Do you know about the first widespread deployment of landmines? It happened right here during the American Civil War. We’re standing at the Confederate Land Mines Plaque. It marks a dark chapter in military history. The Confederate Land Mines Plaque commemorates the Confederacy’s innovative but controversial use of landmines during the Civil War.
At the start of the Civil War the South needed an edge. The North had more manpower more supplies and better weapons. Confederate forces had to innovate to stay in the fight. Landmines became one of those innovations. They were cheap and effective.
Confederate soldiers configured landmines from artillery shells. They adapted them to local conditions. Details about these mines were often not written down. Much of what was recorded was destroyed. This was to prevent leaders from being charged as war criminals. These hidden artillery rounds are similar to what we now call improvised explosive devices.
Many officers on both sides disapproved of landmines. They saw them as tools of cowards. General Joseph E. Johnston and General James Longstreet especially opposed them. But as the war went on and the Confederacy lost ground opinions changed. Landmines became viewed as a legitimate weapon.
In 1863 the Confederate Congress allocated money to create the Army Torpedo Bureau. This was the world’s first institution dedicated to landmine warfare. General Gabriel Rains led the bureau. His organization was decentralized. A single officer would oversee landmine deployment. These officers used home guard units civilians and enslaved laborers. They had wide discretion in how they deployed the mines. Lower-ranking officers improvised often in acts of self-preservation.
The Confederacy developed two types of landmines. One type was victim-activated. These mines detonated when someone stepped on them. They coupled a shell with a percussion cap. Union surgeon S. W. Gross described them as large shells with levers connected to a percussion fuze. Stepping on the lever would explode the shell.
The other type was command-detonated. These mines were activated by a person using an electrical current or pull wires. This system gave the operator more control. But it faced challenges like faulty technology and cut wires.
To counter landmines Union commanders forced prisoners of war to walk ahead of their troops. This was to identify or detonate the mines. Union generals like Sherman were outraged by landmine warfare. They often forced Confederate soldiers to dig up the landmines. If they refused they risked execution.
After capturing Atlanta Sherman marched to Savannah. Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered his generals to use landmines to slow Sherman’s advance. Many of Sherman’s soldiers were killed or horribly injured by these mines. Sherman called it murder not war. He ordered Confederate prisoners to find and remove the mines. Sherman forced them to march along roads to detonate the mines.
Surprisingly few civilians were hurt by landmines during or after the war. Most mines were placed away from populated areas. However some unexploded ordnance did cause civilian casualties.
After the Civil War the U.S. did not widely use landmines again until World War II. By the end of the Civil War the Confederacy had developed forerunners of modern landmines and fuzes. These included mines to cover retreating forces. They also used nuisance mines to inflict casualties behind enemy lines.
The Confederate Land Mines did not win any major battles. But they did delay Union forces. They gave Confederates time to escape.
So as you stand here at the Confederate Land Mines Plaque remember the desperation of the Confederacy. Remember the innovation and the controversy. Remember the lives lost and the legacy of landmine warfare.