All right. Well, hello and welcome, everybody. Thats good seeing you here today at the American Civil War museum in appomattox for todays program, i im pleased to introduce our guest, author dr. Ken rutherford. Ken rutherford, ph. D. , is professor in the department of Political Science at James Madison university. He cofounded the Landmine Survivors Network and escorted Princess Diana on her last humanitarian mission to visit landmines. Survivors in bosnia and herzegovina. Brother rutherford was prominent also as a leader in the International Campaign to ban landmines, which won the 1997 nobel peace prize. He has served as director of the center for Internet National stabilization and recovery at gmu. Hes been a peace corps volunteer in mauritania, unhcr emergency refugee coordinator and somalia humanitarian and emergency relief officer in northern kenya and somalia. And as a fulbright scholar in jordan, he holds a ph. D. In government from georgetown university, a b. A. And mba from the university of colorado, where he lettered in football and was inducted into their hall for distinguished alumni. Dr. Rutherford has also served on the board of trustees with the Shenandoah Valley battlefield foundation, which preserves and interprets the regions significant civil war battle fields and related historic sites. As a quick note, we will have a question and answer period after dr. Rutherford speaks. If youd like to ask a question, just please form a line behind the mic to the left and without further ado, ken. The floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, bob. And thank you all for being here on a saturday with nice weather here in beautiful appomattox. Its a honor and a privilege for me to present this topic to you. Youll soon find out that its been a labor of love regarding the civil war. I grew up in colorado, or theres not a lot of civil war history, but i remember our east coast battlefield trips and arsenal landmine issue, an issue that ive been working with for in for over a quarter of a century. And its matching up to my passion. So what i hope to do today is highlight the use of landmines in the civil war and the world. Landmines have killed and maimed more people than chemical, biological and Nuclear Weapons combined. Traditionally, it was thought that world war one was the first time that landmines were used. I wrote a book in 2010 at the international landmine issue, and it wasnt until 2011, which ill show you, that i started discovering Civil War Battlefields where landmines were used in a thesis that the American Civil War was the first time that victim activated mines command detonated mines or landmines of any kind were used in the worlds history. And a widespread basis. Briefly on personal introduction, land landmines. This may be some of your first introductions to my mines, or if youve been in the military, youve been introduced to landmines. And then what i hope to do is highlight each year the American Civil War was one battle over landmines were used. I have found 15 to 17 different battlefields where landmines were used. But i want to draw out one battle from each year to show you the evolution that the technology and the tactics in the American Civil War. This is a brief introduction to landmines. If you dont know landmines are mostly victim activated. It theyre triggered by the footfall of a human being or the pressure of a vehicle. This is a chinese type 72 anti personnel mined. Its pressure sensitive that does not detonate unless somebody steps on it. On the left is the china is a type 72. Brand new. You could buy it for a couple of bucks in cambodia easily come top hoppers of an adult stepson. They usually most lose their toes or foot. And on the right is a study that we did at jmu, looking at the deteriorating effects of explosives in the soil. And this is how the same landmine looks. After about a decade in tropical soil. This is an antitank mine or a anti vehicle mine. Theres no explosive agent in it, but its designed to for a vehicle or cart or something heavy, the trigger. In other words, it doesnt go off by itself. It goes off when the victim or the vehicle puts pressure on it. So thats the type of weapon well be discussing. Land mines are in many countries around the world, about 80, and most of those countries are ip. The darker colors are where land mines are heavily infested. This map is somewhat old, but the only one that i could find colombia right here is now one of the top three or four countries in the world with land mines, mainly. 25 years ago, when i entered into the land mine field, it wasnt in the top ten. Americas little bit yellow, not because of the American Civil War, but because of the japanese use of landmines in alaska. I was just there about ten days ago. I was in aleutians islands, dutch harbor. Its where i filmed deadliest catch. But dutch harbor was bombed twice by the japanese in World War Two. Pearl harbor, once the only two places in United States where the United States was bombed during world were two. But the japanese had taken over two islands and used land mines on a two. And kiska, which is the subject of an article i have coming out in october in a journal. So my accidental discovery was in 2012, actually, i misstated. In 2011 i had a book come out in 2010 on the International Movement to ban landmines, moved to virginia in 2010. No idea that landmines were used in the American Civil War. A neighbor was the math teacher at Harrisburg High School and was taking the Robotics Team from harrisonburg high school. The vcu, to richmond for a robotics competition and they needed a chaperon. In other words, a vehicle to take some the students. So i volunteered. I have no engineering background and i want to visit for the first time the richmond area battlefields. And i said, ill drop the kids off at vcu and im going tour the battlefields. And i was driving down the fort harrison, where the park service has an office, and i pull over at fort johnson. This little sign right here, theres a way marker here, and this house is behind it. Id never heard of fort johnson. Im sure some of youve never have, but maybe some of you have. It doesnt exist anymore. But the way marker says that artillery shells were repurposed as land mines in 1864 and 1865. And this blew me away. Like what was a live transforming moment for me . Because for the next eight years, i spent research on this subject that i never took that right turn. I would have had a different life the last eight years, four