infernal machines

7/25/2019 Infernal Machines

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MCHNES-

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Copyight i965 byLouisiana State Unversity Pess

Liray of ongess atalog ard Nume: 65-12838Manufactured in te United States of America y

Kingsport Pess, Inc. Kingspot TennesseeDesige y E. S Dima

Libary of Congress Cataloging-inPublcaton Data

Pey, Mlton FInfernal machnes.

Bbogaphy: p.ncludes dex.

Unted StatesHstoyCv War Nava operatonsSubmae 2. Mnes, SubmaeUnted StatesHstoyth centuy 3 Topedoesstoyth centuy. TteEP4 73.7'7 7ISBN 0075 (pbk)

Lusana Paperback Edton,


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To Pop ad Tay


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P R EA E

espite te vast amout of iterature concering te eca Civi War tere is o detailed accou of te developmetand appiatio of torpedoes ad mines by te Confederacy. Someautors ave incuded

feces to tem as ats of arge works

or i personal narratives but ecept for a few teic sudiesby mitay and nava egieers te story as bee untold. Ts a attempt to rectify te oversigt.

Te subect o torpedo warfare was froed upo as cruelanton or "ucivilized by may cotemporaries of te CivilWar Tis attitude pus te lak of etesive doumentation isprobably te reaso tat te elig of te stoy as so log beeavoided. Yet te epons gave rise to a ole ne dimension inmilitary teoogy. Te intricacies of te mies teselves temetds of delivering tem ad te counterweapons tey engendered far eceeded ay of te plas of te iventors oreapoers True if te Confederacy ad not adopted te use ofies some oter natio would ave bu tis does not dimiisteir istorical impat. Tere stil remai te eciting displays ofourage foud i te advetures of Mattew Fotaie Mauy

rais D Lee Hunter Davdson Jams Tomb Beverly Keon and teir comrades.I was bo near te conuece of e Roaoke and Cowa

rivers it lbemarle Soud ad rew up o e sores oHampto Roads. My acestors obably ead e caoadig

i


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Preace

of t nava batts nd min posions in ts aras I sam mddy Roanok nar a "Civi Wr gnboa rck. Criostyproptd m to stdy t r r Latr as a mmbr of t

sa of t Wst Point Msm in wic is prsrvd t onlyrg cocion of Confdra ordos fod r was f istory of t apons

T assistanc of many rsons ad tis proct possib. wan to acodg spciay t many nots of ncoragmntand t rvi of manscrip by Mr Pi a Dorn Sds ngsd aor of a nmbr of cn Civi War sdisGy E. Bisop Jr a frind of many yars and Wiia L Piyaw

o dr t maps of t Carston ara and Mobil Bay)prsd t manscrip and ord vaab sggsions RcardLsr of London ilingy frrtd ot rfrncs in Britissorcs. Sn sn Jim Hiard Grry Sto and WiiamLckt gav m pointrs and sggstions.

Pggy Smit Cat Mn Marcy Wan and my wifBarbar abord valinty it nots in my nry igib andor i my pck yping Tirs praps as most dicltask of al

M F P

vi


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CONT ENTS

Preface1 Ma TorpedoeI Te Submare BaterieI a Suberra SelV Fr Bloov Spreadng Succev1 From Carlesto o he ameVII Captai Le' Torpedo RamVIII DavdIX Beeat he Surfacx Elecg SucceXI Perilou WaterXII The Secre Servce CorpXIII Salemate on he amexv The Roanoke ad e Rappaannockxv Dam he Torpedoes!xvi Te Torpedo i JuableXVII Sweepng he CoaXVIII Opning the Jame and Weste WaterXIX

AfermaxNotesNotes o SourcesIndex

vi31320

2837

4968190

1011813014715816

17177

11932123


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oble By

LL U T R A T O N

page

16 follwin page 84

"Dvd opedo boConfedee subme H. L Hunleyes d opedoes sed du e Cv WSp opedo boopedoes used is e S.S. Pawnee 8Cofedee opedo ssemby stioDavid ttcs US.S. New IrdesU.SS. CroRs of e Caro's plo ouse, o


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NE R N AL MAHNE


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C H A P T E R

On Sundy, uly 7, 8, he gunbo S.S. Pn wptrolling he choppy wter of the Potomc downriver fromWhington Aloft, nd on dec, her crew w erching for mllbot croing the river or for ctivity in the Confederte btterierotecting te outh of Acqui Cree, the route to the rirod forRichond A hreed ooout drew ttention to pir of blcpeck bobbing with the tide ome two hundred yrd from hehp. Comnder Stehe C. Rown ordered hi veel topedd ent her conort, the Rsout to inetigte. A cutter, drected by ter Wilim Budd w lunched nd too the yeunidentied obect in tow Curiou ior ered down Buddtied onto he hip. They w p of rge brrel connected by

long rope Supended beneth the brre were two iron contin-er led wth powder nd tted with wterroof fue

own recognized hee contrivnce ir of the elovemce e Confederte were rumored to be perfectig Budd


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1

gige e e ow he shoe fer ouing wer inohe i hoes o eigish he fses On he w oe sn b heoher ws resce se o Cone Jo A Dhgren of

he Union Nv's onnce ueThis ws he rs ence of he "oeo i e Civi W.

Before osiiies cesed hree ers nd nine ons er hisweon ws o eso o ge woscoe ee ss ihundres of en Toedoes ( he e ce "ines o)were o send oe Uion vesses o he boo n were hewshis of he Cofeere vi he Jes ChresonHbo in he ed iver in e Wes rig Frgu's

fos encone Mobie Bogh iios of os wee ore io he conscioof ioncs shioshi encoes wee re n no oe ofese vesses scceee in sining n oosie nber. Toreoservice grew so rid h b 1863 i bece ue in nres o ee one's oiors n s nchoe red fo ciob srone b nes n rows of obsrucions n circe bs bos eined he we using cciu ghs ighThese elbore recuions were evised s he os eeciveens of roecion gins oing ines or cs b swif loworeo bos which woul be develoed er in e wr Desiesuc esures soe f shis were evenu sun o dgedb ines. Foree of hese wee Uion gure h ebrceshe desucion of four oniors On single Confedere vesselws s b Fee oreoeshe r nv eoi h bece oe of he besown of he wr

Toredoes were no enie new o wrfre eseci in

Aeic Durng e evouion Dvid Bushnell d devised eg oredo whic ws e fous b Frncis Hoinson'ssiricl oe "Be of e Kegs. obe Fuon nd eCo bo bece neresed in sch eosives b e owrdoe ursuis wen eir eeiens were no wel eceivedog boh succeeded n sinig ge sis. Flong ineswere used Cnon Cin in 185758, nd b he ssnsduring te Crien Wr. Desor eeriens d been co

duced elsewere bu few ece he invenors seemed o ee seriously

mog ose wo dd ws Aerics dsinguished cens


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Mays Toeoes

saior-ocanographr Matthw Fontain Mau, who, fo hischating of t ocan curnts, has bcom know as Th Pathndr of th Sas" Th fy-four-yaold Vginian signd hiscommission in th US Navy on Apil 20 86, aftr thirtyv yas of svic, and cast his lo wih h d Dominionbcaus, as h said, h had bn raisd in h schoo of statsihts."

Th stocky, balding scintist had rachd th dcsion to tiat hs long and hoo-lld car only aft much inrospction Lam fom an accidnt in 89, h had srvd in th Navyshydographica oc and had publishd his ndings in svabooks, among thm Physcl Gogrphy o th Sa, which dscibd th natu of th Guf Stam mpulsivnss was alin tohis charac; his choic was a dibat on Virginia, h wot,gav m bith; within h bodrs, among many kind frids, thnarst o kin, [and] nighbos, my chdrn a planting thivin . . . hr bosom ar h ravs of my athrs . . . This,to him, was th path of duty and hono" With his lag famiy h

lft ashingon and movd to th hous of a rlativ in dricksburg H was cald to Richmond and on Api 2, 86, was placd

on th govrnos advisory counci to mak commndations forth potcion of h stas watways It was at this juncu thath tund to possibity of utiizing topdos in th dfns ofth Souh Th Southn stats had bu fw ships; vn if hy hadhad mo, th th thousand mils of coast, indntd with

numrous bays and rivs, posd a dicult dfnsiv poblm.Topdos, h rasond, could tak th plac of nonxistntwarships and psnt a rlatvly inxpnsiv ring of dfns

Maury sms to hav com to ths concusions about th timof is aval i Richmond ad id to convinc authoitis ofhis ws owv, tos to whom h talkd opind that this wasan incal and ulawful wafa" At t hom of hs cousinRobr H Mau on ashionabl Clay Stt, h xpimnd in

is bdoom wih tiny cans of powd and a lag washtub ldwith wat, spashing th fuishings and fightning th amilywih shap xplosions. Satisd that his plans w th bass for apacticab undtakin, Maury had a ar oak cask buit to hisspcicaions by Tabott & Son on ary trt. wo bars o


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pwder wee placed at h dpal by Ger JhLetche ad a fll-cale tet wa plaed the Jame Rer Rckett Whaf

t wa a ht lty day mdJe A ht f dgtaecludg he ge he Cfedeate Secetay f the Nayad the Cgeal Cmmtee Naal aad Maywfe ad chde cwded the whaf ad bak Takg h May rwed t t mdteam frm the CSS Ptrick Hryated h trped et the pec tgger ad caefllylled a rpe layard At a afe dtace h yaked thecd Up wet a clm f water ftee r twety feet" wrte

h Rchad May ed r ded h ated ard; thecal he whaf appladed ad wee cced. ." Actually /Mary had hped t demtate methg ee mepectaclara electc tped red by a pak pag hgh lg ulated cablebt the e wa t t be had

The dbg Thae" wee leced ad May wa pmted t chef f the SeaCat Hab ad Rer Defee fthe Sth " wth the ak f capta abdat " fd ( $

whch eemed abdat the) ad a gp f eager atatde h cmmad4He lt tme plag he detct f the eaet U

wahp Fe eel ay at ach ampt Rad peetg a temptg taget; thee clded tw aghp the sotad he Rook cmmaded by ld acqaace Maygaheed a mall cew ad wet ecetly by ta gh eerbrg alg the ther he f the Jame t Slk ad

tmth alghg at N0lk Fday Jly 186. It waly a few mle t Sewall t elkg the Rad thelcat f Cfedeate batee whch gaded the mth f theElabeth Rer

That ght ad the et they attempted ecaace amall bat bt a pcket teame yg rd ad rd" keptthem away frm the achage. O Sday whle watchg theFedeal hgh h pygla ary a teely elg ma

aw the chch ag aed abe he U cl ad eedtwge f ccece ad a wae f talga f the may tmehe t had bee de thee ame tw bae Neethee heet ut at te 'clck that ght leadg e k each caryg a


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ars Toreoes

torpdo wth thrt fathom of anyard Th ntntion wa to joitwo ca wth n and t t td carry tm acro h nmy'ow f vrythng wnt a pannd, th currnt woud wp th

torpdo aong th d of t hp, ad h rutng trawod trggr th fu

Th nght wa t, car, cam and ovy," ad h of thprnc. Thatchr' Comt wa amng h ky. W try t, pung aong th pan of t pndd tra. th noand trmo of th nmy' camp ad t wa huhd. Thy hadno guard oat of any ort out, and a wth mud oar w gato nar tm hard v b> trk

