Chemical weapons in the US Civil War...?

Suppose, for example, a Union regiment at Gettysburg had discovered supplies typically intended for use in teaching chemistry: bottles of concentrated oil of vitriol (as sulfuric acid was commonly known), jars of white phosphorus in inert oil or water, bottles of nitric acid, boxes of sodium chlorite, etc. A knowledgeable officer (say, a professor of chemistry from the University of Delaware) knows how to use these to produce chlorine gas-at least in the laboratory. Could these somehow be deployed as crude chemical shells against the Confederacy--or even have bottles of sulfuric acid and white phosphorus lobbed into the Confederate lines as incendiary weapons?
 
I don't think it changes the outcome much, except maybe (since the North will have a big advantage in producing these weapons) the South loses quicker.
 

Jomazi

Banned
SA would be pointless, heavy and viscous. WP would be rather efficient if they got it to work.. Chlorine gas needs an enemy that is pinned down, such as in WW1 as it quite visible as big green cloud.
 
Are you familiar with the heat released when concentrated sulfuric acid contacts a substance containing moisture? It can be rather impressive to say the least. And in the terrain around Gettysburg, a few chlorine shells lobbed into hollows or ditches could achieve both a tangible and psychological effect.
 

MrP

Banned
SA would be pointless, heavy and viscous. WP would be rather efficient if they got it to work.. Chlorine gas needs an enemy that is pinned down, such as in WW1 as it quite visible as big green cloud.

Don't forget area denial bombardments. One can force the enemy to evacuate a strong defensive position or, conversely, limit an attacker's offensive options.
 
One can also get tossed out of office in 1864 if he is poisoning the people he is trying to keep in the Union, not to mention the opinion of relatively important states like Great Britain. :eek::)
 

MrP

Banned
One can also get tossed out of office in 1864 if he is poisoning the people he is trying to keep in the Union, not to mention the opinion of relatively important states like Great Britain. :eek::)

I remember later in life our Admiral Cochrane wanted the RN to deploy poison gas as a secret weapon against Britain's enemies (i.e. France) in time of war. He never got anywhere with it, I believe. Whether that was a moral consideration or a pragmatic "If the wind changes we'll poison our own men!" decision, I dunno.
 
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