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Major General Thomas C. Hindman , sent to command the district of Arkansas in May , 1862 , found the state nearly destitute of military material . Hindman established another armory at Arkadelphia , and revived the Little Rock Arsenal as a collection point and depot for armaments and ammunition manufacture for small arms . Hindman recorded :
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" Machinery was made for manufacturing percussion caps and small arms , and both were turned out in small quantity , but of excellent quality . Lead mines were opened and worked , and a chemical laboratory was established and successfully operated in aid of the Ordnance Department and in the manufacture of calomel , castor oil , spirits of nitre , the various tinctures of iron , and other valuable medicines . Most of these works were located at or near Arkadelphia on the Ouachita River , 75 miles south fro |
m Little Rock . The tools , machinery , and the material were gathered piecemeal or else made by hand labor . Nothing of this sort had been before attempted on Government account in Arkansas to my knowledge , except for the manufacture of small arms , the machinery for which was taken away by General Van Dorn and there was neither capital nor sufficient enterprise among the citizens to engage in such undertakings � A further supply , along with lead and caps , was procured from the citizens of Little Rock a |
nd vicinity by donation , purchases , and impressments .
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This ammunition , and that which I brought with me , was rapidly prepared for use at the Laboratory established at the Little Rock Arsenal for that purpose . As illustrating as the pitiful scarcity of material in the country , the fact may be stated that it was found necessary to use public documents of the State Library for cartridge paper . Gunsmiths were employed or conscripted , tools purchased or impressed , and the repair of the damaged guns I brought with me and about an equal number found at Little |
Rock commenced at once . But , after inspecting the work and observing the spirit of the men I decided that a garrison 500 strong could hold out against Fitch and that I would lead the remainder - about 1500 - to Gen 'l Rust as soon as shotguns and rifles could be obtained from Little Rock instead of pikes and lances , with which most of them were armed . Two days elapsed before the change could be effected . "
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The Confederate ordnance establishment at Little Rock was reactivated in August , 1862 . Looking around for a suitable person to head this activity , General Hindman turned to the Confederate Navy and borrowed Lieutenant John W. Dunnington . Lt. Dunnington was the commander of the gunboat C.S.S. Ponchartrain , which had been brought to Little Rock in hopes of converting it to an ironclad . Dunnington was selected to head the ordnance works at Little Rock , and although he continued to draw his pay from the |
Confederate Navy Department , he was placed in charge of all Confederate ordnance activities ( which included artillery functions ) there with the rank of lieutenant colonel .
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Lt. Col. Dunnington 's " Returns for the month of August , 1862 , at Little Rock Arsenal , C.S.A. , " are found in Vol . 149 , Chapter IV of the " Captured Rebel Ordnance Records , " and are most enlightening as to the scope of Confederate ordnance activities at Little Rock during this crucial time . According to Dunnington , " When I assumed command at this Post , all material had been removed to Arkadelphia . There were no persons employed . No shops were open for repair of arms or for fabricating ammuni |
tion . Material , tools , etc . , had to be procured as well as the employment of laborers . Work commenced the last part of the month . "
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The military force at Little Rock under Dunnington 's command consisted of four officers : himself , Major John B. Lockman , Captain C.C. Green , and 2nd Lt. W.W. Murphy . In addition to these , he had 20 enlisted men and a civilian force composed of a foreman , 2 clerks , 3 gunsmiths for repairing small arms , a laboratorian , 26 laborers in the ammunition laboratory , and a carpenter for making packing boxes .
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During the month of August , 1862 , the following work was performed : " Fabricated : one pair of musket bullet moulds ; 10 @,@ 000 buck & ball shot cartridges ; repaired : 750 muskets , shotguns , and rifles ; received and repaired : ordnance stores and ordnances ; performed : guard , office , and police duties ; inspected : Posts at Camden and Arkadelphia . "
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Lt. Col. Dunnington continued to build up his works at Little Rock until November 1862 , when Captain Sanford C. Faulkner ( composer of The Arkansas Traveler ) was placed in charge of the Arsenal . Dunnington presumably returned to his naval duties and the Ponchartrain .
