Land Torpedoes

[Bunnyman5]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any credible websites I could use to find more information about the mines AKA land torpedoes used in the Civil War. One of my ancestors participated in an assault on a fort where there were actually torpedoes dug in the ground that blew up. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Did your ancestor fight at Fort McAllister? The Fort McAllister Historic State Site has an amazing display of land torpedoes and you can tour the land torpedo field just south of Fort McAllister. Here is a nice article about Confederate Torpedoes used in the American Civil War.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2014/08/15/the-confederate-torpedo/?referer=

Bill

 

[Bunnyman5]

Did your ancestor fight at Fort McAllister? The Fort McAllister State Historic Site has an amazing display of land torpedoes and you can tour the land torpedo field just south of Fort McAllister. Here is a nice article about Confederate Torpedoes used in the American Civil War.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2014/08/15/the-confederate-torpedo/?referer=

Bill

Yep, you guessed it right! Thanks for the link I'll check it out. I also have some relatives living in the area, so if I visit them I'll be sure to check it out.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Yep, you guessed it right! Thanks for the link I'll check it out. I also have some relatives living in the area, so if I visit them I'll be sure to check it out.

Something to wet your whistle......

Bill

 

[Bunnyman5]

Amazing!

 

[alexjack]

That's a coincidence, just this afternoon I was reading ' Three Years in the Sixth Corps ' by George T Stevens, a Kindle book. He describes how during an advance on abandoned Confederate works during the Peninsular campaign, " As the 77th regiment passed along one of the roads leading among the entrenchments, a sharp report like that of a pistol was heard at the feet of those in the center of the column and directly under the Colors. The men scattered and a piece of old cloth was seen lying on the ground at the point from which the report emanated. Colonel McKean who was very near lifted the cloth with the point of his sword and discovered a torpedo carefully buried in the ground. " He goes on to say how they had been lucky in that on this occasion only the fuse had exploded but other regiments had not been so lucky as there were many more torpedos buried in the area, their fuses covered with a piece of rag or bark and how many men had been killed or wounded.

 

[IrishReb1863]

Fort Fisher had torpedoes on the land face that failed to detonate. These were command detonated and they believe the naval bombardment cut the connections preventing them from firing.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Something to wet your whistle......

Bill

Thanks. Loved the music.

 

[JohnDLittlefield]

Often, Confederate prisoners were used to walk the path ahead of the Union army to "find" the torpedoes.

 

[Story]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any credible websites I could use to find more information about the mines AKA land torpedoes used in the Civil War. One of my ancestors participated in an assault on a fort where there were actually torpedoes dug in the ground that blew up. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Confederate Torpedoes: Two Illustrated 19th Century Works with New Appendices and Photographs
$40
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786463325/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

 

[ErnieMac]

An article about the Rains brothers published by the SCV. Confederate BG Gabriel J. Rains is largely credited with developing torpedos both on land and afloat.
http://rainsbrotherscamp1370.com/rains-brothers-bio