Even before the war began, the U.S. District Courts were busy condemning land on behalf of the federal government. In this case, the Secretary of War needed 22.52 acres of land in Henderson County, Kentucky to establish a spur track to the Ohio River Ordnance Works, which manufactured anhydrous ammonia during the war. The federal government condemned hundreds of thousands of acres of land across the country in this way, and the details of each acquisition played out in the court system.