George Washington Rains and Confederate Gun Powder II

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The key ingredient in gunpowder is saltpeter, the general name for three naturally occurring nitrates, the most common in North America being potassium nitrate. Called by some niter, it was combined with sulfur and charcoal, and together they were rolled, pressed, crushed, granulated and dried in a process that was conducted almost nowhere in large quantities in the South prior to 1861. To defend itself the Confederacy would have to solve that problem. Ordinance chief Josiah Gorgas appointed Artillery Major George Washington Rains, third in his West Point class, who had served with distinction in the Mexican War.