and 6 to 7 a. M. Every day. I wrote and i wrote and i researched and land mines were not called landmines in the civil war that five or six different names sub terrors land torpedoes, infernal devices. So you just cant google civil war landmines. It doesnt show up. And so i chased for the next eight years personal records of confederate and Union Soldiers, primarily through the official records of the war, the rebellion, and other documents. The story that im going to share with you today. So this is the beginning of todays presentation. But first, if you just had your brief introduction, land mines, some of you for the first time, some of you, again, if you had training in the military, this is my introduction in early 1996. Thats me. I was in somalia running a humanitarian aid program. Half a Million People are just starved. Half a Million People are about to die. Well, its heavily covered by cnn right after gulf war one. Drove drove all over the southern southeastern part of somalia, south western part of somalia. This is right during black hawk down. This happened ten weeks. Theres my vehicle right front. Tire hits the landmine. I had no idea was a landmine. I knows my right foot came off. I was in a middle front seat. My legs wrangled to the right. And what really helped save our life beyond the topic of this discussion. But ill share it with you, was that donkey cart in the lower right . We slowed down, hit the mine. We slowed down because of the donkey cart and because we had slowed our speed, our vehicle didnt carry over the explosion. Its almost at a perpendicular angle. My right foot came off in somalia. I was trying to put it back on myself. I had a radio to call for help. Killer romeo. Killer romeo for ken rutherford, we hit a landmine bleeding. Oh, positive. Send an airplane. My rest of my right leg came off that night and nairobi, kenya. And on my left leg in the United States. Soon after, i was on tv, different news shows about somalia. Then i was interviewed. We are invited to the white house and the Senate ForeignRelations Committee to testify about landmines. And thats when i started to research about landmines. I really had no idea what a landmine was really, that i wasnt unique, that the story you just heard isnt unique, but it happens 26,000 times a year. Organize the Landmine Survivors Network with a friend of mine, jerry white, who lost his leg in israel. These are all american landmine survivors. Different parts, different wars, bosnia, vietnam, korea promoting prosthetics to go overseas for the thousands of people who need legs. Im standing before you with no legs. And a lot of people dont know. I dont have legs. But thats the American Technology told my story. And oprah trying to get the story out about landmine survivors and then work with Princess Diana. You heard of my introduction to bring her to bosnia, a newly independent country. I think she was one of the first celebrities to visit bosnia. She passed away a couple of weeks after this photograph was taken. But the whole world watched. And on the right, her sons, Prince William and prince harry, did a documentary about their mother, which is now on hbo. And they asked me and gerry to be in the video to highlight the humanitarian impact of their mother. This is the book i wrote on the Global Movement to ban landmines, which was published in 2010. Moved to virginia in 2011, discovered for johnson and the use of landmines in 2012. And thats where the story begins of americas buried history. So let me just start here and grab some might grab some of my notes at the beginning of the American Civil War and the south new that the union was going to try to shut down the harbors and the ports, the union had developed a plan called the anaconda plan a, much like the bow constrictor of south america that squeezes its prey, the snake, the anaconda. The union was going to do that to the confederate. The Confederate States of america shut down the mississippi be blocked. The ocean ports. So the south could not export its cotton and could not import raw materials. And third is take richmond up the james river. This plan proposed by general Winfield Scott was laughed at by the northern media as a joke. A cartoon of a snake trying to wrap around the Confederate States of america. His plan was ridicule. Ridicule, but it was effective. It strangled the confederacy, trading about 90 of confederate ships were able to leave southern ports. In 1861, within one year, that figure was cut down to 15 because of the union blockade. What does that have to do with the story . The Confederate States of america invested money in military technology to counter the anaconda plan. This technology would for the sea was going to make its way inland in about a year or two. But let me highlight three examples of this explosive technology that the Confederate States was using to develop countermeasures against the anaconda plan. On the left is a propeller explosive device. On the right is a stationary explosive device. This was to attack shipping union shipping or union vessels and blow them up if they came in contact with these explosives. The one on the right was from mobile, alabama. Thats in the museum in mobile, alabama. Most of these photographs are my own. Let me just. Well, im going to call for some support here for. Not air support, but that was the two slides ago. How to call an air support to get me out of that somali minefield. Oh, there you go. There you go. Im glad its your presence. The second is to see us torpedo boats are the torpedo class. These were sort of a form of kamikaze, but the crew would survive to live, to fight another day. It was a low, low vessel. It wasnt a submarine. Much of it wasnt our water. But above the surface was the smokestack burning of coal that doesnt give smoke. And on the end, im going to highlight this is an explosive right there. The rand is ships. A Confederate Navy would reign. It would sneak up on union shipping. Ram the explosive device that would raise the last second to blow a hole in the shell of the ship and to carry it down. And it was hoped that one that hit the targeted ship, it would result in explosion that would create a hole below the waterline and sink the federal vessel. It was an offensive explosive weapon, a third type of weapon was just floating explosive water cakes. This is the only explosive device at the west Point Military museum in new york. They have 13 different explosives that the confederates use or brought up to west