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Muskets Anyone?


Patriot
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ludwigh1980
Everytime I see that picture I think of an organ, takes me back to American Lit' Days
THE ARSENAL AT SPRINGFIELD by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling,
Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms;
But front their silent pipes no anthem pealing
Startles the villages with strange alarms.

Ah! what a sound will rise, how wild and dreary,
When the death-angel touches those swift keys
What loud lament and dismal Miserere
Will mingle with their awful symphonies

I hear even now the infinite fierce chorus,
The cries of agony, the endless groan,
Which, through the ages that have gone before us,
In long reverberations reach our own.

On helm and harness rings the Saxon hammer,
Through Cimbric forest roars the Norseman's song,
And loud, amid the universal clamor,
O'er distant deserts sounds the Tartar gong.

I hear the Florentine, who from his palace
Wheels out his battle-bell with dreadful din,
And Aztec priests upon their teocallis
Beat the wild war-drums made of serpent's skin;

The tumult of each sacked and burning village;
The shout that every prayer for mercy drowns;
The soldiers' revels in the midst of pillage;
The wail of famine in beleaguered towns;

The bursting shell, the gateway wrenched asunder,
The rattling musketry, the clashing blade;
And ever and anon, in tones of thunder,
The diapason of the cannonade.

Is it, O man, with such discordant noises,
With such accursed instruments as these,
Thou drownest Nature's sweet and kindly voices,
And jarrest the celestial harmonies?

Were half the power, that fills the world with terror,
Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts,
Given to redeem the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals or forts:

The warrior's name would be a name abhorred!
And every nation, that should lift again
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead
Would wear forevermore the curse of Cain!

Down the dark future, through long generations,
The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease;
And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations,
I hear once more the voice of Christ say, "Peace!"

Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals
The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies!
But beautiful as songs of the immortals,
The holy melodies of love arise.

 

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"Everytime I see that picture I think of an organ, takes me back to American Lit' Days"
Doesn't it though.Somehow I doubt they are using that poem or Longfellow in lit' class much anymore,more's the pity.
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Nice to see it's still up, i seen this in a C B Colby book, those books on just about everything connected with our Military and our technological developments of the 50sand 60s, and all sorts of Americana and stuff.

 

It was in this book, one he did from 1960.

post-34986-0-83273400-1367036825.jpg

 

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They don't let anyone above the first floor anymore. No more tours.

Huh? KFC OVER! Why no more tours 45ACP? come on gives us the unvarnished truth.

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The organ is open to the public on the first floor as part of the museum. I saw it a couple of years ago. The really good stuff on the second floor and up, is closed to the public and not on display. Still with only the first floor open it is a great place to visit.

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  • 1 month later...

I went there in the summer of 2010 and they told us there were no one was allowed above the first floor. Did not tell us why.

Huh? KFC OVER! Why no more tours 45ACP? come on gives us the unvarnished truth.

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  • 2 months later...

A few years ago I worked in the archives at Springfield Armory on the second floor.Those are indeed all original model 1861s. Originally that entire arsenal building, all 3 floors, were stacked with those musket racks. There are a couple more arsenal buildings on the current campus that also served this purpose.

 

The majority of the collection is stored away on the 3rd floor, and visitors are no longer allowed to view the collection. When I was there (even I was not allowed to view the upstairs vault) the superintendant of the armory was an anti-gun hack that wanted to de-emphasize the firearms aspect of the armory and focus on the "social" impact of the arsenal on the city. I don't know if this will change in the future.

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Hey Patches I think Hardtack just told us why no one is allowed above the first floor. Thank you Hardtack.

A few years ago I worked in the archives at Springfield Armory on the second floor.Those are indeed all original model 1861s. Originally that entire arsenal building, all 3 floors, were stacked with those musket racks. There are a couple more arsenal buildings on the current campus that also served this purpose.

 

The majority of the collection is stored away on the 3rd floor, and visitors are no longer allowed to view the collection. When I was there (even I was not allowed to view the upstairs vault) the superintendant of the armory was an anti-gun hack that wanted to de-emphasize the firearms aspect of the armory and focus on the "social" impact of the arsenal on the city. I don't know if this will change in the future.

 

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