Chemical Weapons

[Miles Krisman]

Came across this interesting bit of information today.

John Doughty, a New York City schoolteacher, first suggested use of chlorine gas as a chemical warfare agent during the American Civil War. This proposal was never acted upon during that war. Chlorine gas was officially introduced into the chemical warfare arsenal in 1915 at Ypres, Belgium.

 

[Barrycdog]

No mention of chemical warfare. I do know there was a laboratory however.

Southern Confederacy, Mar. 11, 1861 -- page 3

Military Resources of the South

An erroneous idea generally prevails in the North that the new confederacy in preparing for military defence, will experience some difficulty in procuring a supply of artillery sores and munitions of war. For the information of that class to whom we refer we say that the Anderson Iron Works near Richmond, Virginia, are working their furnaces night and day casting Dahlgreen guns and columbiads of the heaviest caliber and exquisite finish. Several of these guns and five ten inch mortars have already been forwarded to Charleston, and before this are in battery ready to participate in the bombardment of Fort Sumpter.

 

[rjustice21]

All means of killing a person are horrible, but chemical warfare just seemed especially brutal to me.

 

[rpkennedy]

I had a great-great uncle who was gassed in France in 1918 and permanently lost his sense of taste and smell. Even at relatively small levels, these chemicals are devastating.

R

 

[major bill]

Rjustice21 your mistaken Serin Gas is great stuff. Well great if you want to use chemical weapons an kil folks.

Major Bill
company of Military Historians

 

[unionblue]

Had a neighbor who had an Uncle who was gassed (Mustard Gas?) during WW1. Poor man had been confined to a hospital bed ever since the war, blind and unable to speak or move on his own for all that time. I visited with our neighbors and this was about 1965 when I was 12 years old.

Made a very deep impression upon me and when I got my secondary MOS of Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical (NBC) NCO, I prayed God I would never be involved with such during my military career.

Glad Sadam held off using the stuff on our guy during both Gulf Wars.

Sincerely,
Unionblue