point to the engineering school. But this is the only one on public display, and it was designed to target union shipping as a contact device. So you could see where the Confederate States of america invested in technologies. But as the anaconda plan became more effective, the confederates, instead of wasting the technology, started applying it on land 1861, the first time that landmines were used in the western hemisphere, in the United States was in columbus, kentucky. Clem, columbus, kentucky is on the mississippi river. It was known as the gibraltar star of the mississippi. You could see the bluffs here and it choked union shipping and general grant wanted to take it. He couldnt take it because of the defenses and part of the defenses were the land mines. And our surprise side, there are landmines use here. These are the maps that i designed for the book. How it jespersen was the mapmaker, but i told them to put the mines by planting mines and these roads. General polk of the Confederate States army allowed him to redeploy his manpower to other areas of the fortification. Columbus was never attacked. It was so powerful. The confederates were evac waited after fort donelson and kentucky fell in, the defenders were ordered to evacuate to fight another day. They didnt want to leave. But general barrow, your guard whos running the area, told general polk, get your men out of there. And general polk, as we could handle it. But theyre going to be surrounded. And sure enough, in columbus, kentucky, union troops entered this evacuated town and came across a weapon that they had never seen before, which was the land mines. This is from harpers weekly. And these are the mines right here, copper pet kettles filled with explosives in a box with a line that would run into the fortification. There is zero casualty. This because that would be just explain something. These were these were command detonated explosives where you knew to operate or we could lay explosives in the parking lot here, say a car comes in from we dont like we could press a button and blow it up thats a command detonated explosives as opposed to a contact or a victim and it activated explosives which we lay in the parking lot. It could be the dominoes delivery person. It could be a school bus, it could be the night guard. These were com command detonated. So even if you stepped on them, they wouldnt go off because theyre triggered by electricity. And the confederates could not did not use them because they back awaited their position at of port hudson. So this is the first time that landmines were used but theyre effective. They never the union never attacked for columbia part columbus. They just walked in virginia the state of many. First gentlemen. Cleland landed down here in and i cant see i cant read fort monroe area. And theyre going to march up. This is in 1862, the largest army in north american soil to date. Whats going to march up the peninsula and attack and take richmond, part three of the anaconda plant. General johnston ordered delaine measures along the peninsula primarily right here at yorktown. The macgregor line to build up defensive fortifications. Its to delay or defeat federal forces. But as the federal forces started to pile up, the confederates knew that this was just a delaying action to give the confederate government and the military and the high command more time to build defenses around richmond. Some of the measures that the Confederate Army took were quaker guns, just blocks like lincoln logs. Big link, just point them out and sort of federal to look through the binoculars and think theyre our cannon did just a have a parade here marched them and secretly over here have a parade. Theyre creating noise sort of federal start. Theyre facing a larger army than they thought was possible. The Confederate Army received intelligence that on the morning of may 5th, 1862, the federal fair launch a major assault, and the defenders knew they couldnt resist that assault. So the evening of may 4th, they withdrew. They withdrew from yorktown in the macgregor line and the Union Soldiers cheered because they knew that they could take yorktown peacefully. And there would be zero casualties and and these are some of the impressions of the Union Soldiers. And im just going to read from the book here just a couple of times to the armys surprise at dawn, the vance in union troops found only abandoned and mud filled rebel trenches. No bloody assault would be needed. Yorktown was in union hands. The news spread like wildfire and i quote loud cheers resounded along the line from the york river to warwick creek when the result was officially announced, recalled captain henry blake, the 18th massachusetts. And i quote and the bands which had been dumb for so long. Again enlivened the soldiers. And in notes of a thousand drums and fives and bugles filled the woods with a discord of melody. The federals raced, and i unquote the federals raced to win everlasting glory by being the first to place their unit flag atop the confederate earthworks. I the initial jubilation proved to be short lived with an and adminis works encountered a new weapon the confederates had planted victim activated iron mines powdered to fill artillery shells topped with friction. Primus set to explode when stepped on removed just a few inches under the soil Union Soldiers found the mines throughout the area and i quote in the vince vicinity, a spring hospitals and other places which they suppose the soldiers would visit, recalled one eyewitness. Nearly 30 Union Soldiers were killed or maimed by what was soon to be referred to as infernal devices. Some federals encountered torpedoes well in front of the towns defense, as, in other words, the union faced the enemy that they couldnt see. This is the cover of harpers weekly. Of Union Soldiers stepping on his mines again. No army in the world had faced such widespread use of victim activated weapons. This is from the Richmond National park museum. A reaper is a confederate artillery shell. Its no longer. I was just in richmond last week at the museum. The park service headquarters. And this is no longer on display. But the idea was to shell it out, put explosives. Heres the friction primer. Some Union Soldier steps on it, the presses it ignites, and the fuze and then it blows up. That wasnt the end of the Peninsula Campaign as the confederate troops retreated towards richmond. The federals were in hot pursuit and they laid landmines on the yorktown road and the