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A " Summary of the Work Done for November , 1862 , Little Rock Arsenal " shows : Fabrication :
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75 @,@ 000 buck & ball cartridges - percussion
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14 @,@ 000 buck & ball cartridges - flint
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275 paper fuzes
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117 rounds , 6 @-@ pounder canister shot
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130 rounds , 6 @-@ pounder ball shot
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96 ammunition packing boxes
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Repaired :
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2 @,@ 236 shotguns and rifles ( repaired mostly for troops in service )
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23 pistols ( repaired mostly for troops in service )
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Received & Issued :
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752 packages of ordnance and ordnance stores received and mostly issued to troops in service .
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Repaired and painted :
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4 gun carriages
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Performed :
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Guard , office , and police duties .
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Perhaps the most illuminating points of the above " Summary of Work " and those for following months are that the standard ammunition made was . " buck & ball " , indicating that the .69 caliber smoothbores and shotguns remained the predominant caliber weapon in use , and of this , nearly one sixth or more of all small arms ammunition was still for flintlock weapons , indicating that no less than a sixth of the Confederate troops in this vicinity were still armed with obsolete flintlock weapons .
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The " Summaries of Work done at Little Rock Arsenal , C.S.A. " continue at about the same pace and scale from August 1862 until August 1863 . Appended to the " Summary " for August , 1863 is the ominous notation , " During the last week in the month , nearly all stores at the Arsenal have been packed and sent to Arkadelphia , in obedience to orders from Chief of Ordnance , District of Arkansas . " This then marks the beginning of the evacuation of ordnance activities from Little Rock , with the city being |
surrendered to the advancing Federal troops of Frederick Steele 's Arkansas Expedition on September 11 , 1863 .
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In 1864 , after Little Rock fell to the Union Army and the arsenal had been recaptured , General Fredrick Steele marched 8 @,@ 500 troops from the arsenal beginning the Camden Expedition .
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The arsenal was briefly seized once more by Joseph Brooks loyalists during the Brooks @-@ Baxter War of 1874 .
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= = Decommissioning = =
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In 1873 , the building was renamed Little Rock Barracks and used as a barracks for married officers and their families . The building was drastically altered the inside and outside . Prior to renovation , a rear basement door provided the only entrance to the building , while the tower served as a hoist to move munitions between floors . By 1868 , front and rear porches had been added to the building , as well as interior walls and stairs , some of which remain today , including the central staircase . In |
1880 , Douglas MacArthur was born on the northwest upper floor of this building while his father , Captain Arthur MacArthur , was stationed there .
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In the 1880s , the federal government began closing many small arsenals around the country in favor of smaller ones built near railroads for quick deployment . The arsenal commander received word from Washington that the Little Rock site must be abandoned " not later than October 1 , 1890 . " On April 12 , 1893 the tower building and the surrounding buildings were traded to the city of Little Rock for 1 @,@ 000 acres ( 4 km ² ) in North Little Rock under the condition that the building and land be " foreve |
r exclusively devoted to the uses and purposes of a public park " for 1 @,@ 000 acres ( 4 km ² ) in Big Rock Mountain on the north side of the Arkansas River , present day North Little Rock . That site later became Fort Logan H. Roots . All of the original buildings surrounding the Tower Building were demolished .
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= = Æsthetic Club = =
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In 1894 the Little Rock Æsthetic Club , one of the oldest women 's societies west of the Mississippi River , moved into the Tower Building . This was prompted due to increased membership and a need for larger , more permanent quarters . The previous year , club members working with women 's organizations throughout the state , raised money to furnish the Arkansas Building of the Columbian Exposition at The Chicago World 's Fair . At the fair 's conclusion , artifacts from the exhibit were displayed in the |
Tower Building , with the Æsthetic Club invited to meet in the " Columbian Room . "
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Except for Æsthetic Club meetings , the Tower Building remained largely unoccupied for almost fifty years and suffered significant deterioration . The Æsthetic Club provided much @-@ needed financial support during the period and even paid the electric bill during the Great Depression . The Æsthetic Club is still headquartered in the Tower Building .
