Poison use in ACW.

[archieclement]

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.

Fort Dilts: Guns, arrows and poison? Historians mark 150th anniversary of ND battle

RHAME -- It's not known whose idea it was to poison a group of Sioux warriors by using strychnine-laced food a wagon train purposely left behind during a September 1864 battle with the Native Americans, said Dean Pearson, of Bowman, and president...

www.thedickinsonpress.com

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, there were plans, not that they came to fruition...

DROP POISION GAS FROM A BALLOON

Recently a letter was found in the National Archives which suggested a startling innovation. This letter proposed dropping on Fort Pickens and Federal ships at Pensacola, Florida, bombs containing poisonous gas. The bombs were to be dropped from a Confederate balloon anchored above the fort. The letter, written to Confederate Secretary of War L.P. Walker by Private Isham Walker of the 9th Mississippi Regiment, was accompanied by a sketch giving details of the proposal. Letter and sketch were filed in the Confederate War Department and apparently no attempt was made to implement Private Walker's suggestion of aerial bombardment with poison laden missiles. Records in the National Archives show that Walker was honorably discharged by General Braxton Bragg's special order Number 251 of October 3, 1861. Nothing is known of his subsequent career.

Please see full article with entire letter here - https://www.historynet.com/drop-poi...a Confederate balloon anchored above the fort

The above clipping was cropped from here - https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024738/1861-06-04/ed-1/seq-1/

MILITARY MEDICINE, 173, 5:499, 2008
Proposals for Chemical Weapons during the American Civil War
Guy R. Hasegawa
PharmD

ABSTRACT
Proposals for chemical weapons that arose during the American Civil War are described. Most incendiary and all biological agents are excluded. The described proposals appeared primarily in periodicals or letters to government officials on both sides. The weapons were usually meant to temporarily disable enemy combatants, but some might have been lethal, and Civil War caregivers were ill-prepared to deal with the weapons' effects. Evidently, none of the proposed weapons were used. In only one instance was use against civilians mentioned. Among the agents most commonly proposed were cayenne pepper or other plant-based irritants such as black pepper, snuff, mustard, and veratria. Other suggested agents included chloroform, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic compounds, sulfur, and acids. Proponents usually suggested that the chemicals be included in explosive artillery projectiles. Less commonly proposed vehicles of delivery included fire engines, kites, and manned balloons. Some of the proposed weapons have modern counterparts.

https://watermark.silverchair.com/milmed.173.5.499.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAtQwggLQBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggLBMIICvQIBADCCArYGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMV8y5qeQrx4iNs1V7AgEQgIICh9f3IHECKRbFcMHnbNUGRvq6XFo6CoPqCh6O_lPYyxa8wuGlzJ1jVDsaLn0U3ylPaimzU8zYpEVZB-88WNFhFb71HdiybJJJvWGnPfSC7jfwlWK-qRalzojdip-JqLRYOPWJoZ_R6-XK3N-1GnJ4pM7tzGGdwne1OYoIZTq__d13TYg3QaJ84aDUDhl_lfKBJgpbIISv9tomnXN2Y4h2Z-r818KNwRkzltmyrxAb6FnLnL2BSmTgJmyW6XezfLhesG0Qfc2nztn3QpukOwyeKoqWmU6CkKz8YZtWn9aqNU9p2RPEP2iu_88kka5HPG5iYw9_VrYzAuUPVX5lKaQYPNuIA50Jl7DaqFnzWP1fGAWGM-8mYETOP6qwhF9wQCdtjIzTXEMqLzaVyDJcuS2W8KgJOokGYsGVfjT_EGJ-Izai0YjdZcxkOdFHtyH8DutJXxn3zdKa6jtk2zrJbMLhiPcapi44ZZaPOkUgOSYzWfuGpNTX0GvSE40QqIBhUyYoIo-ds6G3OGz_ppJP-tLH3ZPY1AgssPBe0eNSbwTKtUI3api1t2pN6HNT3xx31clDVwgFOxToG3lJCu630fVhDOUZI2QjHMHJ2upzKGH_Ga9rjEAI_dIRI-auW0ecXxyMNHWKDWq5ebWKoMUVOfsC0uLCGVkL9rgDGS2aALOMqpkQPjshywHmcojJAX_kq0Ls3TnoKmA6bkW1kJFFjoXC6nHglGJ5xE8oMdh7wepLr3AgYbvfw1R1oof9dRgV3SM65aAL4lFKvBGXspEN7C5Aq8GgY9D9wNYj39JP_asLNYGs77-6z2l6ctN3aQWnfaxMSILdIdZQ5ps7Je1x88JCXVwy-Yd-eyDk

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[Sheltowee]

Sir, there were plans, not that they came to fruition...

DROP POISION GAS FROM A BALLOON

Recently a letter was found in the National Archives which suggested a startling innovation. This letter proposed dropping on Fort Pickens and Federal ships at Pensacola, Florida, bombs containing poisonous gas. The bombs were to be dropped from a Confederate balloon anchored above the fort. The letter, written to Confederate Secretary of War L.P. Walker by Private Isham Walker of the 9th Mississippi Regiment, was accompanied by a sketch giving details of the proposal. Letter and sketch were filed in the Confederate War Department and apparently no attempt was made to implement Private Walker's suggestion of aerial bombardment with poison laden missiles. Records in the National Archives show that Walker was honorably discharged by General Braxton Bragg's special order Number 251 of October 3, 1861. Nothing is known of his subsequent career.

