WI: Widespread use of Landmines in Civil War

“Rains Patent,” a mine that could be used both on land and in water. These early torpedoes were made of sheet iron, and each had a fuse protected by a thin brass cap covered with a beeswax solution. If pressure were exerted on that cap, the torpedo would explode.
How hard would these be to turn out in large numbers?

Rains estimated that the approaches to Richmond were laced with more than 1,300 land mines by 1864,
How much more extensive do you want them?
 
How hard would these be to turn out in large numbers?

How much more extensive do you want them?

Like Europe in the World Wars; to the point where they are a serious, lingering post-war issue that brings up a lot of moral issues and thinking about warfare. That's what interests me, really, and what interested me about Turtledove's alternate, Confederate involved World War; the United States has not had to deal with a serious issue of landmines in the OTL, and it is an issue in other countries. You have to worry about walking around the countryside or the wilderness in many countries because there's landmines and they don't know where they are.

And its interesting from the issue of warfare during the Civil War. They were not heavily utilized during the war so far as I know.
 
Like Europe in the World Wars; to the point where they are a serious, lingering post-war issue that brings up a lot of moral issues and thinking about warfare.

Banning of Halloween?- Last edited by Hal Wheton on October 31st, 2014.

Is the safety of Halloween at stake in America? A lot of people have been asking that question after two teens, yet to be identified, were killed by landmines believed to be of Civil War origin. A meeting is to be appointed this weekend to discuss whether Halloween should be banned in Georgia or not. According to witnesses, the teens were drunk, and were walking through an abandoned park when a landmine blew up and killed the two teens. This is not a new thing, after the incident in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. that killed 2 adults and 5 children, respectively. After the widespread use of landmines in the Civil War, the government has been zoning off "danger-zones" so that EOD squads may disarm them. Over 17,000 mines have been estimated to cover the former battlefields of the Civil War. Consideration for other holidays, including, but not limited to: Christmas (see "Santa Claus incident.), and Easter. So when you walk, be sure to remember to be careful, because you never know when you could be in danger.
 
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Banning of Halloween?- Last edited by Hal Wheton on October 31st, 2014.

Is the safety of Halloween at stake in America? A lot of people have been asking that question after two teens, yet to be identified, were killed by landmines believed to be of Civil War origin. A meeting is to be appointed this weekend to discuss whether Halloween should be banned in Georgia or not. According to witnesses, the teens were drunk, and were walking through an abandoned park when a landmine blew up and killed the two teens. This is not a new thing, after the incident in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. that killed 2 adults and 5 children, respectively. After the widespread use of landmines in the Civil War, the government has been zoning off "danger-zones" so that EOD squads may disarm them. Over 17,000 mines have been estimated to cover the former battlefields of the Civil War. So when you walk, be sure to remember to be careful, because you never know when you could be in danger.


Is that real, or alternate history writing?
 
Banning of Halloween?- Last edited by Hal Wheton on October 31st, 2014.

Is the safety of Halloween at stake in America? A lot of people have been asking that question after two teens, yet to be identified, were killed by landmines believed to be of Civil War origin. A meeting is to be appointed this weekend to discuss whether Halloween should be banned in Georgia or not. According to witnesses, the teens were drunk, and were walking through an abandoned park when a landmine blew up and killed the two teens. This is not a new thing, after the incident in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. that killed 2 adults and 5 children, respectively. After the widespread use of landmines in the Civil War, the government has been zoning off "danger-zones" so that EOD squads may disarm them. Over 17,000 mines have been estimated to cover the former battlefields of the Civil War. So when you walk, be sure to remember to be careful, because you never know when you could be in danger.

Nice seasonal tie-in, but Halloween would hardly be the only tradition affected by lingering landmines...

EDIT: maybe say,

the former battlefields of the Civil Wars
 
Not sure if this is real, but I read somewhere the Confederates didn't go all out with land mines because the Union started using POWs to clear them out. They didn't want to hurt they own men so they stopped.
 
Mines, called "torpedoes" during the CW were relatively crude devices. The explosive charge was black powder, with crude pressure fuzes using fulminate of mercury (basically same as caps used on muskets). Even when "new" reliability was not great, and the amount of effort it took to make them, especially for the CSA which was "industrially challenged", made them not terribly useful. Some of the sea mines were command detonated, but not land torpedoes as far as I know.

Unlike unexploded artillery shells from the CW which are still dangerous because the black powder is in a watertight environment so less degradation, CW era landmines would not be as sealed as a shell, so over time you'll get moisture and degradation of the powder. Certainly 50 years on the odds of one of them ever going off is very, very, very low.What makes more modern mines dangerous is they have better fuzes, are waterproof (at least manufactured ones), and are filled with stable explosives.

The Union, which certainly could have made more and better landmines did not because they really had no use for them. Most if not all of the time Union forces were either on the offensive or when "defensive" like Gettysburg or Antietam you had a fluid enough battlefield and/or a "meeting engagement" where putting mines in is not practical. The CSA, after a certain point was almost always defensive and moving backwards and mining roads or in front/around positions like Vicksburg or Petersburg were much better situations for mines. However, by that time the ability to make them was very limited.

Yes the Union considered them "infernal weapons", however there was no significant retaliation. Torpedoes at sea (think Mobile Bay) were considered legitimate.
 
Mines, called "torpedoes" during the CW were relatively crude devices. The explosive charge was black powder, with crude pressure fuzes using fulminate of mercury (basically same as caps used on muskets). Even when "new" reliability was not great, and the amount of effort it took to make them, especially for the CSA which was "industrially challenged", made them not terribly useful. Some of the sea mines were command detonated, but not land torpedoes as far as I know.
I think there were command detonated land mines, I believe I found reference to them somewhere online, will have to check

Edit: Found it, here, looks like about 2,000 land mines were laid during the Civil War OTL
 
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