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= = Public use = =
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The building and the surrounding park were used for many public purposes throughout the early 20th century . The Tower Building served as headquarters for the United Confederate Veterans Reunion , May 15 – 18 , 1911 . Over 106 @,@ 000 Civil War veterans , the largest popular gathering in the history of the city up to that time , attended and were housed in the building or camped in the park , which had also become a popular camping area . Later the building served as an armory for the Arkansas National Gua |
rd . In 1912 , the second floor of the Tower Building became Little Rock 's first public library . In 1917 , Little Rock built a fire station in the park , that building is now gone . A band shell named for H. H. Foster also was built in the park during this time , but also no longer exists . In 1936 , Works Progress Administration built the Museum of Fine Arts , now called the Arkansas Arts Center , just south of the Tower Building .
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The arsenal was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 . Due to its association with the Camden Expedition of 1864 , the arsenal may be included in the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark designated in 1994 .
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In 1942 , the Tower Building was renovated due to the efforts of the Æsthetic Club , Little Rock philanthropist Frederick W. Allsop , and the Works Progress Administration . It became the new home of The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities , which had been located in Little Rock City Hall . The museum remained in the tower building for approximately fifty @-@ five years . The area surrounding the Tower Building had been known as Arsenal Park when the first decommissioned and then later renam |
ed City Park . Due to the efforts of Bernie Babcock , however , the city finally named it MacArthur Park in 1942 in honor of Douglas MacArthur .
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In 1997 , the Museum of Science and Natural History merged with the Little Rock Children 's Museum , which had been located in Union Station , to form the Arkansas Museum of Discovery . The new museum was relocated to a historic building in the Little Rock River Market District . The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History opened on May 19 , 2001 in the Tower Building . The new museum 's goal is to educate and inform visitors about the military history of Arkansas , preserve the Tower Building , hono |
r servicemen and servicewomen of the United States and commemorate the birthplace of Douglas MacArthur .
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= Cicely Mary Barker =
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Cicely Mary Barker ( 28 June 1895 – 16 February 1973 ) was an English illustrator best known for a series of fantasy illustrations depicting fairies and flowers . Barker 's art education began in girlhood with correspondence courses and instruction at the Croydon School of Art . Her earliest professional work included greeting cards and juvenile magazine illustrations , and her first book , Flower Fairies of the Spring , was published in 1923 . Similar books were published in the following decades .
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Barker was a devout Anglican , and donated her artworks to Christian fundraisers and missionary organizations . She produced a few Christian @-@ themed books such as The Children ’ s Book of Hymns and , in collaboration with her sister Dorothy , He Leadeth Me . She designed a stained glass window for St. Edmund 's Church , Pitlake , and her painting of the Christ Child , The Darling of the World Has Come , was purchased by Queen Mary .
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Barker was equally proficient in watercolour , pen and ink , oils , and pastels . Kate Greenaway and the Pre @-@ Raphaelites were the principal influences on her work . She claimed to paint instinctively and rejected artistic theories . Barker died in 1973 . Though she published Flower Fairy books with spring , summer , and autumn themes , it wasn 't until 1985 that a winter collection was assembled from her remaining work and published posthumously .
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= = Biography = =
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= = = Early life = = =
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Barker was born the second daughter and youngest child of Walter Barker , a partner in a seed supply company and an amateur artist , and his wife Mary Eleanor ( Oswald ) Barker on 28 June 1895 at home at 66 Waddon Road in Croydon , Surrey , England . Barker was an epileptic as a child , and cared for at home by her parents . Later , her sister and elder by two years , Dorothy Oswald Barker , continued the care .
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The family of four was moderately well off , and belonged to the lower end of the upper middle class . A nanny , a governess , and a cook to prepare special meals for Barker were hired . She spent much time in bed at home amusing herself with painting books and a nursery library that included the works of Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott – two artists who exerted strong influences on her later art .
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= = = Art education and first professional work = = =
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Barker took correspondence courses in art , probably until about 1919 . In 1908 at 13 years , she entered an evening class at the Croydon School of Art , and attended the school into the 1940s . In time , she received a teaching position .
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In 1911 , Raphael Tuck & Sons bought four of Barker 's " little drawings " for half a sovereign , and published them as postcards . In October 1911 , she won second prize in the Croydon Art Society 's poster competition , and shortly afterward was elected the youngest member of the Society . The art critic for the Croydon Advertiser remarked , " Her drawings show a remarkable freedom of spirit . She has distinct promise . "
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Following her father ’ s death in June 1912 , the seventeen @-@ year @-@ old Barker submitted art and poetry to My Magazine , Child ’ s Own , Leading Strings , and Raphael Tuck annuals in an effort to support both her mother and sister . Her sister Dorothy taught kindergarten in two private schools before opening a kindergarten at home . She brought in some money for the family 's support while supervising the household .