To rach th t t wa ncary to row aout thr .Carfy chcng tr poton and th ow of th watr thypad th Mdd Ground" nar th cntr of th Road and ada cour toward Nwport Nw o th wt hor, takng carto mov ahad of th t toward th mouth of th am. Mauryrobay tmd h movmnt o that th tid ran wth

H daughtr tty rcountd rt of th tory i hrdiary:

ter putting the magazines under one ship the oat were ordered ack and Papa went with the other two to plant te maazinesunder the other vessel

They then rowed to some distance and waited or he explosionut it never came Than Go or it had Pa would have een hunglong efore now

Pa tnks he can account or the ailure an coul ectiy veeasily

Says he was very much struc with the cupale neligence o enemy That he could have gone and put his han on those vesselswith impunity

There was a litle mechanic who went from ichmon wit express stipulation that he should not go in the oats with the expeitionBut at the last minute he got so excited an ntereste at e eean implore to e allowed to o

t would have een a gran success

W Maury atr rcout pod to hi famiy, h waakd mock roun if h woud hav rcud Lutnantuti Pndrga of th nsota Pndrga had ambr of th oard that turnd" Maury from th S Nay,v though h had foray rgnd day for th oar


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etThe captan thought a oent eoe akng hs etteeepy: shoud ke to have seen an aske h he thought was t o actve sevce ow"

n he eas o he athes saety, etty eecte he othesdsappova, an so d anothe aughte, ay: y ote wasnot n avo o the use o the suane topeoes an thought taaous to ow up en wthout gvng he a chance todeend theseves" auy cay epe that y these easueshe hoped to shote the wa.

The Fedeas wee copetey unawae o the attack. Unt oneo the topedoes was seen aft n Hapton oads wo weeks

ate, they ha not the sghtest nkng o t auys patcpatond not ecoe known nt afte the wa hen the captuene was exae, was oun that the powe was wet o aeak, a posse expanaton o ts aue to expoe.

Ths eot sees to have een pat o a wete, oueaee attack th topeoes, o whe auy was usy Hapton oads, Letenant evey Kennon, J, SN, wastyng to snk the Pan n the Potoac Snce the pcaton o

Vgnas odance of secesson, ths weanned shpone othe ew sound washps n the Unted States Navyhad hoveeo Acqua eek, occasonay dueng wh atey whch theonedeates had sunk n pts aong the shoe hethe o notKennon was dspatche y odes o ay eas a ysteyBetty Mauy wote that he athe was not awae o the otheattack, t the tng ases the queston. n adto, CaptaMauy decte pecsey te sae kn o sutaneous attacks

ate that yea. n any event, nethe o hese acua eneavossucceede.

The othe attacks wee panne n ctoe, 86 athoughauy's ay egge h to wta o these haaousundetakngs Howeve, the Navy Depaent nteene ypacng h o speca uty whch w nteee wth hs oeseatng to the suane attey " n hs pace went Leuteant oet D. no, who ha een sent to Mauy y one

eate Secetay o the Navy Stephen aoy1t 8 o ctoe g no oade the Ptrick Hnry o

uey Pont the Jaes She was a oe New Yok an Doo e steae at ha een use n e June topeo


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aury,s Toreoes

dosttio d dstind to bcom th schoo ship of thCofdrt Nvy. Minor mt hr skippr, Condr Joh Tcr, d hs xctv ocr, acqaintd th ith th pa,

d scrd to vonts to hp hiMstr Thomas LDoi d Midshipn Axdr M Maso H spnt thftoo in th ay-coord pos d xpainn thioprto to his ssistts At this poit Mor discovd tht hhd oy 392 of th 00 pods of powdr h hd itndd to This t tht th xposio of ach torpdo od bsohat wk th h had cacatd

Coandr Tcr got nd y t snst ith shodd

hts, movin soy dosta o th otgoig tid Thrick Hnry rod hvy th ss ickd p by anor' strathr iday std for th issio, said Mnor

Sohat t, dar shaps of th ny ships snthrogh th ri and st o Nport Ns Th Confdatvss nchord qty sng a hawsr instad of a chin. Minorot

he oats were then lowred the maazins carefully slung uoysent on at intervas of 7 fet and when all was ready the crwsaed wth cutasses took their aces and were cautione in a fewwors y me to ke sient and oey imicity the ordrs of the o-rs Actin Mastr Doin with Mason took the left side of thechannel wie took the right with Mr Edwar Moore oatswain to iot me Pullng own te river some 00 or 700 yards theoats were ten aowe to drift wit the rai e tide while the endof the cork line was asse ovr to Mr Doin and the line tautenedy the oats pulling in oosite directions he uoys were then

thrown overoard te guar lins on the trigers cut the levers tteand inned the tri line made fast to he ight at te end of te leverthe safety screws removd te magazines carefuly lowere in te wa-tr where they were wel sorted y the uoys the slack line thrown overoard and al set faly adrift within 800 yards of the shand 400 yards of the atte on the l aove e oint So near werewe that voices were heard on te shore an Mr Moore reortd aoat aout 00 yards o. Pulin ack a sort distance and hear-in no exosion we reed to the shi wich we found clare for

acton and ready to cover us in te event of eing attacked

No oo had th bots bn hostd than th ookots badth rc Hnry obrv s ihts t Npot Nws shi iosy d th Codts thoh thy had b dis


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E M E

covere. The anchor was rase an the Hnry mae upriver atop spee, reachn Muberry Pont at 230 .

Daybreak foun Minor n the crosstrees lookn towar the

Federal anchorae where he cou make out a par of shps n thesame poston as on the prevous evenn Later, he and Tuckerrowe down to the mouth of the Warwick Rver where they coulsee better. Both of the enemy appeare unhared. The torpedoesha faled to nte. The Unite States squaron ha etected theConfeerates, but ha ra the won conclusons. They beeve they ha bee attacke by a Confeerate submarine,which they conent thouht was ater sunk.1

That summer Maur scusse mnes with Leutenant saac N.Brown, C.S.N., a sanybeare veteran of more than twentyyears wth the U.S. Navy, an an ol comrade. Brown had beenassne to work wth Major Genera Leonas Polk in bunefenses aon the Missssippi Rver. Brow escrbe hs probem and Maury propose settn out eectrc torpeoes n theriver. After stuyn aps an examinin vaous stes, theyseecte Randoph us ust above Coumbus, Kentucky, as the

best spot rom Caro to New reans'' for the new system.3eore the torpeoes cou be esine, more etae inormaton was neee about the enemy's ships. Rumors ha seepeddo the river of varous new types of vessels the ederas werebuldn at Cairo an Cncinnati. On uy 20 Secretary of theNavy Maory nstructe Brown to sen someone who knew shipsto Cncinnat n order to ea he character of the vesses. Polk reueste that Secretary of War Leroy P. Waker have

Captan Maury supervse the posionn of the submarine batteries in person, but apparenty he was not abe to o. nstead, heseems to have panne to make the components in Rchmond ansen them to Coumbus wth rections or assembln. He wroteBrown: Assumn that ou woud want them for the river atColumbus, have been ushn them oward. sha have, by theen o the week, six al ready to be e an panted. unexpecte r o ood uc has enabed me to o ths. have

twentyve underway, a of whch, i spte of the riftwoodan other habits of the Mssssppi, they can be mae to answer . 5 . are a our servce.

A r A. L auers o emphis wote that he, too, wante to


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Maurys Toreoes

help nd sent nmber of torpedoes of his invention Beverlyennon, who had been bilding topedoes nd other ordnancemateriel t New rleans, took some to Brown and helped him pt

them in the river This was the st combat electric mine stationto be establihed in Americ and, probably, in the world Mryscylindrical containers were byed cr the river They werethree feet long, were pointed t ne end, and weighed bot ftyponds Precios lengths of inlated wire connected them withgalvanic batteries nd telegrph key cntcts hidden in cesalong the thickly wooded bls

thers were planted on lnd These were sqat iron castings

with handles, resembling coveed pots Their lids were secred byeight bolts, and beneath were smaller wooden boxes that protected the holes throh which the wires from the batteriepassed Inside were -pond rtillery shells lled with caniterand rapeshot, nd two bshels of gnpowder Thee mines wereplnted along the two roads leading into Colmbs from thenorth Six wires r from clsters of mines beside the Clintood nd hill er it to one cve nd similr rrngemetgrded the Elliotts Mill od atop the river bls t is ocertain whic inventor ad devised this scheme

mors of these dangers reched the Federals while they wereprepring to move on Colmbs nd on Belmont, cross the river Missori Mrch, 862 they creflly nestigated the rivernd captred the system withot exploding single mine

The land mines were harder to nd hen the Confederates

abandoned the rier defene, the telegraphic switches weredeserted in working condition, nd no attempt was made todetonate the mines beneat the feet of Union soldiers They weredicovered by Captain W A Scmitt and his company of theTwentyseenth llinois nfantry Schmitts men spotted seriesof new ridges in the erth, idicting that shlow trenches hdrecently been led Trcing them, they came pon the parapernali in the caves At the ends of the ridge they ncovered

monds which revealed the explosivesne oberver claimed to have nderstood tht there were fromseety-ve to one hndred mines of varios type t Colmbs,d oter pt the cont nerer to for hndred There wereeq coictig stories s to the ds of torpedoesoe

l


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reporter litg t let for dtnct type. I ddto to theelectrcl vrete, he decrbed cylndrcl percon wtermne ad nother wth ome br rrngemet whch t dclt to degnte." Whtever they were they dd ot work.The powder w wet


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bt they were not enogh to wrap more than a few hndred feetof cable Actay many han wold be neede for exenivemine layng

Electrical ience wa te in its infancy Mary ed to theSoths leading expert Dr. ( Major ) William Norris chief ignalocer Thogh he originally depreciated" the cheme Norriseventally provided mch technca advice a wel a a spply ofwire which had been a Federal ndewater telegraph cable laidby the USS Hobok from Fort Moroe to Eastville o Virgiias Easte Shore The wire had been recovered by alerebels after being thrown pon the beaches of Willoghby Spitnear Norflk by a storm on Febrary 25, 82. Thogh it wasfrayed and broke from its being on the oor of the bayMary cnsidered it a Godend jt what we wanted" 2

Several inenial perons inpired no dobt by Marysditingished reptain and peraive manner came to recognize the imprtance of he mine Navy Seceary Mallory andPreident Jeero Davi became hi enhiastic backer Daviswa peened wih a reslion b the ose of epresenativei regard to the protecion of or pricipal cities from iro

plated veels by bstction and bmarine batteries " Anxio becae of he appearance of the little USSonto the oe aked if frther mnie wee reqired to sprthe work and Davis prompt reply reec a long dicsion withMary:

Sumarne atteries have een and are eng reared and .no additional aorations for these oects are consered to eneeed Untl recenly he character of the enemy's ironate vessels

was not well enogh known to arrange ostructons secially for temut te same rncile otains ras wth wooden shs] and te ostructions already reared can e strengthened when necessary orte want of inslated wre we are derived of tat cass of sumarineatteres exloded at wll y electrcity which romses te st reslts Exerients uon several knds of such as are exoded y imac have een in rogress snce an early erod of the war hsetoredoes can e rendered haress y the enemy n ost cases ysetting adrft oatng oes to exlode the as s sad to have eendone on te Mssss ver and as they cannot e ut in lace solong as all te channels are reired for se y or on oats no greatdegree of imortance is attached to tem ey may sere owever gain ime y making the enemy more cautious; and most of our


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Te Subrne eries

sacoast dfncs hav alrady rcivd or wi as soon as practicalrciv a crtain supply of thm.