williamsburg road. The idea was the federals would not march quickly or fast to pursue the retreating cavalry, retreating confederates due to land mines. And it worked. Who is responsible for this use of victim activated mines was general Gabriel Raines. His brother george raines, you may know, was head of the augusta powder arsenal. The number one supplier of gunpowder to the confederacy there. Born in newburn, North Carolina. Its now a national it is now a state marker. The rains brothers are known as the bomb brothers. Gabriel raines studied explosives. George raines. Explosive agents. Theres my pickup truck that i used to show that im actually doing research when i did that. Money off deductions. Work deductions. Prove i was there. This is their house. General raines, he had experimented with explosives in 1850s in the seminole war and he applied his practice of sensitive fuzes for the mines in the Peninsula Campaign. So theres let me just go back here. He, george, ranger, Gabriel Raines was heavily criticized in june of 1862. One month later, when general mcclellan, the head of the union forces, said, this is inhumane and uncivilized. This weapon should not be used. And General Johnson and the confederates agreed with them. This is inhumane and shouldnt be used. General longstreet ordered raines do not use land mines. Theyre inhumane. Theyre uncivilized. Theyre overruled by defense secretary of the war. Secretary randolph and Jefferson Davis, who said mines could be used with military purposes. Gabriel raines his argument for land mines proved justified when in november of 1862, the Confederate Congress gave him 100,000. In 1860 3 to set up the first ever mine bureau to develop mines. It was theres not a lot known about it because its called a torpedo bureau. Burrows under was called the Conscription Bureau under the Confederate Secret Service to keep it a secret. Port hudson, louisiana, 1863. The longest siege in american history. Military history to date, 48 days. The confederate defenders were completely surrounded by union forces. General banks, the confederates ran out of food or running out of food or eating meals and dogs still running out of ammunition. And they repurposed union artillery. Four as land mines. And theres a high theres a high unexploded rate in munitions even today. The industry says that 5 of all munitions do not explode when used. But back then was about 30, 40 . So the confederates repurposed union shells here for desperate preska. And at the citadel right here were victim activated mines. And up here was command detonated mines. The first time in the worlds history that both types of mines, command detonated and victim activated were used. This is for desperate. You can see how desperate the defenders were. Theyre in a position. Theyre outmanned and are outgunned. The union kept assaulting this position and so the confederates, as you could see here, used explosives. This is a Historical Marker at port hudson that for desperate subterranean torpedoes is what theyre called. And these were command detonated with a line going through the trench with an explosive is out here that would pull the trigger when the union forces were there. In other parts of port hudson, as i just showed you on the map, victim activated mines were used. The message here was these were union munitions being used against union troops. This is the port hudson Military Museum or state park. Its a beautiful state park, highly recommended. But these are two types of shells that were found that did not go off. And this is not a unique situation of repurposing unexploded ammunition. This is from iraq. Im going to move to the president. These are american cluster bombs that did not go off in iraq. These photographs are brought back from a former student of mine. Heres a high dud rate. So theres different types of munitions just think of port hudson and all the union unexploded ordnance. Theyre used. Theyre taken by insurgents use as an ied, improvised explosive device and attacked an american convoy with american weapons. So this is sort of the same idea that the confederate pts are using defending port hudson. Taking unexploded shells and repurposing them to attack and defend the enemy. 1864. The photograph on the left is taken by me at the west Point Military museum basement. These were all the act of sea mines at the end of the war, or most of them that were intact were brought there in the basement. Nobody will see these. This one is right here. This was used on the road to savannah, georgia. General sherman came in contact. His troops came in contact with these mines. And he was very unforgiving to his enemies. As you all know and several of his men were killed and maimed by landmines in the road on the way to savannah. He was so upset that he wanted wagon loads of confederate prisoners of war to be dragged over minefields. As a lesson. And he was talked down from that. But what he did do that didnt happen. But what he did do, as some of you probably know, is he marched confederate prisoners of war in front of his lines. So on the way to savannah to ensure that no landmines would be in the road. And sure enough, he said it was in surprise. We didnt face landmines again until Fort Mcallister, which is the 1864 example. Fort mcallister was designed to defend from attack from the sea. The major guns were pointed at the sea and the apache river, which goes out to the sea, never expanding of land based assault as general sherman neared savannah, Fort Mcallister is about ten miles south of savannah that confederate defenders cut down the woods around the fort and laid hundreds, if not thousands, of land mines. This is Fort Mcallister today, and this is really well preserved. Defensive fortifications. The landmines were laid out here. Theres a sign right here saying that landmines, ieds were laid at Fort Mcallister. You can see the sign. It was designed as a force multiplier. That Fort Mcallister wasnt designed to defend from the land, but instead from the union forces and thats the way i start off my introduction, because of the sole on fort maccallum there. And i read this and i could taste my own blood in my mouth from my experience literally that the soldiers could. And i just want to read you this opening. Soldiers in the 30th ohio volunteer infantry knew the dangers they faced in december 13th, 1864, but they followed their orders and charged toward the confederate held fort mckay last. Mcallister, nonetheless. Sergeant hartman was moving ahead with his comrades during the afternoon attack. When he was thrown violently to the ground by an explosive. Given the sudden changes, circumstances left him momentarily dazed. When he recovered his senses and realized what had happened, he searched his body for wounds and discovered shattered bones in his left foot. A burned leg, hand and face and belly swollen eye. Among other injuries, hardin was not the only man from the 30th ohio to fall in that manner. Private Jesse James Horner of company the saw comrades foot blown off at the ankle. And i quote at least five boys in blue were torn into fragments during the battle and scores were hurled to the ground in a inner crater, recalled another soldier from ohio. The next morning, a man fighting in the seventh ohio visit a comrade who had lost both his legs in a short but deadly fight. And this is what he wrote. There is no hope or possibility of his living, he wrote with sadness. He was torn to pieces from a stomach all the way down to his balls, which were mashed. Each of these men were victims of what the federal army called in frontal machines. Fort mcallister fell pretty fast. There are a lot of casualties. And right here, general sherman ordered confederate prisoners of war, declared of mines at Fort Mcallister. Lets move on to 1865, gibraltar of the atlantic ocean. Wilmington, North Carolina. Fort fisher defends the cape fear river, which leads into wilmington, wilmington, North Carolina was the last open port of the confederacy. General lee, who is defending his he and his men, were defending petersburg and richmond said if wilmington falls, the confederacy falls. Those are last supply line. And cape and fort fisher was holding off the federal forces. Very heavily fortified and with a wall down here shaped like an l across a peninsula. And down here, right here, the largest organized mine field to date in the civil war was laid. These are command detonated mines which allowed the confederate high command to redeployed men to other areas of the fort to move them down here and to move them down here. The night before the january 15th attack on land, on january 14th, the union launched the Largest Naval bombardment of the war on fort fisher. Sort of like pre dday. On june six, the naval forces softening the nazi defenses on the beaches of normandy by doing so, the federals had ever certainly snapped all the wires leading from the command detonated into the fort. The confederates didnt know, and the union didnt know. And so when the Union Soldiers from the federals attacked, the fort fell in a matter of hours, the predicted will take weeks to take the fort. And when the confederates pushed to triggers to blow up the union attacking forces, Nothing Happened there. Zero casualties, because there a command detonated mines, much like fort hood, like much like columbus, kentucky. So at Fort Mcallister, the month before december of 1864, you had a massive amount of casualties due to victim activated mines. The confederate sits at fort fisher use command detonated mines. It kind of shows you there is no it was more ad hoc. It wasnt centralized. My last battle, our battles are in alabama. Outside mobile, alabama. Spanish. You see the confederates pulled, cut down the trees. Theyre expecting the union assault and they laid landmines. Right around fort lee, deer mounts called fort mcdermott. But its actually a southern position of spanish. Fort, spanish fort defended against the water invasion. And fort mcdermott, only. And and when i went to spanish fort i knew there were landmines in the area from the records, but i had never heard of fort mcdermott. And i discovered it by accident because i was driving around this neighborhood called spanish fort and actually a police car started following me because i was stopping in the neighborhood, Walking Around with my maps looking for the mines. And i see a confederate battle flag up here. They pulled my truck on the road right here, walked up the hill. And this is the area where landmines were used in this direction. The confederates evacuated, their position the night before they heard or new order, intel gave them information that the federals were going to attack much like what happened in yorktown. Half one into four. Blakeley and half crossed a river to mobile at fort blakely, which is eight miles up the road, was the last battle of the americans, major battle of the civil war. And ill talk about that in a second. Fort mccoy, fort blakely, its a state park now you see fort blakely is this is fort blakely here. Landmines were used right here. Us colored troops were up here, which is very important part of the story. But the but the confederate defenders are outnumbered like 1300 against 15,000 and landmines were used in this valley protecting rip out number four ohio troops from iowa and u. S. Colored troops ran over that area filled with mines and had wires tied between trees. So when the soldiers would trip, dont fall in the mines. They also laid landmines logs one or three and or one log. So somebody stepped on a log or a plank board. The whole thing would go off. This infantry assault, some would argue, was the last infantry assault of the American Civil War, which occurred on april 9th, 1865. In the afternoon. They didnt know what happened right down the road here. That morning when generally surrendered. On april 9th, 1865. They didnt get the memo or the email that the war was to be over. But this is the last time that landmines were used in a hostile situation and that american soldiers would face until october one, an american soldiers wouldnt use landmines again World War Two for another 70 years. So theres four. And just one other story here. But the u. S. Colored troops, i could talk to you for about an hour about every slide. Im trying not to. Ive already spoken for about 40 minutes. Now, the us colored troops were moved to the behind and they complained they wanted to be at the front, much like the 54th massachusetts battery wagner. In the movie glory, they want to be moved to the front because of what happened to fort pillow in the massacre of us colored troops. There. And they tied red band denims under bayonets and charged and several of them were killed by the land mines planted in the ground and they kept running, took a couple more slides. More slides. This is the academic part of the presentation. This is a chart of every single battle where landmines reus that i could find in American Civil War. There may be some more, but