I was watching an episode of "MythBusters", and sawJamie and Adam bust a myth about some 100 mile rangeConfederate rocket that was supposedly being designed and developedin the last year of the Civil War as a 'secret weapon'of last resort. Does anybody have a weblink that will shed some light on whereand when this myth originated? It reminds me of those wacko myths of some Nazi scientists who (supposedly) invented and built an actual functioning flying-saucer.
Quote from: DiggyCoxwell on 12/23/2009 01:42 am I was watching an episode of "MythBusters", and sawJamie and Adam bust a myth about some 100 mile rangeConfederate rocket that was supposedly being designed and developedin the last year of the Civil War as a 'secret weapon'of last resort. Does anybody have a weblink that will shed some light on whereand when this myth originated? It reminds me of those wacko myths of some Nazi scientists who (supposedly) invented and built an actual functioning flying-saucer. "...the author Burke Davis, in his book "Our Incredible Civil War," tells a tale of a Confederate attempt to fire a ballistic missile at Washington, D.C., from a point outside Richmond, Va.According to the author, Confederate President Jefferson Davis witnessed the event at which a 3.7 meter (12 foot) solid-fueled rocket, carrying a 4.5 kilogram (10 pound) gunpowder warhead in a brass case engraved with the letters C.S.A., was ignited and seen to roar rapidly up and out of sight. No one ever saw the rocket land."http://www.solarviews.com/eng/rocket.htmCheck this out.
...But that was not nearly enough for a 100 mile range rocket....
I never heard of it. The CSA did build some wacky things, like the double-barrel cannon, and some inventive things, like the Hunley, but I must never have heard this. How did Mythbusters bust this myth? Was the rocket some giant Congreve thing?