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= = = Flower Fairies of the Spring , 1923 = = =
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Fairies became a popular theme in art and literature in the early 20th century following the releases of The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie , and the fairy @-@ themed work of Australian Ida Rentoul Outhwaite . Queen Mary made such themes even more popular by sending Outhwaite postcards to friends during the 1920s . In 1918 , Barker produced a postcard series depicting elves and fairies .
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In 1923 , Barker sent her flower fairy paintings to various publishers . Blackie paid £ 25 for 24 paintings with accompanying verses , but it wasn 't until publication of Flower Fairies of the Summer in 1925 that Barker received royalties for her work . Mary Violet Clayton Calthrop , wife of author Dion Clayton Calthrop , wrote in April 1925 about Barker and Flower Fairies of the Spring : " She has such exquisite taste , besides draughtsmanship . "
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= = = The Waldrons = = =
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In 1924 , the family moved into a four @-@ level , semi @-@ detached Victorian house at 23 The Waldrons . Barker had a studio built in the garden and her sister conducted a kindergarten in a room at the back of the house . The family lived frugally and attended both St. Edmund 's and St. Andrew 's in Croydon – " low " churches for the less privileged . Barker sometimes incorporated portraits of her fellow parishioners in her religious works . She was described by Canon Ingram Hill as " one of the pillars " |
of St. Andrew 's .
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The children in the kindergarten modelled for the Flower Fairies until the kindergarten closed in 1940 . In an interview in 1958 , Barker said , " My sister ran a kindergarten and I used to borrow her students for models . For many years I had an atmosphere of children about me – I never forgot it . " She also painted the children of relatives as well as Gladys Tidy , the Barkers ' young housekeeper , who posed for the Primrose Fairy in 1923 . The plants were painted from life , and if a specimen was not r |
eadily at hand , Kew Gardens staff would provide her the specimens needed . Barker designed and built the Flower Fairy costumes , and based each on the flowers and leaves of the particular plant to be illustrated . The costumes were kept in a trunk in her studio along with wings made of twigs and gauze . Each was broken down after an illustration was completed and the parts recycled for other costumes . She often referred to Dion Clayton Calthrop 's English Costume .
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= = = Middle years = = =
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In the late 1920s , Barker began to doubt she was doing enough for the church and considered focusing solely on sacred works . Family and friends recommended she continue secular and sacred works , which she did .
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Barker continued to attend evening classes at the Croydon Art School between the 1920s and the 1940s , eventually receiving a teaching position . She took sketching trips to Amberley and Storrington in Sussex and to Cornwall and the southern coast with family and friends . She visited and stayed with artist Margaret Tarrant in Gomshall , Surrey and with family in Ugglebarnby , Near Whitby , North Yorkshire .
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In 1940 , the Barker 's live @-@ in maid retired , and Dorothy Barker closed her school at the back of the house in The Waldrons . She continued to supervise the household , and to give both her mother and sister the care they needed . Dorothy and her sister collaborated upon only two books : Our Darling 's First Book and the Christian @-@ themed , He Leadeth Me . In 1954 Dorothy Barker died of a heart attack . Barker was unable to pursue her art to any significant extent following her sister 's death , as |
all the care of her aged mother devolved upon her , but she did manage to begin planning a stained glass window design in her sister 's memory for St. Edmund 's , Pitlake .
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= = = Later life and death = = =
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Barker 's mother died in 1960 , and , in 1961 , Barker moved from 23 The Waldrons to 6 Duppas Avenue in Croydon . She restored a maisonette in Storrington , Sussex , England , bequeathed by her friend Edith Major , and named it St. Andrew 's . After taking up residence , her health began to deteriorate . She was in and out of nursing and convalescent homes , and tended by relatives and friends .
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Barker died at Worthing Hospital on 16 February 1973 , aged 77 years . Two funeral services were held – one in Storrington Church and one in Barker 's maisonette . Her ashes were scattered in Storrington churchyard . In 1989 , Frederick Warne , a division of Penguin Books since 1983 , acquired the Flower Fairies properties .
