Biologicál Warfare

[bamaman]

Was there any type of biological warfare used during the American Civil Wàr?

 

[Kurtlg]

I believe there was an attempt by Confederate agents to spread yellow fever through "contaminated" clothing. It was not known at the time that yellow fever can only be spread by mosquitoes bites.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The Wicked Dr. Blackburn | Medical Care

A question in another thread on the likelihood of the Lincoln administration choosing to use chemical weapons had they been available, reminding me of this old blog post I did three years ago, about an actual attempt at biological warfare -- including as a means of assassination -- during the...

civilwartalk.com

Yellow Fever Plot to Kill Lincoln | Famous People of the Late Unpleasantness

In the summer of 1864, Dr. Luke P. Blackburn, a Kentucky-born physician turned Confederate agent, allegedly instituted a bioterrorism plot against United States cities and President Abraham Lincoln. Blackburn’s goal was to “release” Yellow Fever through the distribution of infected clothing...

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Poison use in ACW. | Questions? Ask Here! No Stone Left Unturned!

I know of one instance, but was used against native Sioux. Anyone know of use of poison against Union/Confederate troops? Here is article on intentional use of poisoned food in 1864...

civilwartalk.com

Proposals for Chemical Weapons during the American Civil War | Small Arms & Ammunition

http://militarymedicine.amsus.org/doi/full/10.7205/MILMED.173.5.499

civilwartalk.com

Was It A Rumor, Or Did The Confederacy Try To Invent Balloons To Drop Explosives On Enemy Camps? | Questions? Ask Here! No Stone Left Unturned!

I’m just starting to read, “Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life” by Carlton McCarthy. He wrote in 1882 and was a Private, Second Company, Richmond Howitzers, Cutshaw’s Battalion Artillery, Second Corps, A.N.V. In it, in the beginning, he is looking back, on the first impressions of the war and...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Drew]

Thanks, @USS ALASKA for posting these previous CWT threads. Andy Hall used to post here and was a huge advocate of primary source history. Yet, he provides none in any of the old threads.

Neither does anyone else. A Non-Confederate Kentuckian who ran to Canada and dreamt up a plot by himself does not constitute "Confederate Biological Warfare".

Nice try, though.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Recall reading about one isolated incident involving Confederates deliberately using a form of biological warfare.

Sherman wrote, following the fall of Vicksburg, that as his force approached Jackson he found retreating Confederates had deliberately poisoned the local wells and ponds by placing dead animal carcasses in these water sources. Some have claimed that this tactic was ordered by Johnston, but personally would be surprised if he did.

Suspect there may also have been isolated incidents of intentional water poisoning occurring by retreating Confederates during 'Sherman's March to the Sea' in late '64, too.

(Interestingly, the U.S. War Dept. issued General Orders No. 100, dated Apr. 24, '63, to regulate the warfare conduct of the Union Army, which included a provision that did not permit the military 'to use poisoning in any way.')

 

[TallTallMan]

Thanks, @USS ALASKA for posting these previous CWT threads. Andy Hall used to post here and was a huge advocate of primary source history. Yet, he provides none in any of the old threads.

Neither does anyone else. A Non-Confederate Kentuckian who ran to Canada and dreamt up a plot by himself does not constitute "Confederate Biological Warfare".

Nice try, though.

"Non-Confederate"? A guy who supports Confederates is a Confederate.

 

[Biscoitos]

Was there any type of biological warfare used during the American Civil Wàr?

Not biological, but chemical warfare, by both sides, is documented and discussed in detail in a book published in 2015.
Villainous Comounds & Chemical Weapons in The American Civil War.
Guy R. Hasegawa.

 

[Library Lady]

Not biological, but chemical warfare, by both sides, is documented and discussed in detail in a book published in 2015.
Villainous Compounds & Chemical Weapons in The American Civil War.
Guy R. Hasegawa.

If your library provides access to the EBSCO Discovery Service

, then you may have access to this book as an E-book.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

"Non-Confederate"? A guy who supports Confederates is a Confederate.

Someone may be a Confederate sympathizer without being a Confederate because they are operating entirely without sanction or instructions from the Confederate military or government.

However, based on the text quoted in your post, Blackburn was not simply a sympathizer, but actually employed by the Confederate government (or at least Confederate state governments). Whether he eventually went rogue is another matter. Confederate agents did attempt to burn New York City so a Confederate plot to spread yellow fever isn't inconceivable.

 

[TallTallMan]

Someone may be a Confederate sympathizer without being a Confederate because they are operating entirely without sanction or instructions from the Confederate military or government.

However, based on the text quoted in your post, Blackburn was not simply a sympathizer, but actually employed by the Confederate government (or at least Confederate state governments). Whether he eventually went rogue is another matter. Confederate agents did attempt to burn New York City so a Confederate plot to spread yellow fever isn't inconceivable.

I've done further reading since, and he was an aide to Sterling Price as well.

 

[19thGeorgia]

A Union doctor investigating one of the northern prison camps (Camp Douglas?) reported that the conditions that caused so many deaths were intentional. I'll try to find that report.