Preious litl qupt to me th electrc mines ws thnd. Fo wteproof tns or s ury prefred to cll thm"mgzines th experinters rounded up svrl old ronlocomotiv nd stebot boilers clened the of rust ptchedth holes nd led them wth gunpowder. olston btteyws th only on vilbl. te they borowed Cuishnbttey from the University of Virgini ) Th ollston con-sisted of bns of cels n whch wr eighten pis of 10by 2inch znc pltes imersed thirtysx gllons of sulphuccd it could genete nough current to expod sigle chgonly few hundred fet wy "On cn imgine th clumsinessnd necincy of such mens ectd Muys chif ideieutennt Hunter Dvidson so yers lter.4

secod system of topedoes ws better ccommodted to priitiv equipment. This on ws smil to tht used t Coum-bus nd empoyed iron mgzies of 70 to 16 pouds ech

nhod n lsts o s My dsgtd thm "rngs. 5 spring they word d xperimentd with thse wepons.Whn th Fedels bgn thei Pninsul Cpign coupldwith nvl expediton up th Jms Mury wot Secrety ofWr George dolp on My 1 862: I beg to cll yourttetion to ou iver defess nd to sy tht th most ectulwy of eepig o th eny with his shotproof vessels is to mnthe chnnelwys nd blow up y mens of electricity when h

ttmpts th pssg. Th proplle tg Ts ws ssigned to th "SubmnBtty Sevc nd with th ssistnc of insmn Liutnntilm L. My Lieutnn vdson nd seva othesMury bgn to estblish th dnses. On used fou convetdbolers plced n two nges. Ech of th mnes held som 500ponds of powde nd w put dow n h btts onChns Blu below Richmond. Th oth onsstng o fn

smale toedoes ws pced below h blu.Thy ar arrangd in rows thos of ach row ing t aart.

Each tank is containd in a watrtight woodn cas capal of oat-ng it ut anchord and hld low th surfac from to 8 t ac-cording to th stat o th tid The anchors to ach ar an 8inch


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shll and a pic of ntldg h wir or th r cunrom th attry is assd from shll to shll alng th conncting ropwhich lis at th oom h wir that passs from cas to cas is

stoppd slac at th uoy rop from th shll up to th cas . hrturn wir is stoppd in li mannr down along h span to th nxshll 7

shoe wee wentyone ollston btteies in sheds, hooed uso tht sevel toedoes in one nge could be exploded t onceBefoe they could be tested, sping feshet oed down theve nd wshed he lge tns wy In site of intensivegppling, they wee neve locted

In thei fctoy ieutennt Muy nd his ssistnts wentbou "oving the tns nd putting the in the gy cssSes wee et t hnd so tht the slle ines could beedily elced if wshed wy

The lc of dequte fcilities in the Confedecy iposedlittions upon seus scientc esech This dwbc, togethe with Cptin Muys penchnt fo ising hisel inttcs upon the eney, ws no doubt ptilly esponsible fo the

Nvys decision to sed hi to nglnd My othe duties weelced upon hi thee, including the uchsing of wships Hecould lso conduct his studies in wellppointed lbotoies withthe ssistnce of tined esonnel In une, 182, he odes weeublished he esult ws tht he would spend the est of the win Euoe, whee he develoed highly sophisticted syste ofelecticl ines

ieutenn Hunte vidson ws ointed his successo His

duties wee "devising, lcing nd sueintending subinebtteies in the es ive nd execising "discetion s tothe wys n mens of lcing obstcles of this n of ny othechcte o oose the eneys ssge of the ive

y ws hs young n seected to elce woldfousscents who hd just begun a ost oising seies of ilityexements? vidson, gdute of the United Sttes Nvlceys secon css, hd seed o nely twenty yesbefoe jonng the Confeecy in il, 18 (He is cied onthe Nvys olls s being "disissed on Apil 23 even though, lieothe Southees, he hd subited fol esigntion ) Hisqulictios wee well nown to Muy, who gve h ne


27/247

The Subi aees

commndton fo hving hlpd him "with most hy goowll. sdnt Dvis lt chctzd Dvidson s "n ocviglnt, fuitful n xpdits, quc to pciv h fcts

ncint to th pplctio of nw g in w, wllng todmt os, ompt dvsig mds, ful of ntpis nntpi in xcuto. It is pobbl tht h ws put forwd byMury, ut th cospondc hs not bn found. Dvs dmtt ht "th choc ws fotut.

Dvson gn y mng thoough stuy of th Mytopo systm. "Th ct tht th ws no ctcl sut fomhs xpmts, h wrot of Muy, s du smpy to th wnt

of tm to ognz his focs nd collct mt, though his x-pimts sd to m som of th shols on h wy, notth chl to succss

Dvson suggst n most compty nw systm, nciv Scty Mloys ppotion upon h snttonof hs pns. But not l of thos with whom h cm nto contcw so ncougg. Acquntcs gg hm to gv t up,jst, n t tms vn sn t th pojct Thy sm to

h cou o tt by svig on ovn wponoxmp, n onc. hn h cl o Coonl Josh Gogs,h my chf of onc, fo gi pow, thsol wou not vn civ th topo oc Th mssws sov oly y ict o fom th Scty of thNvy. So low w ms hld th mnds of vious vush hy fus to ssocit with nyon who wo with thvcs.

Ion conts of hqutnch oi on, spciysgn o upos, w pp y h Tg Ionos n chmo, whi Dvidson n hs cw xpmtwth mthos of giton. Agn th c of tts ws gtwbc Thos us y Mury h b mttly usuit toth wo, ut thy w th oy ons vil t th mDvson mg to gt Bonto gvc tty n somsumn cb fom Egl, n hs ctc, . Cowly, moi t, dvoping tt with comonts sosm tht t is s sg m cou cry thm. Acs wobt by quisitong th mg supplis tn y dug-gsts.


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INFRNAL MAHIN

air of cabes ed to each of the powderled tans Inside, atthe cente, they were connected by a ne pltinum wire thatassed through a goose quill of fulminte When the contcts

were joined ashore, heat generated by the latinum exploded theflminte nd set o te mine in a frction of a second A testuon a tenton soop was completey successfu, destroying theboat and throwing a coumn of wate 0 feet in diameter bout 4feet high, a with ony seventyve pounds of exposives A200pond mine rised 0foot column and tossed fagmentsmore thn a hundred feet into the ir

This wor occuied Davidson and his men te whoe summer

of 82 By te Octobe they were about nished, and Davidsontod a friend

I am getg on slowy her wth th submarines. shal soon havabout pouds powder dow at dieret statios o the rver

My later experiment prove that powerful galvanc batteries can brelied o to act wth uerrg certaty at th dstace of a hal leunder water Ths s th way w shoud obstct our rvers scet powder can b got don't beev yo can d a Yan to sk blowg up12

One of the severa deays was occasioned by the enemy OnJuy 4 the Union gunboat Mn which was on a reconnais-ance u the Jmes ith the Mono, surried and captred theitte T afte a hort, sha engaement On board the tugws its mieaying equipment incuding wre, batteries, owder,acid, nd, in addition, a mticoored deted blloon mde uof old sil frocs The ghterthnai craft was to be used in

spying ot Union positions at Hrsons Landin The Ts wsprompty replaced it anothe tug, aty christened te Too

fter estabishing severa stations on te James above DutchGa, Dadson ed a distingushed grou, incuding PresidentDavs, Genera Robert E. Lee, and ecretary alloy, on aninsection of the instalations. o condent were they of theexplosives, said Davidson, that arge numbers of toops were

mmediately withdrawn for oerations in other areas, it beingwe understood that the Union amies coud not advance withoutte assistance of the edera squadron

oe taton was estabished aong the Raaannoc Rve


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T Sbmane aeres

not fa from ort Royal, Virginia, using three topedoes It was failue Davidsons aides believed that no Federal ships venturednea th torpedo elds because a slave ad disclosed th loca-

tionsan excus tat wa to be used countless tims, and wassometims t When the Army of the Potomac prepared itassault upon Fdericksburg in December, Daidson decided toemove te station lest te enemy occpy th peninsula betweenthe Yo ad Rappahannoc ries He sent electrician Crowleyto etrieve te mateial he could It was, wrote Crowley, "ahazadous undertakng becaus te station lay in a nomanland, and a Unon outpost was kown to be just acoss the rivr

Crowley reaced it at sunset and closed the gap A "temendousexplosion esulted, eruting in great colmns of wate tited delicate ose by the wning light Collecting wires and batteies,th Rebels uietly made thei way back to fiendly teritoy15


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C H A P T E R III

R UBRR LL

t was uiet, too uiet, in ront o the lines t Yorktownrhps tht cmp rumor was right ter ll Mybe the Johnnies skedddled nd et Yorktown or the taking These wer thehopes o the men omig detchments o cavlry sent out to

rob the rods leding to tht historic old Tidewter Virginito Spring there comes erly nd beutiully, but the soldierspid littl heed to th blossoms o ruit trees or the birds singing ite brnchs tht moing o My 4 82. Not single shot hdee ed, ot person seen Suddely th ground benet on o orses pted with violnt explosion, liting iml ndi, thowing them some distnc to one side

is ws ot rilery No one had heard the wzzig o

proc or brk o cno The men sprd out andxmie th goun Their ndings veied the report o dster who hd ntred the lines err that morning: shellwt tggrd uss wr buried mong nd i ront o t


31/247

Ra's Sbea Ss

fotcatons Anothe comn head a "stnnng eot ahead Aage hoe smokng and ank wth acd gowde fme, caento vew At the oots of a tee ay a wonded sode Two moe

nsed esse nes whe stang at the manged body of afoth2The wod sead cky As the amy enteed the town on Ma

5, sodes thought they saw toedoes eveywhee The ettesand daes evea newfound feafe of a weaon they codnot see o hea, a weapon that lay domant and conceaed, cangdeath at the slghtest toch Ths was deent fom batte; nbatte a man knew what hs enemy was, cod hea h and often

ee hm T was the nknowOne sode epoted: "Yo cou not t ove a bae oanytng ese, bt what had a stng attached to a bg sheo toedo, that wod k ve o sx men evey tme theydd anythng o moved anythng Wheeve yo cod see dtthown oosey, ook ot fo yo feet, o ese the wod becatchng n some stng an nch nde the dt, and then sheswo expoe>

The gate to the fot stood oen, eoted anote "A heavyhe was anted thee whch the oenng of the gate wod haveexoded O Amy decned to ente

A comade pt n hs ona that "n ome pace o w seean ovecoat ang on the gond, bt t w not do to ck t ,fo t s attached to a stng eadng to a fse contanng owde, sowhen [t] s cked p t expode s] Toedoes, he contned, "ae coveed wth dt n te steet n

fact the whole pace s mned, nd sma ags ae acenea the nfea atces to gve wanng 3 oce stated that "thcky stdded a aong the oad

ae these fatal on fses, whose toch s eat; bt eveynch of the oad s caefy scanned Chaes A Phs ofte Ffth Massachsetts Batte of Ate wote on May :

A lood st o the groud where was lo u d

lttle red g te feet fro t, doshed us to e creful The relshve show gret geuty for or esecl eet Oe housesees to hve een the rtculr ojet [of J shells laced ll coveet sots Uder tle the corer of the roo ws coeeot ted y sll thed to weght hg dectly over the c


32/247

M

of a Io-c se so tat te wegt woud fa as soo as te pot was moed Te e cear oor was paved wt smar aces at e foot of te sas Tee s oe oom wc o oeas yet daed to ete for a 0c se s yg o a tae t

mdde Notg ca e see to touc t o ut s peope are suspcous Two of te agazes ae ot yet ee opeed ad wesa ae to e caefu . I otce a eap of se ad cardgesaf ured te sad ad tougt tat prudece woud dctate attey soud e touced wt a very og 0 oo poe

Eve ews reporters were pressed, but ther accouts werewsely restraed. Isde the ort, dspatched a New York imesa, especally ear the gus, ad the . streets, ad .places or e would wak, ewly tured earth ad other dca

tos gave evdece o red torpedoes. A guard was statoedear all . . . suspcous spots. . "

Lous E. Dawso, a prvate a Mae reget, drove theabulace carryg Geerals George Mclella, Wlla Frakli, ad Ftoh Porter to the vage Rght thearowest part o the etrace, he saw oe o the telltale redags ad the top o a bred she. Mclela chose ths stat toshout to a ocer alogsde the road Do't et our e tae up

these. . Make the prsoers do t! Dawso had stopped thevehcle. I a usolderly asho he objected whe the geeralordered h to prceed, or he eared the torpedo wod epode.Mclella glared at the ested a. Well, go ahead! heeclaed, I epect we'll all be blow to thuder together!

Holdg hs breath, Dawso carelly guded the horses adwago through the gate. He dd ot kow that McClela hadscrutzed the shel ad had otced the absece o a trpwre.

ursg that the wre had bee reoved, Mclella had usedthe cdet to press hs troops It wored perectly.A outraged McClela veted hs re at e warare a

telegra to hs sperors he rebels have bee gulty o e ostuderous ad barbaros coduct placg torpedoes wththe abadoed wors ear wells ad sprgs ear ag stas,agazes, telegraph oces, carpetbags, barres o or&c . . . I shal ake the prsoers reove the at ther ow

perl. To hs we he wrote t s the ost urderos adbararos thg I ever heard o. Whe col's Attoey

22


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Ras ubea l

General Edwad Bates ea the dispath e made no secret ohis indignation and noted it in his diary I ope he wil put theprisoners o the highest ank oremost in this dangerous duty'

Te situation was ar less serious than hese statements indiateFirst reports caimed that a great many persons had been killed orwouded but ontemporary acounts were ote written udestress and embelished at the writs discretion. ctualy only aew o the buried shells were exploded injuring perhaps threedoen men some o whom died One was a ivilianD. BLathrop a teegrap operatowho set o a torpedo wilpaning a poe0

The sheme ad been originated by studious tynineyea-od Brigadie General Gabrie ains CS who commanded abrigade at Yorktown His garison totaled but twentyve un-ded men an aced the great host aised by McClelan whiains estimated at a undred thousand His position was imminent danger o being overun by sheer weight o numbesand to compensate o the disparit he put into eect a plan he

had "invented some twentytwo yeas beore during the Semi-noe War in Florida. I pil 84 whie a aptain o the odamys Sevent Inanty ains was stationed at ort King in theinterior o the state His outnumbered men were ontinualy beingambushed by the Indians Captain ains made a land mine usinga artilery shel and plae it unde the clothing o a deadsoldie near a pond used by the Seminoles. ( "Booby traps/ as

tey ater beame own were rowed upon by proessionalsodirs yet oasionay sodiers beame as desperate as ansand set out suh hidden explosives ) ight o two ater a loudbooming awoke the gason Out they rushe ed by Captanans expeting to n te earth littere wit dead naivesInstead there was ony the arass o an opossum ndians idden the bush opene re ad drove the soldiers bak into ampais was wounde duing the batte but not serously enough toprevent him rom panting anothe torpedo This one was eveexpoded but it so unneed patroing soldiers tat he was todto destroy t. unte Davson who was somewat jealous oainss Civil War topeo activities relatd the event a esstan kndly manner "Th bte was bt a e s cugt


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N NA M A H N

hi ad eeed him wih lead. He was da on sesiive uses,ad his eeimes wee geneall disastous This appaisalwas a om tue11

Rais el ha hs osition a Yotown was much lie hisosiion in Floida and equied simila pecautions. He had someo his men conve lage aille shells so that the could beexloded b uig a stig o b beig od uon, and hesewee bued amo e oicaions The soldies udesood oowell and, in thei enhusiasm, placed toedoes "a sos I nevesaw. Undoubedl he elaed his new spot to thei comadeswho in un u moe o he devices a ohe laces the own Ina numbe o instances, howeve, i seems ha some o he caseswee mee dumies ut ou o fighen the Yanees

Whe he Conedeaes pulled out of Yoow, he genealsen guides o lead his men pas te bued explosives: Wemached ou and oo ou wa houg Yokow, unde heguidance o a lieuenan o enable s o avoid he oe-does . . lanted in he oad nside he oks Ae lead-ing us to the ue pat of the ow, he leutenan, ellig us wewee out o an dange disapeaed 12

The Coedeaes ough a ece delaing action a Wlliamsbug on Ma 5. Duing the withdaal o Richmond the nex daRainss aille was held u a "a lace o mud sluses in heoad, seveal miles ou o own. The gns could neithe bewheeled o gh i ataced no ulled ou o he mud o coninuehe etea Heaing Unio cannon shelling the oad behind hemo cove he advance o caval, Geneal Rains odeed fouinch shells o be aen om a damaed wagon and buied in

the oad nea a elled tee with sings attached to e fuses,"mainl o have a moal eec in checing the advance of heenem o save ou sic, he exlained. Fedeal caval anuo he mies and se hem o. Moe Yaees aeaed, buhesiaed, eusing o move uhe unil he wee allowed oexamine the oadwa The wee held u some hee das. In emeantime, Rains eed his guns and go his ambulances sael oRichod1

The Conedeaes lae mainained a the Union Am ex-avaganl oveesimaed boh he numbe of opedoes and eexen to hc e ee used on he eula No dob e


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Ras Sbea Sh

ees hemseves eve ke js ho may ee acay aidsice mes ee used haphazady and no ecods ee kehe saien poins ae no hese debaes, ha as acay

accompished Te Union advace as soedas Geea cean admied The eeaig amy had eached Wiamsgi ime o fom fo a ece deayig bae Fedea casaies eeisigican, he oos eaed sch esec fo ad fea ofhe ne eapon ha he psycoogica eecs became even moempoan han he physica damage

Wen he Confedeae ig command fod o abo hemines, e mae ndee seios discssio On ay 862,

Geea James ongsee, o no commanded he ecodos o hich Ras as aached, fobade hs ayig addiioaopedoes, because he did no ecogize hem as "a poe oeecive mehod of a his opiion as shaed by some ofhe Confedeae eised men a e aid one ifanyma hiebeing ed hog he mieed a Yoko: his is babaism 14

Rais esed o acce ogsees diecive ad apeaed oe Wa Depamen e de an anaogy beee he use opickes and mines: bo ee paced in advace of a amy oan i of he appoach of he eemy, b e senies eesed i of en mean osing men As o he caim ha opedoesee "no pope, he eied ha hey ae as mch so asambuscades, masked baeies ad degond gaeymines e caimed ha cCean as goig o dig a mie deRedoub No 4 a Yokon, and he Yankees cod paexposives undegond on a gand scae, hy codn' he Confedeaes p em ou in sma casings?

Aong e ay he picked up a vauabe spoe, aoGenea D i, o oug ha means of desoying heiua enemies ee afu and pope The na decisioesed eceay o Wa Geoge W Randoph Radophappoaced e obem om a cod, aioa, egaisic vie I

a depended on e ay hic he mes ee o be used, eoug Fo exampe, civiized afae did no ao kiig fois o sake, bu ony o achieve a denie miiay advanagehs, kling pickes i opedoes as no o be pemed, bgen id of geneas by e same means as a dieen mae,


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Rain's Subterra Shlls

whe e ws edy to mne the rver. Such overlppng uthortywas boud to cuse cofuson, and on September g, 1862, Rased ove hs James Rver comma to the Nvy Hencefort

the submrne bureau would care for the naucal defeses herewhle s saw to t that other streams of the Coederacy weekept supplied wth mies nd torpeoes.1


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C H A P T E R I V

FR B

Chalsto, N Oas, ad lshr, th Codratsr layig th grondok fo th idsprad s o topdos,bt fo th rst of 862 th piay activity as cod toivntion and tstig At his piod both th apos and thtactics r qt piiiv This as du as ch to ipinc as to h ack o aqa ati ad faciitis An oc

ho had frqut opportitis o obsrv h dvopnt oins ro o hs days:

Anmated a eest dsire to reder thei countr some serceor erhas attracted the thought of the remium oered the Goemet for the cature or destructio of a esse of theeem a an igeious md tured its attetion to ietng some ce ele

The Wr Deartmet ad the ef egeer were worse thaoorted the inetors eer one of who deaded an

eamiato of hs an or mode Such requests haig to e grantedfor fear of ossi oerook a erhas rea usefu neto the


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A M A

uch weaon. ed by ieutenant . Bankhead, ., theunits ission was to sound the th o ights Rive whee iteties into the avannah to nd a hanne that wud ead theto the city o avannah itse. Bobbing obets esebing ety

in cans were seen oating neaby but were ignoed as tsaThen, ieutenant J. G oston the Seeca rowed u andentioned that he too had seen the and thought they ight bebuoys anhed to soe o those new ineal achines. Bankhead added over and looked. ostn oud be right. heewee ve buys in a line that stethed across the channe, whichwee visible only at low tide

he oowing day three boats went out and dagged or the

wies with granes One obet was uled aboad. It was takento the aa or exainatin. Instead o the oat, this was thetoedo itsel, consisting of a taered cyindica body that wadesigned to lie on its ide. Inside was an air habe, owder,andscrewed into the to beside a iting hande iveted to thecentera cannon riction rier attached to a wire. A ul o thewire would ignite the ie, exloding the tedo. CoandeJoh Rodges regarded the ine with disgust and sent it ashoewhere it was destroyed by usket e. "I suose, wrote nonlooker, "these are what they eant when they said we woudeet with a war recetion in oing to avannah 4

hat night the Fedeals wee awakened about idnight by aexlosion fo the ive. he s launch, towing anaunition bage, tied one of the toedo wires as it assedthe outh o the iver. uckiy, the ine bew u without doingany daage. However, Rodges decided not to take any urthechanes, o he ssected that oe toredoes were set out

ustrea The next oning Bankhead went out and ank the restwith usket. "Now that we have discoveed the ot, said awrite aboard one o the his, "we shal be on the fothe

