Louis Froelich was a talented and skilled engineer who emigrated from Germany to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1861 on the eve of the Civil War. For a while he directed operations in a button factory as a superintendent. He saw the need for weapons and established the Wilmington Sword Factory where he made edged weapons of all types for the Confederacy. In the summer of 1862, Wilmington experienced a catastrophic outbreak of yellow fever and Froelich moved his newly renamed business, “Confederate States Armory”, north to Kenansville, NC out of range of the epidemic. He rebuilt the Confederate States Armory in Kenansville where he continued to supply the Confederacy with weapons and accoutrements. In July of 1864 the armory was set afire by Federal cavalry. The armory was rebuilt and continued to supply the Confederacy with weapons until March 1865 when the Union gained control of that part of eastern North Carolina.
For more information on Kenansville swords and the Confederate States Armory see "Louis Froelich Arms-Maker to the Confederacy" by John W. McAden, Jr. and Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr.