Ditto on the comments that Doyle has made...
First of all, the Little Rock Arsenal was classified in 1860 as an “arsenal of deposit,” meaning that it was simply a warehouse for the storage of weapons intended for the use of the state militia in times of crisis. Thus there were no substantial operations for ordnance fabrication or repairs, nor for the manufacture of cartridges at the time the Arsenal fell into State hands. Most of these operations had to be started up from scratch through the efforts (or despite the efforts, depending on one’s point of view) of the Arkansas Military Board.
Inside the Little Rock Arsenal after its seizure in February, 1861, the Confederates inventoried some 10,247 weapons, 250,000 musket cartridges, and 520,000 percussion caps, as well as the four bronze cannon of Totten’s battery. Long arms in the Arsenal's inventory consisted of:
M1822 .69 cal (flintlock) 5,625
M1822 .69 cal (percussion-converted) 53
M1842 .69 cal smoothbore (percussion) 357
M1855 .58 cal rifle-muskets 900
M1817 common rifles 125
M1841 rifle ("Mississippi Rifle") 54
M1847 musketoon 2
Hall's carbines 267
Hall's rifles (flintlock) 2,864
Total 10,247
Of this number, approximately 9600 weapons were serviceable, or ready-for-issue. Note there were only 1,364 percussion weapons available.
In addition to the weapons seized at the Arsenal, several shipments of M1841 “Mississippi” rifles (approximately 700 or so) were brought up the Arkansas River to Little Rock and Pine Bluff by the steamer S.H. Tucker.
Disposition of the weapons found in the Arsenal is somewhat sketchy, but from various records it can be surmised that the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiments, mustered in June, 1861, were issued M1816/M1822 .69 caliber flintlocks. They retained these weapons until April, 1862 when they were able to exchange them for better weapons scavenged from the battlefield at Shiloh. The 9th and 10th Arkansas, 4 companies of Kelly's 9th Arkansas Battalion, and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry were issued flintlock Hall's Rifles. The 9th Arkansas were able to exchange at least some of most of these while stationed in west Tennessee in the fall of 1861.
By the time the 11th and 12th Arkansas mustered in at Little Rock, the supply of arms had been almost completely exhausted, and only old “junker” weapons were left. It should be noted that the 11th Arkansas had only 40-some-odd serviceable weapons available in the entire regiment, and these were handed off at the turning of the guard each day.
It’s also significant to note that each of these units was taken for Confederate service east of the Mississippi by October, 1861, removing these already scarce arms from the state.
The units comprising the infantry force of Van Dorn’s Army of the West were the 1st and 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles, (1st AMR armed with M1822 flintlocks from the LR Arsenal), the 4th Arkansas, 14th Arkansas, 15th (Northwest) Arkansas, 16th Arkansas, 17th Arkansas, 19th Arkansas, 20th Arkansas, and the 3rd Louisiana. The 19th and 20th Arkansas were unarmed at the time of the Pea Ridge campaign; most of the other units had been raised and armed in NW Arkansas using weapons seized at the Fort Smith arsenal and civilian weapons brought from home.
Most of the equipment, arms, and machinery at the Little Rock Arsenal was removed to east of the Mississippi River by order of Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn in April and May of 1862, and accountability for it is lost at that point. By all appearances, the equipment was sent down the river to Napoleon, Arkansas, and from there to Jackson Mississippi, where it was probably destroyed during the Vicksburg campaign in the early summer of 1863.
Major General Thomas C. Hindman, sent to command the district of Arkansas in May, 1862, found the state nearly destitute of military material. Hindman established another armory at Arkadelphia, and revived the Little Rock Arsenal as a collection point and depot for armaments and ammunition manufacture for small arms. Hindman recorded:
"Machinery was made for manufacturing percussion caps and small arms, and both were turned out in small quantity, but of excellent quality. Lead mines were opened and worked, and a chemical laboratory was established and successfully operated in aid of the Ordnance Department and in the manufacture of calomel, castor oil, spirits of nitre, the various tinctures of iron, and other valuable medicines. Most of these works were located at or near Arkadelphia on the Ouachita River, 75 miles south from Little Rock. The tools, machinery, and the material were gathered piecemeal or else made by hand labor. Nothing of this sort had been before attempted on Government account in Arkansas to my knowledge, except for the manufacture of small arms, the machinery for which was taken away by General Van Dorn and there was neither capital nor sufficient enterprise among the citizens to engage in such undertakings… A further supply, along with lead and caps, was procured from the citizens of Little Rock and vicinity by donation, purchases, and impressments.
This ammunition, and that which I brought with me, was rapidly prepared for use at the Laboratory established at the Little Rock Arsenal for that purpose. As illustrating as the pitiful scarcity of material in the country, the fact may be stated that it was found necessary to use public documents of the State Library for cartridge paper. Gunsmiths were employed or conscripted, tools purchased or impressed, and the repair of the damaged guns I brought with me and about an equal number found at Little Rock commenced at once. But, after inspecting the work and observing the spirit of the men I decided that a garrison 500 strong could hold out against Fitch and that I would lead the remainder - about 1500 - to Gen'l Rust as soon as shotguns and rifles could be obtained from Little Rock instead of pikes and lances, with which most of them were armed. Two days elapsed before the change could be effected."
The Confederate ordnance establishment at Little Rock was reactivated in August, 1862. Looking around for a suitable person to head this activity, General Hindman turned to the Confederate Navy and borrowed Lieutenant John W. Dunnington. Lt. Dunnington was the commander of the gunboat C.S.S. Ponchartrain, which had been brought to Little Rock in hopes of converting it to an ironclad. Materials to accomplish this were completely lacking, and while the boat was laid up, several of her heavy guns were removed and used for other purposes, such as the river battery at St. Charles which blew up the Union gunboat Mound City earlier that summer.
Dunnington commanded the St. Charles Battery in this action, which brought him to Hindman's attention.
Dunnington was selected to head the ordnance works at Little Rock, and although he continued to draw his pay from the Confederate Navy Department, he was placed in charge of all Confederate ordnance activities (which included artillery functions) there with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Lt. Col. Dunnington's "Returns for the month of August, 1862, at Little Rock Arsenal, C.S.A.," are found in Vol. 149, Chapter IV of the "Captured Rebel Ordnance Records," and are most enlightening as to the scope of Confederate ordnance activities at Little Rock during this crucial time. According to Dunnington, "When I assumed command at this Post, all material had been removed to Arkadelphia. There were no persons employed. No shops were open for repair of arms or for fabricating ammunition. Material, tools, etc., had to be procured as well as the employment of laborers. Work commenced the last part of the month."
The military force at Little Rock under Dunnington's command consisted of four officers: himself, Major John B. Lockman, Captain C.C. Green, and 2nd Lt. W.W. Murphy. In addition to these, he had 20 enlisted men and a civilian force composed of a foreman, 2 clerks, 3 gunsmiths for repairing small arms, a laboratorian, 26 laborers in the ammunition laboratory, and a carpenter for making packing boxes.
During the month of August, 1862, the following work was performed:
"Fabricated: one pair of musket bullet moulds; 10,000 buck & ball shot cartridges; repaired: 750 muskets, shotguns, and rifles; received and repaired: ordnance stores and ordnances; performed: guard, office, and police duties; inspected: Posts at Camden and Arkadelphia."
Lt. Col. Dunnington continued to build up his works at Little Rock until November 1862, when Captain Sanford C. Faulkner (composer of The Arkansas Traveler) was placed in charge of the Arsenal. Dunnington presumably returned to his naval duties and the Ponchartrain.
A "Summary of the Work Done for November, 1862, Little Rock Arsenal" shows:
Fabrication:
75,000 buck & ball cartridges - percussion
14,000 buck & ball cartridges - flint
275 paper fuzes
117 rounds, 6-pounder canister shot
130 rounds, 6-pounder ball shot
96 ammunition packing boxes
Repaired:
2,236 shotguns and rifles (repaired mostly for troops in service)
23 pistols (repaired mostly for troops in service)
Received & Issued:
752 packages of ordnance and ordnance stores received and mostly issued to troops in service.
Repaired and painted:
4 gun carriages
Performed:
Guard, office, and police duties.
Perhaps the most illuminating points of the above "Summary of Work" and those for following months are that the standard ammunition made was ."buck & ball", indicating that the .69 caliber smoothbores and shotguns remained the predominant caliber weapon in use, and of this, nearly one sixth or more of all small arms ammunition was still for flintlock weapons, indicating that no less than a sixth of the Confederate troops in this vicinity were still armed with obsolete flintlock weapons.
The "Summaries of Work done at Little Rock Arsenal, C.S.A." continue at about the same pace and scale from August 1862 until August 1863. Appended to the "Summary" for August, 1863 is the ominous notation, "During the last week in the month, nearly all stores at the Arsenal have been packed and sent to Arkadelphia, in obedience to orders from Chief of Ordnance, District of Arkansas." This then marks the beginning of the evacuation of ordnance activities from Little Rock, with the city being surrendered to the advancing Federal troops of Frederick Steele's Arkansas Expedition on September 11, 1863.