A onth late othe toredoes, their warheads attahed to theti o suberged chevauxderise, were ound in the NeuseRiver in oth Caoina by shis oving u to attack ew Ben.al ron cinders with barbs to ax the in the bottos of

wooden shis wee found in the ennessee.It wa to centalize the exeientation, traning, and develop


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Fi loo

ment of an ecient organizatio that the Confederate Congress inOctober 82 passed legislation relatig to such activities. Itahoize a Secret Service Corps he Confeerate Sate Su

marine Batery Service and the Torpeo Bureau The rst andlast were military units employing mechanica torpeoes madean used by soldier or perons operating under authority of theArmy or the engineer The other wa Davidson' naval oganizaion wich employed elecrica mines The instucion that adput Rains and Davidson in charge of teir respecive ureau inJune ad been military order only; these ne directives ainternationa implication for they egalized torpedo warfare asfar a the Confederacy as cocerned and cloaked tose engagein it with legal protection and prisonerofwar rigts

The new units were to e compoed of perons not othewieiale to military duty to e consiered beonging to theProvisiona Army and entitled when captred to ll teprivilege of prisoner of war" Thoe o enlited were wo tosecrecy and were grante a numbr of extra ene incuding

prize oney ased upon the value of enemy vesel tey esroyed6 nclued in the arcles of enlistent wa an agreementpeging te men under no cicumstances now or hereafter tmake known to anyone not employed in this ervice anytingregarding te metods used for aranging or exploing the umarine atteries 7

Experient were e on er vaietie of topedoes andmen ere sent to England to recruit skiled technicians and obtain

avanced ata from laoratorie set up tere The eect wa therepacement of te crde and ess perfect machines it one ocertain and wel devied'' tat te enemy el the in higesteem

The reuts ere een n te creasingy widepread e improved mine Eectric torpedoe were iitiaed at CarletonRains' barre mines were paced at numer of pot aong te

coast of Sou Caroina and in the cannels of te Ogeecee nearFort McAlister Georgia. Local commaners were orered to yto force enemy ships to ai over te More was eard of theeexposives ater ut te rst succes came in a suggi watewatat few person ad any knowege ofMissisippi' Yazover


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A A

A eigh ocock on he mornng of Decembe 12 1862 a oaof gh-draf gnboas he U.S .S Pttbug armra Sga andaro and he roncad am Q of th Wst nde he

command of Capan Heny Wae ef heir anchorage neaVcksbrg ississipp and began seamng sowy p he wsng chocoaebrow oodisen Yaoo The ships were on awofod misson o desroy enemy baeries on he hickywooded shores and o desroy oaing orpedoes severa of whchad been spoed he day before

Uprver a Yaoo Ciy was a cde shipyard were a easthree powerf roncads were beng bi by he ConfederaesThere oo were members of he Sbmarine Baey Serviceasers Zedekiah cDanie and Francs Ewng who hadvoneered for he dy n Ags and had been gven inscons a Vicksbrg by Lieenan Bevery Kennon Kennon sed amodicaon of ays mecanca orpedoespowderedgass demijohns ignied by cannon fricon prmers when anyardspassng hrogh waerigh gapercha and paserof-parspgs were ed. he acion can be ikened o he sng of amach in ha a reaed wire was ped across a rogh srface

The ee roceeded peacefy aong he Yaoo ni heM armora eadng came nde ho mske re when she aemped o negoiae a igh bend She was backing and ing fohe when he aro ( a 12-on e-ie ironcad desgnedby S . Pook and bi n S Lois by James ads) oned hehe crews anned he 8ch res and 32ponder smoohboes searching he banks fo he enemy he ao skpperLeenan Commander Thomas Sefrdge J epressed sr

prise when he amra oened p on a bock of wood n he wae ad ordered he o so ring and send o a boa insead.he ead ship no hearng he command dd neiher and hearo p o he own boas he ojec was ecoveed and decared o be ar of an epoded orpedo.

nsgn Waer H Fenress in a cer beaedy anchedfom he armra dscovered a ne n he waer Beeving obe a oedo anyad he seveed i wih his cass mmedaey

a mine bobbed o he srface Anohe ine was ocaed andSefdge od hm o c ha one as we. nsead Fenress pedthe ne and owed he orpedo ashore Fone whch ofen has


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A M A

electic mine nea Columu, and e ecame famou in itoyfo commanding te onfederate ram rasas. He aid tat ewa ton y cocting emotion wen te Caro ank, muc a acooloy woe pactica joke a taen a moe eiou

ape tan e expected" Late, McDaniel and Ewing umitted a claim to tei govern

ment fo a ewad for te inking, on te ground tat tetorpedo wa invented y tem" Te applcation wa efued in oce ater oce, ut te peritent pair ept appealinguntil Congre nearly paed a eolution in tei favo Tematter eaced te dek of eident Davi A toroug invetigation initiated y te Preident efuted everal o teir allegatin,

ut te matte inged on te uetion of te oiginality" of tetorpedo It wa dicoveed tat te weapon wa not original wittem at all, and even fo agument' ake) if it were, Ewing andcDanie ad violated a tatute tat euired inventor to provide te govenment wit plan and allow it to enjoy freely iteerved igt of uing te invention in it own evice" Finally,te pai wee on govement evice at te time, and were doingno more tan carrying out teir euired dutie Afte all, tetorpedo ad een made in a government op wit governmentmaterial, and y peron in govement employ I it ad failedto explode would tey ave illed te Confederate State fo teitoule?

After ecuing te crew of te Caro te Qun of th W eaviet ip in te otila ) came up and pulled away te tackto eep te Confederate from nding te wreck Oter ipelled te an to dive o Reel apoote and topedooperato wile mall oat coured te water fo additional

mine dozen were located and detroyed, a wa Brown'manufactory, complete wi powde and cae, wic wa locatedneay5

Intead of eeing Union dmiral David D orter out ofte Yazoo, te ining eemed to pur im into greater activity Helaid out plan for anoter venture uprive not vey long afterwad Te order reveal te epect for topedoe e ad tied tointil in i captain Te rigtet looout mut e kept,> ewote ave lety o owoat to go aead wit dag andeace of al nd" Cutter wee to crape te edge of te

34


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Fi oo

ank wh grapnel o nag wire whle he hip dragged hehannel One a oang oec wa fond wa o e approached wh caon and f wa a orpedo haed ahore wha long line o ha i old e deroed The aor werefhed nforaon o ha he ocer cold keep a dagram ofe rver ad he manner n whch hee orpedoe are lad for heree have a regla . e whch we an avod when weknow " 6

The gnoa aro De ab and e uee of ee, and a g wen p he Yazoo agan on he wenhrd ofeemer heling he wood along he way. Confederae hidden n he hike ho bak harang he hp. The nex danear he aro wreck he Quee ran over a orpedo wire which alooko had een whh he ra old no avod Ocer andrew froze n expecaion of an exploon None orred Boawere lowered ad he ironlad waied for he o explore hewae b reen egan pepperng her agan driving he eamen in he owboa ack o heir moher hip. The gnoa

ook p he rng and oh ide b laed away for he draion oChrita EveOn Deeber 27 ary roop nde Brgadier General Freder

ick Seele oed p along he ank o enlade he levee where aConfederae baery wa moned Meanwhile he ee proceeded caoly ehnd cer whch were pllng p orpedoe. The uee of e e ailed ahead of he pack andpromply an agrond Lkil he managed o pll herelf free

efoe he Rebe old wheel heir arllery ino poon inearly proved o be he end of he expedion. The hip oppedo e Benon Blake lanaon where alor deroyed bildngby deonaing aprd orpedoe whc they had roghahoe

dmira orer renewed he ph pram on the la day o862 The Loe wa ed wh a hge 6foo opedo rake aninvenon of Coloel Charle R Ele wa poed o hook he

mine and pll he o he rfae Th wa he r apearaneof a conrvane ha wold become andard wh he Navyding he Cl War. Made of log ro whih dangled ore ograppg hook he rake wa booak haed and wa wdelyope e eie wa e poible ta one of he

35


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A A

toredoes caght by he conrivance migh elode under theshi insead of nder the rake b woried neiher orer norEllet If we lose her" wroe e former of he o, it does not

mater ch" Elet was more hoefl and was of the belief hatthe mines would deonae so far in front of he shi tha she wouldnot be desroyed ha her crew thogh is not recorded bt it isnot dicult to srmise To heir relief a dense fog oowed byheavy rain cased he admiral o cancel he whole eediion

orer smmed his eeriences raher engagingly a few daysater:

W hav ha vy tm u th az mgi t Yaz bm

g th tatr f a! W a thrug mi f t tgt at t ft ( v umbr ) ut h gt tat far tr t at fm t m i i ug f m ag th rivra fm th att am vry ayg a that gaat fw[Lt. Cmma Wii] Gi tught h u tm hihh i uti h a vr [by ar] wt th mt faru u vr a H u t ava th tr gu aha a thi a murm, a w hav ha rtty g v f hir r t mhf vr aw mr arig ay tha by t av f h i t r Th frt ar

wrfu r, ut f t ra f a hig ugigtr ht tugh th u , a t rvr rr that y v u gag thm uti th r u a b rmv8

Some ime laer Isaac Brown old a hmoros story which wassuosed to demosrae how cerain oher Federals felt aboutthese weaons hen a Confedeae chanced o board one of heUnion gnboats der a ag of rce he me a former messmaes he two joked and banered he Soheer asked Tom wh

dont yo go and cean o he azoo?""I wold as soon th of going o ell at once" was the relfor Brown has go the river chockfll of oredoes!"


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C H A P T E R V

G

s the ews of this grad success spread i te Sout itecouraged iterested Cofederates ito redoubled eorts ativetio ad prodctio Gabrie Rais cocetrated his eer

gies o a sesitive prier esiged to plode fro te sligtestpressure evetuay stabiized at seve pouds. The RisFuse" was eective eiter o lad or i water but ulike certaioters it was iteded solely for static defese ad we set adaed ws as dagerous to fried as to foe.

Te eact copositio of te fuse reaied a closely uardedsecret util after te war Soe sources say tat oy the ivetorkew it ad tat e eiter rote i dow or alowed ayoe elseto supervise the costructio of the priers As revealed later teforula was as follows 50 per cet potassiu clorate 30 percet suphuret of atioy ad 20 per cet pulveized glass.Tese priers were activated we a ti copper protective capwas crushed causig the copositio to detoate ad ereby


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: 1

I A M A I

itin a fse that commicated with the powder. The ickmatch fse ws mde of gpowder dssoved n lcoho.

Two types of we mes cme from Rnss shop he fmos

keg" torpedo d he shel" or fme" topedo. The rs wsecient in is smplcty. Smll woode kegsat rst hose sedfor ger beer and er some specy bil fo the pposewee moded y he ddo o wood coes o he ends, coof pch ws pped sde nd otsde, nd sensive fse wssered the bng. Weights ched to h otom oed hefsesde p. Chep, esy and ck o mke, d dedly ecent,hese csed more descon th y ohe orpedo.

