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On 14 May, one of the Army's oldest branches celebrates 200 years of service to the Nation.
The Ordnance branch is one of the oldest branches of the Army, established 200 years ago. However, the duties and responsibilities of the Ordnance profession date back to 1629, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony appointed Samuel Sharpe as the first Master Gunner of Ordnance.
Just 16 years later, in 1645, Massachusetts Bay had a permanent Surveyor of Ordnance. His responsibilities were to deliver powder and ammunition to selected towns, recover weapons from militia members, receive payment from those who lost weapons, and provide periodic reports to government officials to guide the purchase of firearms, powder, and shot. Although each colony developed a militia system in which members were required to provide their own weapons and an initial amount of gunpowder and shot, colonial Ordnance officials furnished the depth of logistics support needed for any type of sustained operations.
The Revolutionary War established the general outlines of the future U.S. Army Ordnance Department. General George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army, appointed Ezekiel Cheever, a civilian, to provide ordnance support to his army in the field in July 1775. By mid- 1779, all the field armies had Ordnance personnel moving with them. These men, civilians and Soldiers, served as conductors of a traveling forge for maintenance, an ammunition wagon, and an arms chest. Each conductor led a section of five to six armorers who repaired small arms.
The Continental Congress' Board for War and Ordnance created the Commissary General for Military Stores to establish and operate Ordnance facilities in an effort to alleviate the infant nation's dependence on foreign arms purchases. Colonel Benjamin Flower led the commissary from his appointment in January 1777 until his death in May 1781. Ordnance facilities were established at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for the production of arms, powder, and shot.
After the war, the sustainment elements were disbanded and the authority for procurement and provision of all things military was transferred to the Office of the Purveyor of Public Supplies, which was located in the Treasury Department.
The Early Republic
In the first half of the 1 9th century, the Ordnance Department played a crucial role in the burgeoning...