this is eight years of research. Early in my life. On one slide command detonated mines, were used in three different battles. Port hudson, Yellow Tavern in virginia and fort fisher. I explain two of them. Triple iron mines, which i didnt really explain, but these are wires that cross tied to explosive pressure mines, what i call contact or victim activated. Were used in almost every single battle that were land mines. We use nuisance mine. This is more or theres not a military utility to these mines. Your town springs and spanish fort around water wells not a defensive purpose. Now in war. Icis the taliban. They use land mines in many cases nuisance mines. If we can control the land, were going make it horrible for you. Whos doing this now . Russia in ukraine. Theyre laying farmers fields with land mines. If were never going to use them again, were never going to have these fields again. And if the ukrainians are going to farm, go, hey, well blow them up. The russians are laying landmines in many spots of ukraine. I just quoted in the Washington Post about six weeks ago, and the russian types of mines that theyre using in ukraine, no defense purpose at all, which is not the case in american war, except in two cases i didnt delay. Tactical is using landmines as a delay weapon. Well, were being pursued. So were going to use landmines to slow down the pursuing forces past is prolog the photographs and the ride and left are from the merrick from the west Point Military museum. These are different types of explosive devices designed and used by the confederacy, mostly in water, but all in water. But i found three of them that were used on land, including the one in the middle, on the right, which was used on the roads in georgia, trying to defend against shermans march to the sea. The photograph in the middle is from the Iraqi Police Department and these are modern explosives that are repaired. Best to use this land mines. And theres a landmine manufactured landmine in the middle. This for that middle photograph is actually from baghdad. So you see the past is prolog and the argument that ive made in the book and here is that the first time the worlds history that landmines were used in a widespread basis both command detonated and victim activated was in the American Civil War and we as a nation want to use them again for another 70 years in World War Two. And our soldiers wouldnt face landmines again until world war one. On that note, id like to thank you for your time and for listening. It gives me energy to keep pursuing this subject. Thank you very much. Well, here. Research. Did you find any examples of union troops using, mines in defensive positions . Thats a great question. The answer is no because land mines, as you just said in your question, land mines are a defensive weapon. And the union was on the offensive most of the time. But also part of it isnt fully explained that question or my response to your question. But the union developed a lot of newer technologies, cannons, you know, more advanced as the war on. And land mines are defensive weapon as as high as you know. So the union dancers know thats not to say they wouldnt have if theyre more under pressure but dancers know. Yeah. I was thinking more like around, like nashville. Yeah. Yep. Thats a great question. I could not find any. Any. And just just on your question, one of the one some of the challenges on this project, which ties to your question is general raines, who was head the confederate torpedo torpedo bureau, which was under the secret service bureau, wanted training manuals on land mines to be distributed to confederate forces. And how you lose land mines. And Jefferson Davis said no, because we dont want our insidious devices to fall into our enemies hands. So that could be another word. Training manuals never went to the federal forces, you know, because maybe they didnt put the money into these explosive technologies and just tied to that. When the confederate government evacuated richmond in the spring of 1865, there was a fire in richmond for burning supplies. But the secret Service Building was purposely burned to burn all the records, which included all the torpedo records. And just one more part of this. Sorry to call along, but is the federal arm the union army was ordered to execute any confederate officer ordering the use of mines. Any confederate soldier using mines because inhumane. And so the confederate soldiers and officers who are involved in lamb wouldnt have anything under pockets, no maps, no orders, because if theyre taken prisoner, they dont want to be executed. So that could be another reason why this information never got out. Well, secret. Jefferson davis over rural training manuals, which also explains the ad hoc methods that the land mines been using all these different battles. And the confed trade Engineering Bureau and the Computer Bureau did not keep records because they didnt want to be held accountable. So there wasnt a lot of information to go on. So i had to dig deep on this. But i also explored the expense. What a federal didnt pursue land mines again. The assumption of the question is that land mines are a defensive weapon and its entirely accurate and a union was never under pressure as much. You know, if we had a full front, if we had a gettysburg every four months, maybe they would have developed them. Thats all speculation. Thank you. Yep. Did you have to ever have to worry about unexploded ordnance or landmines in your Civil War Research for any of the battlefields . Hot. Thats a great question. The answers wow. This brings me back to fort blakely in alabama. I went to fort blakely, which is a state historic park. I would say it was in the spring. It rained the night before. It was like a wednesday big state park. I drove there. I found where the mines were used, walked away from my truck, and i realized like i am walking on a former mine field and i dont want to do that again, you know . You know, its not like and i was actually like im out here by myself. Nobody is out here. My next footfall could be my last. And i actually was scared for a second. But the answer is no. And this leads me into a very interesting part. And the answer is this is in almost every single case, confederate prisoners of war used to clear drill mines and walk across their mine. So, you know, the clearance rates give you pretty good. And also many of the mines, as you saw, were almost improvised explosive devices where the gunpowder could get