’Patriots’, ’Cowards’, and ’Men Disloyal at Heart’: Labor and Politics at the Springfield Armory, 1861–1865

This article explores the political dynamics of the labor force at the federal Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts during the U. S. Civil War. The Springfield Armory, which produced firearms for the Union Army, was an actively patriotic institution within a city, state, and region very supportive of the Union cause. The Armory as an institution and many of its workers as individuals participated in Springfield’s civic celebrations of Unionism and, since it was one of the most public faces of the federal government’s war effort, this helped to tie the city to the conflict in a very direct way. This essay argues that, despite this projection of patriotism, the Armory was a political site where some laborers openly criticized the Lincoln administration or openly cheered the Confederacy. These men came to work at the Armory for a number of reasons, which did not always include Unionism. Their political dissent highlights both how divisive even the most patriotic of spaces on the Northern home front could be and how impressive the resolve of the Armory leadership was during the war.