It ws wih the frme torpedo h Rns scoed rst. Ths

apparts ws the mrryng o hs fse with holow, 400-pond,-nch rtillery shells cst wih thn pper srfces o drect theexplosive force pwrds. The fses wee screwed nto an openingat the nose, and he shels wee tched to the heds of row ofhevy es The oer eds of he mes wee ied into lrgewood frmes or crbs" nchored to e boom of the wtew,often wh gret olders and stones. The mbers nd shells(ech cotig wenty-seven pods of powder) were raised

ntl the dedly fses were posed js beneh he srfce, redyo be cshed gst the boom of pssng shp. When plcedi sectons cross vers d bys hs ws exremely eectivebrier, so exible tht is deph cold be regled impy byadding or removing eghs. U.S. Navy speclsts assigned tostdy the devces reported tht or gnbos never . . attemped o force pssge throgh chnnel kown o hve beendefended by . . . them."

rme torpedoes were soon planted in wtewys l over theSoth. Whe eerl P. . T. eregrd leed bot them hetook seps o see h hey le hos of other new wepos, wremade avible to the ares nder his commnd. n erly 863none of his commnds ws n geer dnger h ort McAlser,whch gded he ppoches o he Ogeechee Rver ner S vannah. The Ykees wee givng mch enon to hs for for tworeasons hey wned to corol he ver sef d to cpre ordestroy the famos bockde ner Nhv whch was pro

tected by the fots cnon Ths shpthe vey rst to come fromEnlnd with war spplies whle yin the Strs nd arshd


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Seing Scess

bee botte o thee onth He poition accoing to acontepoay athoity was nasaiabe." The fot he ai wastong an weconcte . o pace a to enae the

naow a ct chane fo a ie beow The ive ha beentae oppoite the fot a a ne of topeoe ha been anteat intevas owe ow bove ay the Nv,eay to ah ot at the st ign . .

Thee Union gnboat a been tatione at the ive othto peent the Nvi fo akng a bi fo feeo bt theyha o few gn that they co ony eain otsie an watc.In Janay 1863 Coane John L. Woen (faos fohaving iecte the Monitor in he batte with the Vrgni) waispatche to the cene with the ban-new tete onitoMotuk which ia Sae F. Pot wa anxio to pitagainst an-ae atey. Woen saon wa copoe ofix ese the U.SS. Snc, Whckon, Dw, Wm,m dgr which ha towe the onito ow an eMontauk, a of whic anchoe we ot of ange of he fot on

he twenty-ixt whie a pai of boat econoitee. LietenantCoane John L. Dai epote that a ine of pie cose thetea beow the fot an he thoght oe of the boe faetopeoe t seven the next onig the eet caefy avoiingthe spicios obtace ove in an opee e. The battbetween hips an fot age nti noon ening in a aw fteanition an toe ha been epenihe the vese ventein again on Febay 1 an epeate thei pevio aneve

with iia est. Thee the taeate eaie tacity acowege by both ie. k of Febay 27 the Nv wa een oving a i

gettig eay to ake a n fo the open ea Woen ignae hieet to attack at ayight. Ding he aneve the Nh visoehow contive to gon hee an at awn he hepesconition wa notice by the aet Feea Catioy theyfoe con an ove ot of the oa into the ive oth

taig poition with eibeate cae even thogh they a coee the e of Fot ciste Geye cibe high fo thewate whee he tc bt oe of the shis wa hit. Thevi oie the cannonae Beween the oppoing vesewa haf a ie of geen ah ove which they e. Shot afte


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I A L A H

so sased ino e iobie Confeerae sip, a n in e ss hanwen ines she ws redced o a shabes. She bederce n expoe wh a grea as and roar wen e re

reached er agazine.Ther ssio accopishe, he Union sqaron broe o anwirew, caref keeping in e sae rcs e ad sewen enering e river. A 9:35 A.M, a few ards above a creenow as arves C, e M otuk, s ner re fro e for,sered, raised i e waer, and sewe arond vioennocing er crewen o eir fee. Tere foowed wa wasescribed as a vioen, sden an seeing dobe exposion."The rs hogh of he crew a he gners in he for as we )

was a one of he Cofederae gns ad score a direc iWaer pored rog a rpre in he Motuk iron sin.Anxios qesions fro e brige were answered b e engineer, who ogh she cod be e aoa b he pps, b in afew ines i becae apparen ha a eors were fie. af afoo of waer soshed abo on he engine roo oor, paig ahe bases of o faces as sweig soers wde og i oeave coa ino e res Reversing his ecision, e engineer

soe p he voce be ha, o save he ship, he advised she bern agrond as qic s possibeThe M otuk was seered oo a earb d ban, and a ow

ie an secion was ae of he h Soe of he boo paes been forced pwr hree and a haf inces in a eebvefoo ae a e-foo crac zigzagged own er sieaevience of reenos srain. A spre piece of boier iron waspache over he rp, an, wi er pps rning, he onioranaged o sa aoa ring he ow o Por Roa, SoCaoina.5

A his sae ie, in he Mississippi River near Por dson,oisina, e Confeeraes aepe o isabe anoher Unionwarsip. Se was he incad nboa (a river seaer wi ahi iro coaing) Eex Drig a paro o Pro Isan ersipper, Coander C. . B Cadwe, saw a bo rog isbinocars. Beween ha bo an he sore ws anoher an, nofar fro here a sesberge be Cawe waned o sop

and exaine e, b as e Eex was copping aong a opspeed wih a sog in behin er, e cod no sow ow in


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Seadng Succe

ie aer, gong ack do e river, Caldwell sen is crew oqarers wile a par of cers rowed over o e oys. Teyfond a wre nning fro e oas o e sore an, agig

below e srface, a pair of cylidrical iro orpeoes, ree feelong and oe foo in diaeer, wic were nise in a osworkanlike aner" ro eac a wire led o e sore. Oewas aken aboard an sied y Calwell, o wisely sen i osore for isasseling. Oce asore, e orpeo was place i aoe dg in e levee an e ire was ple fro a roboa. Teexplosion ore away large cnks of ear a scaere ironfragens over a wie areaoe wo-po ck lae on e

Ex ree nred yars away. Tog Calwell di no kowi, is was one of e Brown-cDaniel-wig-Keno orpeoes

Calwell fond anoer orpeo a few ays laer, on e igof Ferary 27, 863 Tis as e rs of a new ypeemecanically operaed ine. was a clock opeo coaiig ai cover, 114 pods of cao powder, a a clockork eviceconneced o wo aes poised over a pair of pisolsized

percssion caps. Te ecanis was rning perfecy we emine was capre, Cadwell's ie ad no rn o.

o ad e lck of e ,929-on screw sloop Rcho. One nig of ac 4 863 as par of Airal David G Farrag' sqaron a was rning p e Mississippi pas eConfederae baeries of Por so, e Rchmond eonaed aorpedo Te weapo exploe alos eea er se, rowig p a col of waer iry fee ig, sakg e sprsing windows, and kockig pars of a 9inc gn over eside

O aary 24 of a year e Confeeraes ad sered acasaly" ain was working wi is priers in is icondlaoraory wen one exploded in is rig and Te inry was oe and forenger, and an acqainance laer wroe ae was scarcel ale o sign is nae o ocial ocens oay"as a resl was no painfl enog, owever, o preve ais'sorking on a ook ao is invenion. On e folowig a erevealed soe of e ook' conens Tecnical deails eoied, exlaining only is reasons or engaging in warfare we orpedo.


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NRNA L M A N

He ay, wroe John B Jone, a War Deparen clerk, hwould no e uch a weapon in ordinry warfare; bu ha nocrple in reorin o any en of defee ain an ary of

Aboliioni, inadin ou conry for he prpoe, aowed, ofeeriaion Gabrie Ri appear o be one of h fewonfederae who ued rpedoe wih uch biee hi ayhae bee due parilly o hi beief a he helin of hi oeown (New Bern, Norh aroia) by he Federal wa donewihou adace wan o he populaion Oher en ee oha ouh eiher adeure, pure iliary adanae, or nnci reward bu o hi i a ery peronl hin

I i nfornae ha hi book (acaly a lon nucrip

repor, copee wih dira) did no ri Fro a accoun, i w carefuly done ad woud proide n iereicor wih udie copiled by Uo ocer afer he wr Iwa bied o reiden Dai, boh o acquain hi wihprore in deelopen nd o ei hi ppor in he adopionof he Rin dei here i no eion ha i wa eecie Icaued o ene wih e ino h chee, aid Rain ofDai, and he hief Eecuie hielf adied o endin

erac o enera in he eld Ony a inle coplee copy waade and hi wa accopanied by a reqe ha i be pridand proided o al depren he reiden wiey refuedbecaue no pried paper coud be kep ecre He fel h hiweapon would be depried of a reaer pa of i ale if ipeciriie were known o he eney Th he o wideyed new weapon of he iil War reained a cloey ardediary ecre

Ri repor wa een ore eruaie hn he dared iainen fac, i o ipreed Dai h ao before he ew i, heinenor fond hief he ubjec of pecial Order No 24 ofMay 2 863 edin hi io he ed he reiden, aid aleer wih e order, ha codence i hi [Rain'] inenionand i deirou ha hey hould be epoyed on boh and andier a Vickbr and i iciniy oandin he ariein he We Genera Joeph E Johon, an aowed opponenof he e of ine, who wa wed h e wepon had been

aproed ad recoized by he oeenunderc a he uddnne of h coand, Rai a


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Spedng Suess

peaed o e Presiden, sressing a e coud no possiblyprepare signican nubers of orpedoes soon eoug o cangehe ide o a bale aready i progress Davis c i o on June 3

ih a cr ad expeced you wold ave secred ase in yourovees, ye, you ave no sared" 12 T pnwas o ine e Mississippi and e roads a e eney wouldake wen ey aacked icksburg

Genera Rains ef e capial as soon as e coud nsead ofassebing is exposives in Ricond e decided e bes hngo do was o ake e parapernalia e needed aong wi iinside a specialy bui wooden ces wic ad cos i wey

seven dollars Te ies woud be assebed a is desinaionside he ces were sensiive priers & ceicas for consrcion" Wen Rais reaced Augusa, Georgia, e requisiionedoher aeria fr is broer, ieuenan Coonel George W.Rains, briian superinenden of e grea governenoedpoder il A Jackson, Mississippi, e rened a roo i wice se up a aboraory o ake fuses Few addiioa ceicaswere needed and e bi fro Dove & Copany of Jackson wasfor ony $4 f ony a few Yankees were deayed by eorpedoes, Rainss rip woud ave been a good bargain for eonfederacy, for e copee saeent of expenses as subiedfor coecio was bu $397

ery ie was acieved alog repors were curren awen onson rereaed o ackson, undreds of e eney were kiled and wouded by e orpedoes was oped is

invenion ay becoe a error o a invading" Wa acayappeed was, of course, quie dieren Rass proest adconsued vauabe ie and e Federas did no wai for iTere could scarcey ave been presened a beer opporunyor heir use ha e eavy coun arcing agains Jackso," residen Davis ruinaed biery, and e eney wouldave een aken a a grea disadvanage if or roops ad ee idway beween ackson and Cion" 15

Fro a broad view, owever, ere was soe consoaion o begained fro e resulig appearance of orpedoes a were eprodcs of other iveors, aog wo were wo Teans, E Singer a gunsi reaive of e sewing acine anufacrer )and Dr J R Frewe Teir approac o e probe of ignio


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Seain Sues

12ton formr ivot mouning igtn gun of vousi nggd y ust ow oo Ciy cos fom tnvy yrd. T Confdr r grw so ccu nd pid tt

th ship ws focd to f downsm wi Hon ndd sodi. Togt sps nd mn md comind ttc ndcpud t city u no witout oss to t t W uppoting ssut De ws n y disurnc und ow. Wt cscdd toug rg o md y ngopdo nd th ip sttd uicy fw minuts t scond topdo w up und t s nding t fg onc mo. Win tn mnut t mn of t De

y on t ottom of t iv to c. of cw scdTh d xctd pny fom t ciins of Yoo Cty

siing h ousnd of cotton. t ws sid to v nsiy h qivnt of t vu of h sunn gunot. WotDvid D o ut fo th bowing up of De it woud v n good mov." H sond t t tis forun of wto cv nyting iss mus r

Wi t cpu of Pot Hudson nd Vcsug t UnitdSs d cvd t Confdcy ny in f y cng tdown t Mississippi. t w imprtv tt t Confdtsrjoin ut to do so thy ndd to gin conto of t iv.Thy nv y rid o do is coosing insd to min onh dfnsiv nd Union sips wnv ty pntd Mississipps tibti. c msus w focdupon thm for sv sons on ing iiy of t U.

vy o minin h onsiv ong wo ivr norson ws Unions ppondnc of sips whic ndhm o snd ou frun pos nd dct ny si forc ofRbs Mc of h cdi fo ths st of is ms go tongic b Dvid Dixon or.

Thogh h h rst sip v sun in combt y orpdws ost in s ws min wfr nv ws stishd s i d bn to h s. orpdo mn found it mo

c to m hi pntons" in h swif wrs wich o nd o dis to proo o xpod opdos. rqunt Union pros md h sting out of torpdos fom smots spciy rdous consuny mos of t wor ws


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C H A P T E R V

F C J

In te fal of 1862, wen General P G T Beauregard reedas coander of he defenses a Carleson e received a ero'welcoe Bearegard was adired n a ci for havng bloodlessl redced o Ser e previos ear Before leaving ehad painsakingl olined and spervsed e consrcion ofseveral lines of defense o proec Charleson and is aror froe Union aacks a e knew were inen Upon is rnsfero Virgina hese defenses ad been pariall copleed nseadof nding e in readiness in 862 as he epeced Beauregardwas appalled o learn ha oe ad progressed no frher hanwen he ad le ohers were noced and wors of all his

sccessor aor General Jon C Peberon had copleelshifed soe lines passivel periing he ene o occp viaoling areas

W caracersc gor the Le reole" se abou akgup or ost te Toop cans ad slaves aored ro sn to


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A M

un ggng eaue, ovg cao, cg e of e, anranpog ppe a auo. I he eane, arkhp of he eea Navy ecae ceagy ueo o theharo, gheg he ockae.

A h ce, Beaurega une h aeon o efee ofhe wae a we a he a urog . A oo of og arope wa u aco he an chae, whch ay ewee oSuer a Moure, guoa an roca wee atoe aae poon, a he heave gun he ha were tane o hechae.

Succefu expee wh eecc orpeoe ha convceoe epare coane ha hee weapo wou e

eae he area of efee, a y 863 a nuer ofoce who ha ae wh Mauy a Davo ha een eno hep e. e of hee e wa geer apa M. MarGay, a a, ak, foywo-year-o ave of Deawae wo ookchage a haeon Thee, he eecca epare, n y acva M. J. Wao, ha een he poce of coucge of own. Afer Gray' arva, h epare coceaeon a eecrc opeoe conece y a ge cae ea ofon arge ak. n er eo Waon a Leuenan

hae G De Le ee o a opeoe o he oo acothe an chane. Ther weapo were fy a n-rocoae o a 3,00-foo nae copper cae wch ha eenpurchae Naau for en oa a foo he evce wee aepaue fo he oher k of eecc orpeoe n ha theywee eeoang: eac e a preang aratue hatcopee a ccu an e o he expoon on conac wh anron-hue h

On paper he ea ooke oun enough, u n pacce anue of aw eveope: t, he nvento eane tha eye eque oe ae cae tan hey a on hanex, ey fo ha he e coae coape y eghfee of wae whe ey wee weghe a, a, hey fou hathe e o fay he cae y agg acro the ooune wa ecuey ancoe. I he e, hey ee forecanca orpeoe ae y apa anc D. Le.

ro oer egeen eet ong d tee feet aeer,


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om Cheson o he ames

wa eqippe fo electical etonation The fe wa ae of twocaro penci" wrappe wih wre in a 10inch ga phia theirpoint fraction of a inch apart The te wa le wih

finate of ercry an eale the pace in he center of theoie nto whic wa poe three thoan pon of gnpower Cale connecte the fe with atery ahore Theine wa ece y iro trap to a large aft lng etween apair of age an oate ot eyo Ster whee it waanchore to the oto The twig eaer Cheered raagron ring the operation t wa reoate withot aageO hore Captai Langon Cheve waite eay to throw hieectic key the intat the Signal Corp at Batterie Gregg anagner on eithe ie of hi notie hi that a ankee anofwar wa poitione over the torpeo

The plan ha ee et in otion when the Signal Cop learneof a pening Feeal attack which cae on April 7 863 TheUnion onito le y the new arore hip ew Iroideaile into the ao an ele with hore atterie t they

i itte aage an ere a geat eal theelve inclingthe lo of the Keokk The Weehwken wa phin a 0foot evil iila to the ake e y orte on the azoo whichwa eigne to grapple an exploe topeoe Conently hevente nea the ow of pecio torpeoe (oe of whicwere ie ) which the Confeeate ha tng acr thechane Shorty afte 3 PM he cceee in eping atorpe lifte lighty t reaine on er greatet ijrywa aove the waterline fo he wa it tythee tie in fortyinte he fro the Confeeae aterie

Meanwhile the New Irondes roppe ancho farther otwhie he cew eve the g ilantly the Confeerate ignaoperato at Battey Gegg wave hi ag an wa followe y theoe at ager Cheve a copanion wote col not haveplace he] ore irectly over [the topeo] he ha een

alowe to The contact wa coe a all eye wee gle onthe Feeral hp

Nothing happeneThe witch wa trown again an again an til once oe

The wie eaing fo the attey wa exaineverything


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". MoultrC F t . S mt er

Point

Ft. wanr

Wreck of h Weehwke

Wreck o th> K e o k k

X - O b a t r c t o Torpdo

CHARLESTON AR EA

Bockading Squadon, voiced his resenmen so shriy ha aninquiry o deemine he uh of he charges resued Of couse

they were exaggeaed, bu he cold fac remained ha opedoesee becoming acceped as an impoan weapon of wa3

The Confederaes in Charleson probaby ead he alimoreaer before he Yanees who wee si in he ships o he coashad access o i. The esu was an immediae incease in hei

53


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F rest to te es

yar and a alf In fact, Elliott could b coidrd a pionr tir dvlopmnt. Soon aftr t fall of Fort Plaski, Gorgia, pril, 62 ad rcruitd svral of is company ( t Ba

fot tillry" ) and st out som crd mins of is ow dsign it Savanna ivr. Ty wr fauty, and otig cam of isort. Sinc tn, ad bn folowig t progrss of topdorarc and dvlopmnt cloly

t PM on Augut (ig watr) t xpditio lftcsiovill blow Carlton ad procdd down igtous Crk in tr rowboat carrying igt topdos. Aftrfour ours of ard pulling ty ndd up lost in t myriad ofcrk. Floundring in darkn all igt, t crw rturnd totir ba at dan and rstd wil t ocrs dtaild traditional and. Ty t out again t nxt ving, and tistim ty racd tir dtination-a pot som four udrdyards from t ank t o igt o Inlt For lins oftorpdos ( o ft of rop wit oat vry tn ft and ftypond torpdo on t nd) wr t aoat by midnigt. A clos

frind maintaind tat ty wr Ellott's invntio crtainlytir dign wa unlik tos ud arlir r, for ty consistdo two ti cans ft incs in diamtr, connctd by atradaafoot aft T lowr of ts cans containdity pound of powdr t uppr on wa mpty and providduoyancy Rnig down t onting saft was t barl anding mcanim o a awdo mukt, loadd and cockd, andaround t to of t oat projctd four pi wic wr tidto t triggr T tripping of a pi rlasd t triggr and trulting sot xplodd t magazin.

n tir way back, Elliott and i m ard a sap rpot. Ita t dtonatio o on of t torpdos wi ad driftdudr t st of t Pawee t sam Unio vsl tat adcoopd t t todo fom t otomac in 6 A lauc tidto r took t brnt of t ploion and wa compltly d

troyd og sakn vry, t ip urd oly ngligiblcts r skippr dipatcd i boat to sour t watr forotr oating min, but ty misd t on at t trmity oft ln wic ad ould on t Pae. It wt o at 4 AM tooar om t warsip to urt r, and wa probably dtonatd by a

55


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NFRL CS

pc o twoo A w mnut at t moa coon PWa pott a pair o t can oating towar . Hct, ct b Oinar Saman Jon Jackon, ti a n to

m an tow tm o A aigt Jackon au t cot" ao, an wi ngag n t pio a toot opo bow up n t ck naunt, rmo tpcuon cap om t ortn mukt an took t topo to t W an Pawne w t xamn.Dawing w nt to Comman Gog B. Bac o Pwn o ung mn on aam o Conat o , a t am tm ong t co o t anotat a oang narb. mk o a mn a

carg an bu witout xpong t magazn. Bac a ao mo t pow om ow contan an a t o to n pa pamn o aunc . . .

gt a Eott an n tnan am Hamon, C.SA, wn o out o opo na t Non. Eott a ct Hamton o t mon bcao ntan t macn." t to ac t ga pra m, b t back b t an a a. mong g a w a at va a a o og an naoun t on an ct ba wc Hamton onou oug wa u o p' communcatng ti pan ot nm.

