David, I'm sure you didn't intend to leave the impression that the "city arsenal" was the property of the City of Charleston. As we know, it was a United States Arsenal. The U.S. Army prepositioned arms in such arsenals throughout the country. The arms and armaments were the property of the U.S. Government, to be issued by U.S. military ordnance storekeepers as ordered -- normally to militias called out to meet an emergency such as an insurrection or foreign invasion.