easily wet and self neutralize itself. There are stories about relic hunters finding landmines once or twice. And ive been in somebodys house who has a confederate landmine in their basement, and they ask me if i want to hold it. And i said no. Yeah. Yeah. So thats not to say they could be out there. Theyre not out there. But i wasnt that worried about it just because of the technology and the way theyre cleared. Yeah, thats why in western europe we dont have to worry about landmines a lot because german prisoners of war were forced to clear the netherlands beaches, the normandy beaches. And it wasnt until 1949 that using prisoners of war i declare mines is illegal. Like the geneva conventions in 1949. Thats why we cant use ice as prisoners to clear all the mines that they deployed or we. Ukraine would be unable to use russian soldiers to clear the mines they use. Great question. No. My question pertains to the the foot soldiers viewpoint of the use of mines. You know, during the war, i assume it was seen as a cowardly method of warfare, infernal machines. By world war one. World war two, it is just common practice. An accepted way to engage war. Today, it seems like through internet personal pressures, the banning of the use of landmines. I, i dont know if you talk with wood. Todays foot soldiers, u. S. Or otherwise people do they view the use of mines back the way our confederate soldiers thought of them as far as a cowardly way to engage in warfare that are all great questions. So i have two sons in the field. One is an explosive. He received a certificate, an explosive. Hes mechanical engineer and he works for one of the Largest Company that makes bomb and explosive detectors. Actually, his mother blames his father for his career decision and. You know, he doesnt think like that. He has a job to do. Tripwire detectors for the army and that. A second son is a weapons commander in the marines of all things. And so he works with ordnance and colin strikes and all that and says, i dont know if i should say it, but hes not trained in new zealand mines. So the american soldier, i could assume is not trained in americans have not used landmines since 1991, since gulf war one. And we start producing in 1997 and were the first country in the world to ban the export of mines. In 1992, unilaterally, 100 zero republican democrats imported an export ban on mines, but we didnt send it treated badly. Mines. And i was heavily involved in that effort. And i think the Us Government made a decision that were not going to use landmines, but were not going to ban them either because its to create a slippery slope where we ban mines for a humanitarian reason because 90 of victims are civilian. More civilians die after the war than during the war because of landmines. Because landmines are so good. Unlike the civil war, mines, they last 100 years and when the peace treaty signed between ukraine and russia in the civilians go home or the soldiers go home. The civilians are going come back and get blown up by this. So indiscriminate weapon and indiscriminate weapons are illegal under international law, but so we do use command detonated mines which are not illegal because you could discriminate who is going to be targeted. And so the treaty only bans indiscriminate weapons in june and july of 1862, within the confederate high command. And i actually mark this because i figured theres going to be a question about it is there is a moral debate within the confederate high command whether landmines should be banned or not. And i just want to read to you this. So, general johnston and long general johnston, the Confederate Army of gilead general, before he got injured and replaced by lee, he agreed with longstreet. General longstreet said range should ban, not use landmines. Johnston agreed with long this gets to your question of the moral debate within a confederate. I dont know if im drifting from your question or not, but i eat. I eat this stuff for breakfast. Okay. Johnson agreed with longstreet. That reign should cease using mines. In response, defended his deployment as part of a rearguard action during the withdrawal to richmond and offered his own recent experience as evidence of their effect. This boom, boom, boom. In midmay, confederate secretary war general randolph review and examine the landmine correspondence between raines and his superiors, including johnson and longstreet. Johnson longstreet was saying this is unethical, its uncivilized. And Gabriel Raines is making an argument why it is civilized and he said this is the decision of Jefferson Davis and randolph, the confederate secretary of war. It would be a this is are his words, not mine. It will be admissible. Landmines would be admissible. However, the two plant shells were not not to plant, shells to destroy life. And without other design. Then in the previous, your enemy of a few men without injuring them, what hes saying is landmines can be used with the military purpose. The goal is to take life with no other object in the destruction of life, explained the war. Second tary. Hence it is enemy able to shoot centennial. Centennial and pickets because nothing is attained but the destruction of life. Randolph placed great emphasis on the intended purpose of mind, said the purpose is military. So back to your question. Within two months, the Confederate Congress had given raines 100,000 to develop land mine warfare. So getting most of the world has banned the use of land mines by 160 countries. Every country natal has banned landmines except the United States and every country in the western hemispheres banned land mines except cuba. The United States. And those countries who didnt ban landmines or the usual suspects russia, china, india, pakistan and the United States. But i think we in the pentagon. Well, this is just my personal views of being in the field, is that the pentagon has made a decision not to ban the use of landmines because then it would open up our whole weapons arsenal to legal inspection. Your bullets are too big. Youre dropping bombs too high. That type of stuff. Well, okay. Yes, sir. I guess ill go again if nobody else is coming up. In a recent conversation with another researcher, he said that epa alexander had planted mines, the defense of richmond. But lee never planted mines for the defense of petersburg. It was lee personally against the use of landmines. That is such an awesome question. Ive never heard that before, but it was the big mystery. The book why would landmine