Civil War Torpedoes examines the history of landmine development and use in the Civil War and beyond. The author organizes his scholarship around technology, and morality. Hess uses multiple archival sources to tell a compelling narrative that considers the moral stigma most c...
Civil War Torpedoes examines the history of landmine development and use in the Civil War and beyond. The author organizes his scholarship around three thematic elements: tactics, technology, and morality. Hess uses multiple archival sources to tell a compelling narrative, one that stresses not only the tactical and technological challenges faced by torpedo pioneers but one that also considers the moral stigma most contemporaries attached to this new weapon of war.
“Professor Hess has produced yet another exciting book on an understudied aspect of Civil War military history. He examines the history of Civil War land mines and places them within the larger context of nineteenth-century military history. With his analysis of the tactics, technology, and moral ramifications of the use of land mines, Professor Hess has created the definitive book on the subject.”
"Earl Hess continues to produce masterful studies in Civil War history that challenge decades of presumed scholarly wisdom. This booklooks at the expansion of landmine technology and tactics during the sectional conflict, the campaigns in which subterranean mines were employed, and the colorful personalities involved in weapons development. Hess's work is a triumph of diligent and focused scholarship."
-- Christopher S. Stowe, Professor of Military History, Marine Corps University
An important study that helps remedy the general neglect of mines and torpedoes. Significant both for the American Civil War and for our more general understanding of the process of technological innovation in the nineteenth century.
Its wider value further enhanced through situating its topic within the long history of international landmine development, this impressive study rightfully assumes its place as the new standard history of what proved to be the most controversial weapon and mode of warfare that emerged during the American Civil War. Highly recommended.
Hess holds the Stewart W. McClelland Chair in History at LMU, where he has taught since 1989. Hess has been a student of Civil War history since he was a teenager, growing up in rural Missouri. He completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at Southeast Missouri State University. His Ph.D. in American Studies, with a concentration in history, was awarded by Purdue University in 1986. He has taught at a number of institutions, including the University of Georgia, Texas Tech University, and the University of Arkansas. He is the author of more than a dozen books on Civil War military history, the latest of which is Into the Crater – The Mine Attack at Petersburg. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002.
The Civil War was the first conflict in world history to employ a large number and a variety of different types of landmines. A small handful of Confederates pioneered the development of artillery shells, burying them in front of fortifications, at watering places, and along roads. Despite Confederate hopes, these explosives were quickly turned against them. While the technology worked, the landmines failed to provide any tactical benefits. Federal troops quickly learned how to deal with them, often using Confederate prisoners to dig them up. The torpedoes, as they were commonly called in the 1860s, merely angered and embittered the Unionists. Some of these mines killed Southern civilians, including women and children, and many remained in the ground for decades to come. Despite the tragic consequences, Confederate operatives worked out the first doctrine of landmine use in global history and implemented that doctrine in the 1860s. In this expansive account of 19th century explosives Hess touches on not only the technical and tactical aspects of the Civil War torpedo, but the morality and doctrines that shaped international conflicts ranging from World War II to the Cold war. Through intensive research in archival institutions, published primary sources, and technical literature, Hess has create the comprehensive account of Civil War era landmine warfare.
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