The Fayetteville Arsenal had been the property of the United States Army from 1838 until it was seized in the spring of 1861 by local residents supportive of  Southern secession.  The state initially used the newly acquired arsenal to manufacture infantry ammunition and accoutrements, and to repair small arms.  With the transfer of captured machinery from the Federal arsenal at Harpers
Ferry, the Fayetteville Arsenal began producing rifles. The arsenal’s capacity grew throughout the war, and by 1865, it consisted of several foundries, machine shops and other facilities necessary to sustain the Confederate war effort.  By January 1865, the Arsenal was fully manned and operational, but, the combination of shortages of raw materials and Fayetteville’s isolation from any of the
state’s key rail lines limited the arsenal’s productivity.  Upon Sherman’s occupation of Fayetteville in early March 1865, Union soldiers totally destroyed the arsenal rendering it completely useless.  Abandoned by the retreating Confederates and laid waste by Sherman’s men, all that remains today of the arsenal are portions of its foundation walls.