Civil War Landmine?

BrianB

Corporal
Joined
May 16, 2014
I can't believe I am even chiming in on this one, but I just don't believe that is a Civil War era mine. I have nothing to back up my belief and I can't draw an argumentative line in the sand. Nevertheless, I DON'T believe that's a civil war era mine. .........and (as Forrest Gump said) that's all I have to say about that....
 
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/civil-war-land-mine.78635/

28D.jpg
 
Dixie - No press source, to my knowledge, printed any photo of the "landmine" (other than a stock photo of a WWII anti-tank mine). Given no photographic evidence to examine, we will probably never know for sure. But I really doubt it was a landmine.
 
As I recall during Sherman's March to the Sea, the Conferates laid rudimentary land mines, they called them "Torpedos" at the time, in attempt to slow the unyeilding march to the sea. Sherman remedied the situation by sending a letter back to Wheeler saying that from then on, Confederate prioners would lead the marches at gun point. The planting of landmines, AKA. torpedos, stopped soon thereafter.
 
Reminds me of what Stalin reputedly told a Western military advisor during WW II. The fastest way to clear a mine field is to march a regiment through it.
 
So what is the verdict?
No way, no how a landmine could be used at Hot Springs?

The sub-terrain mines were used at Ft Brakeley...

They also dug a series of rifle pits, in which teams of skirmishers were deployed, a short distance in advance of these obstructions. Controversially, Liddell's men had also buried dozens of land mines, a recent invention at the time called "subterra shells," in the ground in their front. Nearby on islands in the Blakeley River were two large batteries, named Huger and Tracy, which formed an integral part of the overall Confederate line.

Snip...

Some of the Union casualties occurred after the battle, as the mine-ridden battlefield continued to claim victims until captured prisoners were forced to point out their locations.

Rains on ethics... https://armyhistory.org/mine-warfare-in-the-civil-war/

Soon, a torpedo “arms race” commenced. The ethics questions proliferated as fast as the weapons were being used in battle. In the end, Rains best captured the moral dilemma of mine warfare, stating, “Each new invention of war has been assailed and denounced as barbarous and anti-Christian, yet each in its turn notwithstanding has taken its position by the universal consent of nations according to its efficiency in human slaughter.”
 
The sub-terrain mines were used at Ft Brakeley...

They also dug a series of rifle pits, in which teams of skirmishers were deployed, a short distance in advance of these obstructions. Controversially, Liddell's men had also buried dozens of land mines, a recent invention at the time called "subterra shells," in the ground in their front. Nearby on islands in the Blakeley River were two large batteries, named Huger and Tracy, which formed an integral part of the overall Confederate line.

Snip...

Some of the Union casualties occurred after the battle, as the mine-ridden battlefield continued to claim victims until captured prisoners were forced to point out their locations.

Rains on ethics... https://armyhistory.org/mine-warfare-in-the-civil-war/

Soon, a torpedo “arms race” commenced. The ethics questions proliferated as fast as the weapons were being used in battle. In the end, Rains best captured the moral dilemma of mine warfare, stating, “Each new invention of war has been assailed and denounced as barbarous and anti-Christian, yet each in its turn notwithstanding has taken its position by the universal consent of nations according to its efficiency in human slaughter.”


I believe an immoral weapon is one my opponent has that I do not.
 
As I recall during Sherman's March to the Sea, the Conferates laid rudimentary land mines, they called them "Torpedos" at the time, in attempt to slow the unyeilding march to the sea. Sherman remedied the situation by sending a letter back to Wheeler saying that from then on, Confederate prioners would lead the marches at gun point. The planting of landmines, AKA. torpedos, stopped soon thereafter.

You beat me to the punch! Good show!
 
Since use of landmines in the Civil War was limited to a couple of very isolate incidents (Fort Fisher, I think)

Sirs, please see 'Infernal Machines: The Story of Confederate Submarine and Mine Warfare' by Milton F. Perry. It can be had for about $5.00 on Amazon. The use of land mines, (torpedoes), by the Confederacy was prevalent in all theaters from 1861 on...

HTHs,
USS ALASKA
 
If you wish to see a good video on Civil War Landmines, go to youtube, put in Steve Phillips and look for his Confederate Landmines video, he also has videos on rockets, torpedoes and hand grenades.
 
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