Saltpetre Manufactured for Confederate Government - New Braunfels, TX USA - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

Saltpetre is a potassium salt used in making gunpowder, rocket propellents, and fireworks. It is also used as a culinary additive to soups or to soften meats. From the context of the marker, this processing plant was extracting saltpetre from guano (dried bat poop) in order to help the Confederate Army manufacture gunpowder, rocket propellent or related explosives. It is placed near the source of the Comal Springs and at the foot of the ruins or the smelting furnace used to separate and concentrate the saltpetre.

Although this gray granite marker is not an official Texas State historical marker, it is a marker that was designated by the City of New Braunfels, TX as a a city historic landmark and has a small attachment at the bottom of the marker stating it is a city landmark.

For having only two sentences engraved in the marker, there was a lot of history worked into the phrasing of it. It names military leaders, business associates, honors for Captain Wm. Seekatz, and tells of supplying saltpetre to the Confederate Army! At the bottom part of the marker, a phrase "Erected by his son Frank P. Seekatz" tells a lot about the Seekatz family's contributions and importance to New Braunfels in general and to the Confederate cause more specifically.

The wording etched into the gray granite marker reads as follows:

"This monument marks the location
Where in 1863 Capt. Wm. Seekatz,
one of the founders and oldest settlers
and later Captain of the first Boy Scout troop
of New Braunfels, Texas
Ed. Braden, Joe Nee, Jack Marshall and Ed. Dreiss
associates manufactured saltpetre from guano
brought from a cave 3 miles west of this park
for the Confederate government.
By order of Maj. Reed and Capt. Harrison
of the Nitro and Raining Dept., Western Hist. Tex.

Erected by his son Frank P. Seekatz
1938"


Below the date of 1938 is an added metal marker placed by the City of New Braunfels, Texas that reads:

"Historic Landmark
Designated by Ciry Ordinance
City Counsel
New Braunfels Texas

Link to TSHAonline.org article on the Nitro and Mining Department of Confederate Army:
(visit link)

Date Installed or Dedicated: 01/01/1938 Name of Government Entity or Private Organization that built the monument: Erected by his son Frank P. Seekatz; later City of New Braunfels designated marker as historic landmark Union, Confederate or Other Monument: Confederate Rating (1-5): Related Website: [Web Link] Photo or photos will be uploaded.: yes

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