Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union

On Christmas Day 1860, the Daily Pittsburgh Gazette announced that more than one hundred cannons from the nearby U.S. Arsenal were to be shipped south. Fiercely loyal to the Union, Pittsburghers halted the movement of the artillery, which would have been seized by secessionist sympathizers. Over the course of the Civil War, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County provided both troops and equipment—including heavy artillery—in disproportionately large numbers. While no major battles were fought near...