September 17, 1862

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I was busy with my 86 year old mother yesterday and forgot to post about this. Most people remember that date as the Civil War Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg and rightly so. It was so momentous that it overshadowed something else very tragic that happened in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that day. The Allegheny Arsenal exploded killing 78 mostly girls and young women. They didn't have DNA testing then. Some of the recovered remains were unidentifiable and were buried in a mass grave. There were other arsenal explosions during the Civil War but the Allegheny Arsenal explosion was the worst.

Allegheny Arsenal Explosion

The worst civilian disaster during the Civil War took place at the Allegheny Arsenal, when a series of explosions killed dozens of girls and young women.

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I visited Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh this past June where most of the explosion victims are buried: