Civil War Rocketry

[Pvt.Holley]

I was wondering if anyone on here nows anything about Civil War rocketry. I'm not sure if rockets were even used in the ACW, but I know they were used in the War of 1812, pretty extensively by the British. If you know anything anout Civil War rocketry, could you stop by and share some of the knowledge?


Thanks

Pvt.Holley

[Rob Weaver]

I can't get to my books at the moment to quote chapter and verse, unit numbers, etc, but there was a NY battery that was armed and trained with congreve rockets at the beginning of the war. It was essentially the same rocket as had been used earlier in the 19th century, wildly inaccurate. They were never fired in any major engagement that I know of, and the above battery eventually gave them up for more conventional long guns.

Rob Weaver
Pine Rivier Boys
Co I 7th Wisconsin

[NJ Sekela]

There was a show on cable TV, called Myth busters, where they created a reproduction of a Civil War rocket, to basically test the effective range.

It was interesting to see that the design did in fact work.

I am &c,

NJ Sekela,
Manf'r.
N.Jers'y.

[ulr]http://www.njsekela.com[/url]
[ulr]http://www.cjdaley.com[/url]
[ulr]http://www.carterandjasper.com[/url]

[frankstevanus]

I recently read an old article in Civil War Times Illustrated about Stuart's ride around McClellen. It seems to be common (or at least often) practice that when the cavalry troopers were spread out a rocket (probaly not an assault weapon. Rather, a large flare) would be fired up in the air to recall the men.
I also have read articles regarding use of rockets by Confederates along the coast in naval actions. Little if any effect, they nevertheless were used by some frequency by the south.

[bob 125th nysvi]

There was a show on cable TV, called Myth busters, where they created a reproduction of a Civil War rocket, to basically test the effective range.

It was interesting to see that the design did in fact work.

I am &c,

NJ Sekela,
Manf'r.
N.Jers'y.

[ulr]http://www.njsekela.com[/url]
[ulr]http://www.cjdaley.com[/url]
[ulr]http://www.carterandjasper.com[/url]

The Congreve worked in India there is no reason to assume it wouldn't work in America. But the Congreve was designed for use against troops (a little trick the British picked up from the Indians= India Indians) but not really as a substitute for guns against fortifications. It didn't work at New Orleans because they were trying to take out a fortification.

But the range of a rifle would have made the crews very very vulnerable to counter fire.

Bob Sandusky
Co C 125th NYSVI
Esperance, NY

[reb64]

If someone had just thought of some handles, crude sights or a shield the bazooka may have been born.

[indguard]

... if they'd a haddit they'd a used it!

[TeamsterPhil]

If you have the ORs on a CDrom, do a search o the keyword "rocket". You will be amazed at the nuimber of hits you have. They were used almost exclusively as signal devices, and were found as far west as Sterling Price's army in Missouri and at Island #10 all the way back to the east coast.

Phil
Ask the Critters about Secret Weapon #1
sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, whooooosh, BOOM

[tompritchett]

From http://www.spaceline.org/history/2.html

The U.S. Civil War Sees Limited Use Of Rockets

By the start of the Civil War in 1860, military rockets had all but disappeared. Rockets declined in importance due to the deadly accuracy of conventional artillery, most notably weapons with rifled barrels and breech loading.

However, both sides in the Civil War remembered how well rockets served armed forces during the Mexican War two decades earlier. But, it was quickly discovered that Hale, and even Congreve, rockets that had been stored for long periods of time were rendered useless because their gunpowder charges failed to remain properly bonded to their casings.

This forced both sides to develop new rockets if rockets were to be used at all. The resulting rockets were considered primitive, even by the standards of the day, due to their inaccuracy and unreliability. But, a variety of rockets were used during the Civil War by both sides.

On July 3, 1862 Confederate forces under the command of Jeb Stuart fired rockets at Union troops during the Battle of Harrison's Landing. Colonel James T. Kirk of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves later wrote that one of his men was wounded by a projectile carried on a rocket fired from "a sort of gun carriage".

Rocket batteries of this type were most often used by Confederate forces in Texas during campaigns in 1863 and 1864. These rockets and their launchers were first manufactured in Galveston, and later in Houston.

The New York Rocket Battalion was the first Union force to be issued rockets. The group was organized by British officer Major Thomas W. Lion and was made up of 160 men. Rockets employed ranged in size from 12 to 20 inches long by 2 to 3 inches wide.

The rockets could be launched from light carriages carrying four wrought iron tubes, each of which was about 8 feet long. They could also be launched from 3.25-inch diameter guiding rods bound together in an open framework, or from individual 3-inch diameter sheet-iron tubes.

Each rocket was primarily designed to deliver flammable compounds, but could carry musket balls placed in a hollow shell and exploded by a timed fuse. Although the New York Battalion rockets could fly a remarkable maximum distance of 3 miles, they were extremely erratic and were never used in combat.

Union troops under the command of General Alexander Schimmelfennig did fire rockets against Confederate forces in South Carolina. He found the rockets most useful for driving enemy picket boats out of creeks and harbors.

From http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic...rocketMain.htm

Rocket Battalion of Artillery
(General Barry's)
Civil War

History
The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 18th ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912.

Mustered in: December 6-7, 1861.
Disbanded: February 11, 1863. The companies were designated the 23rd and 24th batteries.

This battalion was organized at Albany, December 5, 1861, and there mustered in the United States service for three years, December 6 and 7, 1861. The three companies recruited originally, Ransom's, Lee's and Sauer's, were consolidated into two companies December 5, 1861, and the battalion, commanded by Maj. Thomas W. Lion, left the State December 9, 1861. It served at and near Washington, D. C., from December, 1861, and in North Carolina, i8th Corps, from May, 1862. February 11, 1863, the battalion organization was discontinued, and the two companies, A and B, were designated the 23d and 24th Batteries, Light Artillery, having served provisionally as such from November 1, 1862. The loss and engagements of the battalion are included in the record of the batteries into which its two companies were converted.

Two links related to the use of rockets by the 74th PA, Co G.
http://olypen.com/tinkers/74th%20Pen...ge/Rockets.htm
http://olypen.com/tinkers/74th%20Pen...e/Rockets2.htm

[Frenchie]

Navy blockade ships used rocket flares to signal each other when a runner was sighted and to illuminate the runner as they chased it.