Hoping to deter the Union navy from aggressive action on southern waterways during the Civil War, the Confederacy led the way in developing "torpedoes," a term that in the nineteenth century referred to contact mines floating on or just below the water's service. With this book, two little-known but important manuscripts related to these valuable weapons become available for the first time. General Gabriel J. Rains, director of the Confederate Torpedo Bureau, penned his
Torpedo Book
as a manual for the fabrication and use of land mines and offensive and defensive water mines. With 21 scale drawings,
Notes Explaining Rebel Torpedoes and Ordnance
by Captain Peter S. Michie documents from the Federal perspective the construction and use of these "infernal machines." A detailed accounting, by the editor, of the vessels sunk or damaged by Confederate torpedoes and numerous photographs of existing specimens from museums and private collections complete this significant compilation.