Washington in Domestic Life. From Original Letters and Manuscripts by Rush, Richard; Peter V. Hagner - 1857

Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1857. Hardcover. Very good overall. Personal copy signed by Major Peter V. Hagner (dated 1857) commander of the Frankford Arsenal (outside Philadelphia) which was the center of U.S. military small arms ammunition design and development, playing a crucial role in arms supply and maintenance during the Civil War. Hagner focussed the arsenal on the percussion cap factory; the plant employed over 1,000 including hundreds of civilian children. He also modified thousands of old muskets into percussion lock rifles, and developed his own prototype for a new rifling and barreling machine, using steam power. Hagner called his workers "soldier technologists" to encourage them to embrace new methods. During Gettysburg, Frankford provided tens of thousands of muskets and ammunition for Pennsylvania's "Emergency Militia" regiments. Rush was the second son of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Rush and led a life of action- U.S. attorney general, comptroller, secretary of the Treasury, John Quincy Adams' VP running mate, acting Secretary of State, and minister to England and France. OCLC: 22716521- "Prepared from a collection of original letters from General Washington on matters, for the most part, purely domestic and personal, addressed to Colonel Tobias Lear."--Introd. explanation. Tall 8vo, xiii, 15-85pp. Publishers pale green cloth, blind stamped title on front cover. Inner hinge starting, otherwise bright and clean.