Please see full article with entire letter here - https://www.historynet.com/drop-poision-gas-from-a-balloon-august-1997-civil-war-times-feature/#:~:text=Recently a letter was found in the National,from a Confederate balloon anchored above the fort

View attachment 497068

The above clipping was cropped from here - https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024738/1861-06-04/ed-1/seq-1/

MILITARY MEDICINE, 173, 5:499, 2008
Proposals for Chemical Weapons during the American Civil War
Guy R. Hasegawa
PharmD

ABSTRACT
Proposals for chemical weapons that arose during the American Civil War are described. Most incendiary and all biological agents are excluded. The described proposals appeared primarily in periodicals or letters to government officials on both sides. The weapons were usually meant to temporarily disable enemy combatants, but some might have been lethal, and Civil War caregivers were ill-prepared to deal with the weapons' effects. Evidently, none of the proposed weapons were used. In only one instance was use against civilians mentioned. Among the agents most commonly proposed were cayenne pepper or other plant-based irritants such as black pepper, snuff, mustard, and veratria. Other suggested agents included chloroform, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic compounds, sulfur, and acids. Proponents usually suggested that the chemicals be included in explosive artillery projectiles. Less commonly proposed vehicles of delivery included fire engines, kites, and manned balloons. Some of the proposed weapons have modern counterparts.

https://watermark.silverchair.com/milmed.173.5.499.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAtQwggLQBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggLBMIICvQIBADCCArYGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMV8y5qeQrx4iNs1V7AgEQgIICh9f3IHECKRbFcMHnbNUGRvq6XFo6CoPqCh6O_lPYyxa8wuGlzJ1jVDsaLn0U3ylPaimzU8zYpEVZB-88WNFhFb71HdiybJJJvWGnPfSC7jfwlWK-qRalzojdip-JqLRYOPWJoZ_R6-XK3N-1GnJ4pM7tzGGdwne1OYoIZTq__d13TYg3QaJ84aDUDhl_lfKBJgpbIISv9tomnXN2Y4h2Z-r818KNwRkzltmyrxAb6FnLnL2BSmTgJmyW6XezfLhesG0Qfc2nztn3QpukOwyeKoqWmU6CkKz8YZtWn9aqNU9p2RPEP2iu_88kka5HPG5iYw9_VrYzAuUPVX5lKaQYPNuIA50Jl7DaqFnzWP1fGAWGM-8mYETOP6qwhF9wQCdtjIzTXEMqLzaVyDJcuS2W8KgJOokGYsGVfjT_EGJ-Izai0YjdZcxkOdFHtyH8DutJXxn3zdKa6jtk2zrJbMLhiPcapi44ZZaPOkUgOSYzWfuGpNTX0GvSE40QqIBhUyYoIo-ds6G3OGz_ppJP-tLH3ZPY1AgssPBe0eNSbwTKtUI3api1t2pN6HNT3xx31clDVwgFOxToG3lJCu630fVhDOUZI2QjHMHJ2upzKGH_Ga9rjEAI_dIRI-auW0ecXxyMNHWKDWq5ebWKoMUVOfsC0uLCGVkL9rgDGS2aALOMqpkQPjshywHmcojJAX_kq0Ls3TnoKmA6bkW1kJFFjoXC6nHglGJ5xE8oMdh7wepLr3AgYbvfw1R1oof9dRgV3SM65aAL4lFKvBGXspEN7C5Aq8GgY9D9wNYj39JP_asLNYGs77-6z2l6ctN3aQWnfaxMSILdIdZQ5ps7Je1x88JCXVwy-Yd-eyDk

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

Side question- what were specifics of special order 251?

 

[archieclement]

I've always been a little surprised how bitter the war was here in Missouri, with torture, house burnings, murder ect not being uncommon, don't think I've ever seen claim of well poisonings.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Then there is always...

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...

civilwartalk.com

Side question- what were specifics of special order 251?

Not a clue sir.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DURING THE CIVIL WAR
U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command
Jeffery K. Smart

The Civil War proved to be a fertile time for research and development of experimental chemical and biological weapons and protective equipment. Many of these inventions and concepts proposed during the war were the forerunners of similar items used on a much larger scale during World War I, the first major war that included the use of chemical and biological weapons.

Wayback Machine

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Bentonville]

I've always been a little surprised how bitter the war was here in Missouri, with torture, house burnings, murder ect not being uncommon, don't think I've ever seen claim of well poisonings.

I differ to your knowledge but I just assumed The Burnt District has its wells poisoned by something. A few dead animals would have done that.

 

[archieclement]

I differ to your knowledge but I just assumed The Burnt District has its wells poisoned by something. A few dead animals would have done that.

Haven't ever heard of it, so it doesn't seem to occured on much at all, if at all.

There would be little reason to poisoned wells other then to spite or force hardships on settlers......Guerrillas typically ran and camped along river/creek bottoms where fresh water would been readily available and cover/vegetation generally thickest.

It might had some effect if done to city wells where Union garrisoned, but not aware of any instances.