Chemical Weapons in American CV

Was it in any way within the technological limits of the 1860s to see chemical weapons used on the battlefield? Are chlorine cloud attacks as occured in 1915 possible?
 
You'd have to have some brilliant Northern industrialist come up with it and be able to fund it himself. A lot of 'secret weapon' projects for the North, like the first gatling guns, were privately funded.

Maybe you could see something like this used to try and break the Petersburg Line. Of course given the North's luck in these measures the wind would suddenly shift when they open their cylinders. :p

As for the South, I just don't see it. Even if someone has the idea, how are they going to impliment it with their limited industrial output?
 
Was it in any way within the technological limits of the 1860s to see chemical weapons used on the battlefield? Are chlorine cloud attacks as occured in 1915 possible?
They were proposed to both the Union and the Confederacy so all you need to do is find someone to support the development.
The following two excerpts may be of assistance.

CWCW.png
 
Interesting. I didn't know about that, earliest cases for gas warfare I knew of came from what amounted to 1880s science fiction.
 
It would be interesting to find out what effect this would have on World War I. If planners on both sides already knew the limitations of gas and its effects, would they actually dare to use it?
 
Extensive use of chemical weapons could be far worse in character than in WWI, if only thanks to the inability of either side in the 1860s to equip soldiers with any sort of effective protection.

Add to that the far worse state of medicine, and whoever fires chemical weapons first is going to inflict hideous casualties amid the infantry formations of the ACW.

The only saving grace is that chemical weapons may be too expensive and/or finicky to deploy very widely.
 
It would be interesting to find out what effect this would have on World War I. If planners on both sides already knew the limitations of gas and its effects, would they actually dare to use it?

Good point. Might you also see chem weapons used in other wars after the US CW? I could see it being used in the Franco-Prussian War. If persistant agents were possible it might screw with any Prussian advance into France in 1870.
 
I could see the Yanks trying it in a limited sort of way in a couple of battles (maybe testing it on native americans first) before attempting it in important tactical operations in which it could backfire rapidly.

Depending on how well it is perceived, it could butterfly WW1 gas use away entirely or strengthen its usage. Interesting...
 
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