"Rockets, Rockets burnig bright in the darkness of the night" Topic
6 Posts
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StoneMtnMinis | 24 Jun 2018 8:34 p.m. PST |
Rocket batteries, did either the US or CS field such units? I'm thinking that the rocket may have fallen out of favor by this time, am I correct? Dave |
Ed Mohrmann | 24 Jun 2018 9:07 p.m. PST |
Use apparently not widespread, but there were some rocket-firing units organized, and rockets seem to have seen some limited combat use: link |
Glengarry5 | 24 Jun 2018 9:09 p.m. PST |
Here's some info from the Civil War Talk forum. link |
skipper John | 25 Jun 2018 5:22 a.m. PST |
…The author tells of a Confederate attempt to fire a ballistic missile at Washington, D.C., from a point outside Richmond, Va. Confederate President Jefferson Davis witnessed the event at which a 12 foot solid-fueled rocket, carrying a 10 pound gunpowder warhead in a brass case engraved with the letters C.S.A., was ignited and seen to roar rapidly up and out of sight. No one ever saw the rocket land. It's interesting to speculate whether, almost 100 years before Sputnik, a satellite marked with the initials of the Confederate States of America might have been launched into orbit. |
donlowry | 25 Jun 2018 9:00 a.m. PST |
U.S. (and possibly C.S.) Signal Corps sometimes used rockets for signaling after dark. When Longstreet attacked Knoxville, U.S. Signal Corps troops fired Roman candles over the Confederates to illuminate them. The Rebel troops thought it was some new kind of weapon. |
Quaama | 25 Jun 2018 4:27 p.m. PST |
…The author tells of a Confederate attempt to fire a ballistic missile at Washington, D.C., from a point outside Richmond, Va.Confederate President Jefferson Davis witnessed the event at which a 12 foot solid-fueled rocket, carrying a 10 pound gunpowder warhead in a brass case engraved with the letters C.S.A., was ignited and seen to roar rapidly up and out of sight. No one ever saw the rocket land. It's interesting to speculate whether, almost 100 years before Sputnik, a satellite marked with the initials of the Confederate States of America might have been launched into orbit. I'd never heard of this surprising incident before now. I followed some of the links but they essentially say the same thing emanating from one book written by Burke Davis. Does anyone have any further information or links especially: who invented/made it; where it was launched from and when, or what it was launched at; and was it ever found during or after the war. Also, assuming the quote is correct in that it roared and went "rapidly up and out of sight" it seems to be somewhat of a success so why was it abandoned? Even though "No one ever saw the rocket land", did it explode? |
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