Ra Amia Jon A. Dagn, wo cc ont comman o t non bockang qaon o t out Atantccoat, bcam ncraing cuou ta mm about t obtcton aco t cann btwn Fo Sumt an Mout.H ma a pont o ntwng pon an

about an umm up t ut i a tt to Scta o tav Gon n Octob

hr s aothr kd o mdmt o wh w kow othwt rtatyt TorpdosThy may st or ty ay otayat or ay ot wh rsortd to . . ay b awhr No o agv rta ormto rspt to tmsom hav s su dvs wh bg madsom tk ty ar oatd o aad so aothrad thr s o th who h ratst rtay rard to thm

a a o dsrtrs a rsorsao


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ro re to te aes

watermn ccustomd o th harbor, and on Pot-thy concurs to ti ignoranc of ths Topos.

l of thes, hovr, ill not prevnt a suitabl forc from ntringand penating o Carlston.1

Wha eally boheed e admial was no a fea of inabiliy ocope ith is menace bu he fac tha the Cofedeaes feuely maaged o gain nowledge of his aemps o lean moeof he opedoes. One inciden so easpeaed him tha he publihed he following cicula whic was ead o all hands

e folloing as apeed in e Carleson Mey of t h Speer: "A Yankee leer ro o arleson says-Ensin Benjain H. orer; of t Ne Ironsies, o a been dailed for specialseric b Airal Dalren, on accon of te ih caracr h asoind in e Flee, and is

dring

brave and prdence, prformeda feat on Mona ni ring e famous bobarmen, a ill ensre is i coenaion by e Aal Te uty assined to himas o ascerain nar nd caracer of obsucions across he

aror of Carleson, beeen Ster and Moltri. H ad been in on of Ironsies' cers, i picked cr, for several nitson is mission, and as prevened fo accolising i b enconterin e icket boas of enemy. On Monay nig e as scoutin around er, en t furious cannona comence All eesere cenere on e fors, an t ork tey ere oin. Bt Ensin orer sa oorunity for is ork ad arrived. Te asingof e cannon from Ser and Gre guied is oveents an eas enabled o reac osrucions io bein obsve. H

sen full al an or on e, orol invesigain tir consrcion, and ove on oar e eet in ie to reac i at aligt.e ieiaely reore to e Aral, o eclare iself ilyraed a inforaion, declarin at e k all at desireo no. Te inforaion is, of corse, kep scr, bt ill be vailedof t Airal in a f days

From sbsquen events, or rater lack of vents, i t is to b inferredtat all h esird to ko as t his Monitors ould b blowier an kie e aeped to un in.

Here r te rsons, one of them i ou ist, o voluntrilyeso informaion on th enmy, of th highst iporanc, andich teaces i ho to efea us reacn Carleston.

Ter is robably no means pon hic th nemy her so relifor inforaion as tis insan propnsity for mking public t ostvalal ies.

I ely regrt that it is not in my por to teat this vil as irisi is unforunately on of t bseting sins of day-bu


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Fom Chareso o e James

te Thrd US Cooed Regmen epped on one. Te expootoe im twenve ard, tipping m of i cong Heae on aothe mne whch fale to detonate. watoght an ater he o a grenae a uc m, ben he bo wa emoe the econd torpedo wa fond,ging re to umor hat he onfeeae ad ted the Nego oi, o hat te mne woud expoe whe the cope wa moved.

Knowedge a hee weapon wee beng empoed heeeplained wha ha been cae one of he greaet tee te efene of For Wagne"-w no cevaxdefe o oe

otace ha been hown up between te ne b e Souee, an wh he ad eteaed o obging fo ceanforar aea.

gh moe orpedoe were foun on Augu 27 and eoitio wee carefull mae. Sapper cautio emovedthem and endered them hame b borin hoe rough ecang ad pourng wae ne hapooter van rie oepoe other a ong ange he net few a On the ngh of etrtr anoe wa et o b a olie crawlin p o aavanced ench. It jre hm an hee other me.

ore rmor wept the e, ecrbn orpedoe atache oenive on he grou, ene o expoe when e nieere pice p Some of he oatng mne broe ooe fom theoorng and fte ahore wthn Union e. One wa oered b an ene man wo oched i rathe ende,"

n o gue o jt wat wa. I d no now . wate ame thng wou o nex," he expaine can noteifama ot a aw an bega to ct the wooen cae openhie h comrae watched from a afe tance Suen, man,aw, an orpeo iappeare i a bn ah.

Stl anothe aee chance o ep o a bi of boa He walown evera fee n he a, oing a eg, a vcim of he Coneerae favoe wa of digiing mine The wold bury hearre can n the an, fee up; e lghtl on e feoul be a boad hel i place b he an.

the appe ha the reate cti with the epoive,for thee men empoe i treche of h zza ap"e towa he eem fortaton, an no the mne moreeqet an othe oe og oube me diggng" aid


70/247

NFRL CHN

one We, ten, dig around it dont bother me about it," repe sperior tetiy Te exposion bew te enited man toatoms," for e a mi taken one of te beer barre torpedoe for aog

Eventuay te Federas croed te mieed, an Fort Wagnerwa captred wen te Cofederate abandoned it der theover of darknes at orktown, the Federa aw torpedoeeverywere, and ape Confederate prioner wee forced ton tem and dig tem up. Cauatie from tee weapon durigte batte were few, but their menta impat wa great. ne writergave an apt decription wen e aid that the torpedoes attackbot matter and mid."

Tog the torpedoe ad no major eect on te outcome ofte operation, the Cofederate wee peaed, for tey beievedtat te mine appreciaby deayed the eemy' advane. reident Davi acknowedged with gratiation, te cce of Genera ain' ubterra e," and Beauregard wa euay compimentary

It wa a natura reut of the batte that ain oud extend thescope of invention. The network of road converging on

Careton wa a ource of coniderabe worr to it defender forevera reaon It wa poibe for ma bad of enemy cavaryto ip troug te piket and codct ick, harp raid onpoition, outpot, ad buildig alg the higway There weremore opeing th thee wee it to wath them, but ai adan awer. He et m detachet coitig of oy an ocerand twentyoe men to impant thee rod with mine. Theexpoive were paced named in te ighway and in thatcondition were, a ain aid, perfecty arme to citize, uti

te enemy approach, we te he can be pried in a mometfor teir reception. I am ondent," he cotied, that if theenemy are oce o twice bow p . . . raid ever thereafter wibe prevented."

In Virginia a imiar plan wa ggeted. Cogrea A. .Boteer reported that Genera J. E B. Strt a the famouanger," Captain Jon S oby, ad demaed ome torpeein gut ey intended to pace the mie der the trak of

e range & Aexander airoad, where they wod be explodedb asig train. e Secretary of War refered the pan to


71/247

Fom Chaeson o he James

rnnce Chief Joi Gog, wo repoted rther irritby htthug e cou funi the wepon, e hoped they woudecoier, becue eriment woud ny irrite te enemy

not intimie im." t the me time, otig mie i irgini trem were

eeiing goo bit of ttetion from the Fee Ny Lieutet Comme J. H Gii, iper of the USS. Coodes reporte in miOctber of 863 th for ee dy hihip hd been gging fo topeoe in the Yo Rier nern' [Rone' oin, jt boe the mout of otopotn

ee ome een mie beow Wet oit Thogh none weefn, he w poitie thee ee ome in thee wte reportom umbe of orce cime th t et three oen hdee et ot Thi iteigece h bee eceied i numberof wy : oce, grou of me w een t wo in te rier t thee time, two muney in cout in Gii' empoy pedthoug the county binging out rum to the eec tht theofeerte contemte miig the Yo u ty e migh

te comme coud n o expoie in the rier Lter, therne' etter, intercepte on te Miiippi, t of pttingt ten torpeoe in he muney ier nd eported tht onctobe 3 nother futee hd been rey Fee iformion coret, ony the ctio w wog the muey emtieito the Yo t Wet oint, irgini

ore topee wee ee tig in Hmton Ro , onexmintio, boe eience o hing been recenty e in theer The icoey cue US Ny Secetry Wee to orerext igice, d e mitte to ome ueie concerninghe fety of hi wrhip

Thing were omewht the me i Crleton Hrbr wiethe btte fo Fot Wgner w goig on n te ugu etember f 863 otig torpeoe were chored i ge

be co the che Fe hi might ue to recthe ity ie bie rn from Ce incney i the mief the hrbor o Ft Rie, fm Fot Sumter co thei che to Fot outie They ee i Hg Che,oy Chne, i eel othe te Occioy, e Feer woud coop ome up, Lieutent Com


72/247


73/247


74/247

1

,

! I

INFRNL CHNS

powdertr cl but dvced ype cemic ue. Teycoied o m ed tube cpped with emiperic ed oery ti met Ide e plced ermeticy eed gl phicotiig upuric id. etwee ti d the met cig w yer o compoito o ow veto combto ocore o pot powdered ugr d e rie powder. Sever o ee ue crewed ito cotier o powder 575pod ) mde mot dgero wepo or the rouded cpwere deted eoug to cr te phl the cid ctig o tecompotio woud igite te powder d cue zble expoio. Te trtey w to o te torpedoe cro te cewere vdg kee ip migt bg oe git er

de-rdy orig ide.2Ater etlg hi wepo Lee proched commderwt ide or oter uque detructve. Te yog egeernew bricid buttreed wt roll o pl w trgeooki wrp oe tht would be more uder the wter boe. Te de cme bot wile e w tryig to gre out wy o tke torpedoe o eemy p i te kee woudo come i he wold go ou to ter ptro tto.

Te veel w og d lowo ow i ct tht wter woud

w cro her rored rtlebck deck The crew d mciery were eced wthi te iro u moty beow ewerle. A tht would pper bove the urce w expe o curvg deck oketk d plot cockpit tete lo hevy rmored. A log woode pr ried dowered by wid projected rom te bow. The dedlyorpedo irly brtg wt ue w ttched to t tp Tetorpedo rm Le clled hip would pproh er trget

uder g peed lower the pr ut te torpedo w everee uderwter d rm it git the u. He et tt the veelwould be r eough wy to ecpe dmge rom the expood er rmor wod dect gre.

Te eer w very detey itereted d Lee w oo oi wy to Ricmod equpped wth order to tke te pl toe Secretry o Wr He retured emptyhded. Te WrDeprtmet d te eeer d bruhed hm o. Thi eyid w mtter or te vy bu t ervice lot iteret o

e t Lee w Army ocer d tere he mter y.


75/247

aa Ls Toreo Ram

Beauegard tued to aoter oure. Certai tate were buildig wari, ad e kew of ome veel for Sout Carola tatere beig otruted i harleto itelf. ordigly, otober 62 e wrote Goveror Frai W Pike abouee ram. It really ould be built, e aid, for I believe [itoud be wort everal guboat. Givig Pike but a orttie to oder ti tought, Beauregard aroaed aoterero of ower i te Sout aroia atratio. Four dayater, e made a requet of J. K. Sa, ama of te tate guoat ommittee f we ao build guboat, e aid, why ot ut

te materia we ow ave ito a ram wi a be ready ooer,il ot le ad will be more eaiou"? 5eauregard wa a ma wo would leave o toe utured to

get what e wated. O te followig day Catai Lee wa bako the trai for Rimod wit i la, a ale model, ad aletter from Beauregard to djutat Geeral Samuel Cooertuked i i bag. Beaue of the lready deterioratig tate of teofederay railroad, Lee wa fored to travel a iruitou

route via olumbia ad Carlotte to Greeboro, ort Caroia,hagig for Raleig, the from Weldo to Peterburg, were etook te aomodatio trai" o te Rimod & Peterburgairoad igtig at te termia o te orer of Byrd adgt treet at 6:30 P o Otober 6 62 e ired aarrie to the ome of ogrem William Porer ile. Tereao for te all wa obviou Beauregard wated te uortof the iuetial ogrema ie wa ill ad i bed whe Leeaed, bu e reeived te youg ma te ext moig adribbled a itrodutio to Geeral Cooer

The letter wi Lee reeted to te dutat Geeral wa adoumet oued i te mo eruaive rae tat Beauregard ad i aide, lfred Roma, ould devie. It wa lled witretori, logi, ad atrioti omilie. T

infernal machines

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