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= = Art = =
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Barker worked principally in watercolor with pen @-@ and @-@ ink , but she was equally competent in black @-@ and @-@ white , in oils , and in pastels . She carried a sketchbook with her for capturing interesting children . She once indicated , " I have always tried to paint instinctively in a way that comes naturally to me , without any real thought or attention to artistic theories . "
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Kate Greenaway was a childhood favorite and an influence on her art . Barker 's child subjects wear nostalgic clothing as Greenaway 's children do , though Barker 's children are less melancholy and less flat in appearance , due perhaps to advances in printing technology . Barker studied flowers with an analytical eye and was friend to children 's illustrator , Margaret Tarrant . Along with Greenaway , illustrator Alice B. Woodward also influenced Barker 's work .
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The Pre @-@ Raphaelites were a strong , lifelong influence on Barker . She once indicated , " I am to some extent influenced by them — not in any technical sense , but in the choice of subject matter and the feeling and atmosphere they could achieve . " She admitted a fondness for the early paintings of John Everett Millais and " the wonderful things " of Edward Burne @-@ Jones .
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= = = Depictions of children = = =
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Barker 's sketches , drawings , and paintings of children were given to friends or to the parents of the subjects , donated to charitable institutions and church sponsored events , or exhibited through various art organizations . She illustrated magazine covers , dust jackets , and produced series of postcards for Raphael Tuck and other publishers such as Picturesque Children of the Allies ( 1915 ) , Seaside Holidays ( 1918 ) , and Shakespeare 's Boy and Girl Characters ( 1917 , 1920 ) . Her own Old Rhymes |
for All Times ( 1928 ) and The Lord of the Rushie River ( 1938 ) , a tale about a girl who lives among swans on a riverbank , were critically well received . Set about 1800 , Groundsel and Necklaces ( 1943 ) tells of a girl named Jenny who rescues her family from poverty through the agency of the fairies . The story features an old Scrooge @-@ like man called Mr. Petercoo and tonally suggests a Dickensian social consciousness . Simon the Swan , intended as a sequel to Rushie River was outlined in 1943 with |
Groundsel , but only developed in 1953 . It was published posthumously in 1988 and is critically considered less successful than Groundsel .
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= = = Christian @-@ themed works = = =
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Barker was a devout Christian , and produced religious @-@ themed works throughout her life . She published eight postcards and five guardian angel birthday cards for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1916 and in 1923 respectively . Christmas cards were designed for The Girls ' Friendly Society over a 20 @-@ year period , and the first three designs sold out a combined printing of 46 @,@ 500 in 1923 . An original design for the society called The Darling of the World Has Come was purchased b |
y Queen Mary for ₤ 5 @.@ 5 @.@ 0 in 1926 . The Croydon Art Society hung Barker 's booklet cover design for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in its November 1919 exhibition .
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Religious @-@ themed books include The Children 's Book of Hymns ( 1929 ) and He Leadeth Me ( 1933 ) , the latter written in collaboration with her sister . Major religious works include the triptychs in oil , The Feeding of the Five Thousand ( 1929 ) , for the chapel in Llandaff House , a home for destitute women at Penarth , Wales , and The Parable of the Great Supper ( 1934 ) for St. George 's Chapel , Waddon . The Feeding has since disappeared , and only a black @-@ and @-@ white photograph dated 1929 |
reproduces the work . In 1941 , she completed oil panels on the subject of the seven sacraments for the baptismal font at St. Andrew 's , South Croydon . She designed baptismal rolls for the wall behind the font in 1948 and 1962 . In 1946 , she completed the 4 x 7 ft. oil painting , Out of Great Tribulation , for the Memorial Chapel of Norbury Methodist Church . Following the death of her sister in 1954 , Barker began designs for a stained glass memorial window depicting Christ preparing to wash the feet of |
his disciples . Her last religious @-@ themed work , it was installed in St. Edmund 's , Pitlake , in 1962 .
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= = Works = =
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= = = Cards = = =
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Picturesque Children of the Allies ; J. Salmon , 1916
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National Mission ; Society for the Preservation of Christian Knowledge , 1916
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Shakespeare 's Boy Characters ; C. W. Faulkner , 1917
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Shakespeare 's Girl Characters ; C. W. Faulkner , 1920
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Seaside Holiday ; J. Salmon , 1918 , 1921
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