used outside of richmond, north of the james river 24 . I was like 2470 mapped the mark line field, largest mine field in the world until world war one. But they werent used around rich petersburg. I dont know who you just referenced but hes absolutely right about that. They werent use around petersburg and i had people who read the book and said they were used around petersburg. We dug into the research and it was all north of the james river. My view is that the confederates were they didnt have enough engineers, theyre being wiped out. So they kept their best engineers to protect richmond and not petersburg maturely or deficient. It takes a lot of resources. Theyre trying to use land mines to defend the capital. And they were just they didnt have enough time or material to use them around petersburg. Petersburg would be the natural i read. Ive read almost every major book on petersburg. I could not find one source or one reference for mines around petersburg. Its one of the great mysteries of this book. So no, no, no findings on how lee felt about the use of mines. Oh, so. Okay, thats different, cause so lee felt like again, he took over from johnston in 1862 after johnson was wounded, and he did not disagree with the use of land mines. But Gabriel Raines had trouble with longstreet over this debate, so he moved. Raines does what lee did right when he took he move to help defend the james river juries bluff and other areas and empowered him to use these weapons. So theres no opposition to at all. But how lee felt about mines . I cant find anywhere where he addressed it. Okay. Thanks. And a question in a different direction. You sure . And i dont know if you address this before i came in, but theres a photograph off of your vehicle hitting that mine. Right. Rather horrific. How did they get it . How did you get a photograph of that actually happening . So he was actually there. You know, i showed that photograph when i was present. And i think out of like ten years, your only second person ever say how do they should photograph when your vehicle got blown up . Yeah, the actors real, they didnt invest. They did it at that day. They want to figure out how what happened because out of Somali Military groups wanted me around was nonu. S. Territory. I think they wanted me around. Maybe they got they got rid of me, though. That that was a movie. The bbc made a movie about Princess Diana and about 15 minutes of it is a reenactment of my accent. So they had a movie actor play me and i was blown up in a toyota land cruiser, but that was a mercedes. And the filming took place in kenya. But i was blown up in somalia. Gotcha. Now, did they actually was a car put in such a position that it forced your car into the lane . Thats it. So what happened that morning is december 16th, 1993, i could just remember like it was yesterday, even though its like 30 years ago, the major source of water was donkey carts, empty, washed out oil drums bringing water to the huts and are like 30 donkey carts and i was going to double the capacity to have two water tanks on each donkey cart. I wanted to office and only like ten of them had showed up. And it was a thursday. Muslims dont work on a friday. The situation was going down at a job offer to go to spec aston as god tried to kenya call my fiancee and my staff said we have to wait until everybody else comes in. So theres some refugees outside who just came from ethiopia. They knew i was in the town again. Theres only two americans in the whole region. Me, an american nurse. And so my staff said, lets go visit this refugee project site. They had a construction outside of town, a line making. Its what you do with white buildings. So, sure, lets go. I got an hour. Lets go. And then were driving out there and i had all my papers on my lap, like take down the chicken cage at the airport, put the wire away. And i looked up when the car slowed down and theres this donkey cart and it was coming in. Meet me, but yet it really saved our life because we slowed down one little bit to the right and thats the one. And then everything went blind. I couldnt see. I just. Mohammed hassan ali, my assistant manager, my translator later, he was white. Hes black, but he was covered with dust. I was like, is that your foot . Because my foot. And he got out and i couldnt move. And thats when i grabbed the Steering Wheel and put myself out that way. Cotton tight, trying to get around my legs what was left of my legs, but i drift. Why did i go into that . Well, now i just the car. Well, it wasnt intentionally placed sorry he hit the landmine. Yeah, i lived that accident every day. Every day. And im grateful every day to be above. I had 19 blood transfusions in 24 hours. I was in five hospitals and four countries and a plane and come get me. I should have been dead three or four times over. I dont even know why im standing here. All i know is every day is a great day to be alive like when i read with the soldiers went through an American Civil War. I could just taste what theyre going through. I actually gave myself up. Its like im ready to go. I was coughing up blood. My foot was gone. I said, god, i love you. So much. Im ready to cross the river to ready, go. And i thought i was 7 hours out there, but they didnt tell me until then. Geneva, my third hospital, that i was only there for 45 minutes. And thats when i thought, you know, if i live, i want to marry my girl. I just got married. I just drove to kenya. Ask her if she wants to get married, drove back to kenya, drove back to small and get blown up. Now she stuck with a guy with no legs. I asked her to leave me and she wouldnt leave me. So we have a bunch of kids now and. And i said, i want to be a teacher. My dad was a teacher. And at the of 31 that morning, being a teacher wasnt one of my top 100 goals. And want to be a father. You know, it just really clarified all the noise, like my 100 goals went out the window, it cleared out the noise and distill old and me to be a teacher, a father and a husband. And i said, god, whatever comes after, thats icing on the cake. And then i started breathing slower and i fought for every breath. I was like, im not. I got a life to live. God gave me that strength. Yeah, yeah. So back to the picture. That was a movie. Okay, i just look at that. Im like, oh, my god. Like, how do we live through that . If we went over it, we would have been torn up in a blender. Yeah. Great eyes, man. Wow. Oh, were glad you made it. Thank you, sir. So i thank you all so