1864 Washington Arsenal explosion
Bird's eye view of the location of the explosion, now home to Fort Lesley J. McNair and the Army War College. | |
| Date | June 17, 1864 |
|---|---|
| Location | The Washington Arsenal, Washington, D.C. |
The 1864 Washington Arsenal explosion occurred on June 17, 1864, at the Washington Arsenal (now known as Fort Lesley J. McNair) in Washington, D.C. after the Arsenal's superintendent left hundreds of flares to dry in the hot summer sun near some of the Arsenal's buildings. When the explosion happened, some of the flares entered into a warehouse via an open window. Inside, a fire quickly started and, when a barrel of gunpowder was set on fire, the roof of the building blew off. The warehouse was staffed with 108 women at the time of the explosion; 21 of them, mostly Irish immigrants, died and many more were seriously injured. Assistance from other Arsenal employees and several local fire companies soon arrived.
The day after the explosion, there were four burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The following day, a large number of people attended the funeral service held at the Arsenal. Among those in attendance were President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The processions then moved to gravesites in Congressional Cemetery where two pits were dug: one for the identified bodies and the second for the unidentified. In the years that followed, there were additional explosions that happened at the Arsenal, including one that claimed the lives of 10 men. The Arsenal was closed a few years after the Civil War ended, and renamed Washington Barracks for many years, until acquiring its current name, Fort Lesley J.McNair.