Militia Drilling
William P. Chappel American
Not on view
Though New York City was not attacked during the War of 1812, residents feverishly reinforced fortifications and militia regiments trained in preparation for the worst. Here, militiamen are drilling near one of the city’s four arsenals, which was built in 1808, when the state authorized the construction of "an arsenal, laboratory and workshops and ordnance yard ... between Elm and Collect streets, not to exceed the sum of $13,000," according to an 1889 history of New York during the War of 1812. In the foreground are the remnants of Fresh Water, or Collect, Pond. In 1803, New York began draining the heavily polluted pond, which was then replaced in 1815 by the infamous Five Points neighborhood.
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