Vancouver Arsenal

Vancouver Arsenal (1853-1881) - A U.S. Army arsenal established in 1853 as Vancouver Ordnance Depot by Theodore J. Eckerson in present day Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. Renamed Vancouver Arsenal in October 1862 during the U.S. Civil War. Discontinued in 1881.

Vancouver Arsenal History

Vancouver Arsenal Plan c1870s

Established as a temporary ordnance depot in 1853 adjacent to what was then Columbia Barracks in Vancouver, Washington. The depot was established by the ordnance department to store and issue arms, munitions and equipment to Federal. state and militia military forces. It operated under the Ordnance Department with it's own officers and employees supposedly independent of the adjacent post command structure.

The first appointed commanding officer of the depot was military store keeper (M.S.K.) Theodore J. Eckerson a well liked extraordinary military veteran of the Seminole and Mexican wars who had served with U.S. Grant and maintained a friendship with him. Eckerson was commissioned twice by U.S. Grant and once by President Lincoln. Eckerson improved the temporary depot facilities and built a log magazine in anticipation of a proper arsenal being authorized and constructed.

In 1853-1855 the Washington and Oregon Indian Wars created a great demand to arm Federal, state and militia forces and Eckerson responded well to the requests earning him the admiration of the population. The depot was not large enough and did not have sufficient stores to meet the demand and Eckerson had to requisition additional arms from Benicia Arsenal in California.

Many new posts were established in the Pacific Northwest as a result of the Indian Wars and the need for a proper arsenal to supply them was apparent. The posts included Fort Lane, Fort Steilacoom, Fort Orford, Fort Lane, Fort Dalles and Fort Vancouver. On 30 Aug 1856 Congress approved an appropriation for the arsenal and this date is used as the established date for the arsenal.

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General Order 89, 14 Dec 1881, discontinued the Vancouver Arsenal and established the Vancouver Barracks Ordnance Depot.

Vancouver Arsenal Commanders List (edit list)

Assumed	Relieved	Rank	Name	Cullum	Notes
1853-09-13	1858-06-22	M.S.K.	Eckerson, Theodore J.	N/A
1858-06-22	1859-07-27	1st Lieutenant	Sill, Joshua W.	1581
1859-07-27	1861-07-23	1st Lieutenant	Welcker, William T.	1497
1861-07-23	1861-10-24	1st Lieutenant	Wildrick, Abram C.	1773
1861-10-24	1865-11-17	M.S.K.	Eckerson, Theodore J.	N/A
1865-11-17	1871-04-15	Captain	Babbitt, Lawrence S.	1947
1871-04-15	1881-12-14	1st Lieutenant	Kress, John A.	N/A
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Current Status

Part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Few remains at Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. The visitor center is built over the site of one of the arsenal storage buildings.

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Location: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. Maps & Images Lat: 45.6261862 Long: -122.656635 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: .....'

Sources:

• Shine, Gregory P., An Indispensable Point: A Historic Resource Study of the Vancouver Ordnance Depot and Arsenal, 1849-1882, NPS, December 2008, 112 pages, PDF

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Vancouver Arsenal
• Oregonian - Theodore J. Eckerson Obituary

Visited: 2 Nov 2013

Vancouver Arsenal Picture Gallery

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