Four things?

[bamaman]

Were these four things used in the Civil War? Gatling gun, Congrieve rockets, torpedos, (land mines) or any type of biological weapon like poisoning a water well?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Yes

Supposedly experimentally by the Confederacy. They had been used before in North America...something about '...rockets red glare...'

Yes

Sorta / kinda

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[redbob]

I can give you a hard yes on 2 of the 4. Hale rockets and land mines. There were several types of multi fire/ rapid fire weapons also.

 

[R. Porter]

During the New York City Draft Riots, the staff of the New York Times deployed Gatling guns to protect their office building.

New York City draft riots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Story]

 

[R. Porter]

Apparently poisoning wells was done by both sides.

World Water

www.worldwater.org

 

[Story]

The American Civil War

The American Civil War marked the first instance of alleged use of an insect as a weapon of war. The Confederacy accused the Union of deliberately introducing the harlequin bug,Murgentia histrionica, into the South.

Tremendous crop damage resulted in the South because of this pest. This allegation was never proven and it now appears that the harlequin bug moved on its own into the South from Mexico. However, humans may have aided in the movement of this pest.

Disease relationships (microbial and insect vector) were elucidated in the early twentieth century. As soon as the mechanisms were known, military planners began to apply them as possible warfare agents.

Insects as Biological Weapons - Insects, Disease, and Histroy | Montana State University

www.montana.edu

 

[USS ALASKA]

...or any type of biological weapon like poisoning a water well?

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

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

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

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

"Dead Cattle and Greek Fire" | Small Arms & Ammunition

"The American Civil War was a conflict that sat astride two phases in military history: It began with generals on both sides employing timeworn Napoleonic-era strategies and ended with horrific trench warfare and violence against civilian populations that foreshadowed World War I. It was also a...

civilwartalk.com

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I can give you a hard yes on 2 of the 4. Hale rockets and land mines. There were several types of multi fire/ rapid fire weapons also.View attachment 517779View attachment 517780View attachment 517782View attachment 517783

Redbob would know!

 

[Northern Light]

Apparently poisoning wells was done by both sides.

World Water

www.worldwater.org

I know that soldiers on both sided threw bodies down wells. but i think that was more laziness than intentional poisoning. I do recall that some Confederates tried to infect Northerners with yellow fever through blankets etc. Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of man....

 

[major bill]

Yes to all four things. All of which has very little impact on the War. Water torpedoes or mines had more impact that all four combined.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

In relation to the subject of poisoning water resources as a method of warfare in the CW.

Believe there were isolated, albeit rare, incidents of both sides dumping animal carcasses into ponds to deliberately poison the water supply.

For example. Following the surrender of Vicksburg and the deployment of Sherman to Jackson, Sherman refers to a poisoning incident by retreating Confederates when he wrote in his memoirs:-

…"The next day (July 4, 1863) Vicksburg surrendered, and orders were given for at once attacking General Johnston. The Thirteenth Corps (General Ord) was ordered to march rapidly, and cross the Big Black at the railroad-bridge; the Fifteenth by Mesainger's, and the Ninth (General Parker) by Birdsong's Ferry-all to converge on Bolton. My corps crossed the Big Black during the 5th and 6th of July, and marched for Bolton, where we came in with General Ord's troops; but the Ninth Corps was delayed in crossing at Birdsong's. Johnston had received timely notice of Pemberton's surrender, and was in full retreat for Jackson. On the 8th all our troops reached the neighborhood of Clinton, the weather fearfully hot, and water scarce. Johnston had marched rapidly, and in retreating had caused cattle, hogs, and sheep, to be driven into the ponds of water, and there shot down; so that we had to haul their dead and stinking carcasses out to use the water."….
(Source: MEMOIRS OF GENERAL SHERMAN, COMPLETE (gutenberg.org) See Chapter XIII)

Also, in relation to any practice of poisoning. The Union War Department issued General Orders No. 100 on April 24, 1863 (known as 'The Lieber code of 1863') regulating the conduct of Union armies in the field. Of particular note, was article 16 of Section 1, which provided in part:-

16. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty--that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district.
(Source: http://www.civilwarhome.com/liebercode.htm )

Am unaware of any corresponding formal regulation by the Confederacy for its armies in the field.

 

[Old Soldier]

I know that soldiers on both sided threw bodies down wells. but i think that was more laziness than intentional poisoning. I do recall that some Confederates tried to infect Northerners with yellow fever through blankets etc. Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of man....

Putting bodies down a well was always done to ensure the well was not used again. Always.

 

[Stryker65]

Were these four things used in the Civil War? Gatling gun, Congrieve rockets, torpedos, (land mines) or any type of biological weapon like poisoning a water well?

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/rockets-in-the-civil-war.129081/

Information on rockets, especially those used by Greer's Texas Battery.

Gatling guns weren't used, to the best of my my knowledge, but the precursor to them, Billinghurst-Requa's, were.

On poison, I can't remember any, but I believe Lt. Col. John R. Baylor of the Second Texas supposedly killed a bunch of Indians in Arizona by giving them sacks of flour with broken glass mixed in.

 

[Stryker65]

Scratch that. On poison, @Reporting History found this instance: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/todays-news-august-30-1861-–-an-exciting-incident.211563/

 

[USS ALASKA]

On poison, I can't remember any...

Sir, please see post #8 of this thread.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA