kind of history chokes you up.
Those poor kids were only trying to help their families through hard times. Help their families eat.
This was their reward.
Of all the History Guy episodes presented, this is, by far, the most meaningful and tender. I am grateful for the time and care that is given to those who deserve to be remembered.
What a terrible day in a terrible war. And, just like you said, I remember Antietam being lightly covered in a high School American history class, but of course, there was no mention of the tragedy at the Allegheny munitions factory. Thank you, THG, for the education and enlightenment, as always.
Sir, your closing comments says it all, bless you and all those lost souls on that horrible day!!!🙏😪
Excellent program. As a Pittsburgh Native I appreciate the remembrance of those local residents that died in 1862.
There are very few people who can tell a terrible story, in a way that makes you desire to stay, till it's end is told. Well done.
WOW WOW WOW!!! I was just looking for videos on this the other day! I live in the area, so it’s exciting to see this.
Another excellent piece of history recalled and presented. Thank you.
And Woo hoo. Closing in on 1,000,000 subscribers Lance! Congrats.
His channel is amazing! He should have been over a million a year ago!
Thank you History Guy for another video of history that deserves to be remembered.
You did an outstanding job reporting on such a tragic incident. It’s hard to think of children working in such a hazardous environment, and for such minimal pay. It really makes you appreciate what you have.
Child labor was rampart all over the world and still is too this day.😜😜😜
@@vernwallen4246 ok, your point in regards to my comment?
My favorite 15 minutes of the day. That is my “viewing day”, that is.🙂
All great stories involve explosions, and sometimes pirates. HG please do a presentation on the Halifax explosion during The Great War.
The Halifax Explosion is hardly forgotten.
I believe he did awhile back.
My bad, it was Simon Whistler. czcams.com/video/uavdFSr9oD0/video.html
@@kleinjahr Well, I suppose some of us in south USA may have been undereducated on history. I considered myself a fairly attentive student in high school and college history classes. Yet, this cataclysm was never mentioned. I only learned about it on a pleasure cruise along the east coast of Canada.
War is just as dangerous in the factory as it can be in the field. The Halifax Explosion, the port in CA loading Naval shells in WWII exploded. Not to mention those workers in the range of enemy bombs.
And, the enlisted men who participated in post-war nuclear trials and tests, many of whom were irradiated thru the carelessness and callousness of those giving the orders, and subsequently suffered from cancers and bone diseases. Less well known than the Agent Orange poisoning of Vietnam vets, but equally tragic and infuriating
@@MrTaxiRob Bari, Italy
then there's the Bari incident, which was a German bombing of liberty ships in port of Bari, Italy. The ships were full of chemical weapons that ended up killing and maiming many residents of the town.
@@lemmdus2119 yeah I googled it and corrected myself, but you're faster than me :)
@@lemmdus2119 have you ever read A Higher Form Of Killing? Great book on chemical warfare up until the early 80s when it was published.
What I like most about you retelling these sad tales is that you take the time to honor the dead. Many historians brush past that, so I'm thankful that you don't.
Thank you for these forgotten stories.
I too grew up in Pittsburgh. I know where Arsenal is, but until now I confess my ignorance of the history of it, and that time. Thanks for bringing this to our remembrance again.
RE Lee said "It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!❤️
He said that after Fredericksburg
Even Waltham and Elgin watch companies employed young children, but they were necessary for intricate watch assembly because they usually had good eye sight.
Kurt2922, perhaps even more horrible than children being blown up at the Arsenal, most of whom died quickly: the "Radium Girls" who were slowly poisoned while painting clocks, watches and military meters and guages with luminescent, radioactive paint. They died *slowly* as their facial bones, legs and limbs crumbled; and yet the factory owners and management largely escaped legal responsibility.
I ride my bicycle touring the C&O Canal which runs close to the battle grounds of Antietam. I always get this solemn feeling there, knowing that so many young people lost thier lives in one day! The History Guy brings home another event to be remembered, and I had no idea that such a horrific tradgedy took place. I got that same solemn feeling watching this video, knowing that these children died so violently just like the soldiers of the civil war. Thanks for such in depth historical videos!!
This video brought tears to my eyes. Your treatment of the story truly shows the horrors of that terrible conflict, and your compassion for the victims lost so long ago. Thank you and Bravo.
Antietam is a beautiful area. I live about 10-15min from there.
Thank you Lance, as always!
Pennsylvania history lives here, thank you HG Crew!!!🙏👍😷
Love this channel, keep 'em coming.
Another important part of history I'd never learned before. Thanks HG!❤
this is one of your best. many thanks for posting
The listing of names always puts a shiver down my spine and a tear in my eye. It's truly honorable the way you handle the remembrance.
Thank you for honoring those lost.
Another quality production thank you
I lived in the Pittsburgh area for almost 30 years and never heard of this.
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!❤️
Ive lived in Pgh for 50 years and never heard of it either! TY THG.
the History Guy should do an episode about the "Texas City Disaster" explosion. 581 people died in a massive ammonium nitrate blast.
If there was an award for excellence in presentation, writing and scholarship for internet video content, this would be the gold standard. Peace to these souls, and to their descendants alive today.
Thank you, THG. These remeberances are all wonderful and thoughtful and so well delivered.
Wow I had no idea. Thank you for bringing this to life! When we say those who gave their lives and service of the country these women and children Have to be included
Thank you for sharing this!
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!!❤️
This kind of video is why I have looked forward to your videos every since I saw the first one.
Sir, I hope you will pardon a correction. The figure of 22,717 is for *all* casualties at Antietam- killed/wounded/captured/missing. About 3700 were killed. I believe it is still the bloodiest day in American history.
I love the channel, keep up the good work!
I had read about this a long time ago and had forgotten. Thanks for helping me remember...
saddening but a very excellent episode Thank You
Thank you so much for this. I know their souls are grateful.
You did such a good job! Glad I found it.
What a moving discourse. Well read and written. Thank you
Thank you for this illumination of history. Please keep up the good work.
Touching and well done.
It is hard to believe and sad that I never heard of this story. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Thanks HG for another outstanding bit of unknown/forgotten history. War is always awful and the impacts go well beyond the battlefields. Very well said as always.
Thank you for that sensitive presentation if this topic. Good vid. Keep at it!
learned about this back in the 1990s and I'm thankful you are bringing it to so many people's attention .
Thank you, I did not know of this before your excellent video.
Thank you for the lesson.
Another amazing and informative video. Thanks for helping keep history alive. I feel like we need it now more than ever.
Always interesting history with excellent compelling presentation.
Beautifully done, IMO your best one yet, thank you.
Hello there 👋👋, how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day?GOD BLESS YOU!!❤️
Always a bright point in my week, your productions. I'd forgotten how much I like History until I ran into your channel during quarantine. Thanks for what you and the others at THG do! ❤
Its a really interesting chapter in our nations history.
HG did a great job of covering it here.
Incredible story. So sad. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank You for remembering their names ....
Wow.....your presentation was quite moving....thank you for telling me about this tragedy.
This channel is champion, keep up the outstanding work. I am sure you will not be forgotten. Love from across the pond.