Yankee Catchers & Infernal Machines

Yankee Catchers and Infernal Machines. . Fixed fortifications located on waterways were difficult to properly defend against steam-driven warships. Ideally, they relied on heavy cannons and naval vessels for protection. However, the Confederacy lacked the industrial capacity to sufficiently supply cannons and ships here at Fort Anderson., Alternative methods to obstruct the Cape Fear River were therefore put into place. "Yankee Catchers" were barriers made of large posts, or "spiles," driven into the bottom of the river in two lines, with only a narrow gap for ships to pass., Torpedoes were also placed in the river. Torpedoes were water mines that would explode on contact with a vessel or could be electrically detonated from land. The first torpedoes were placed in the Cape Fear in the fall of 1864, near Fort Caswell. In December, torpedoes assembled at Fort Anderson by Lt. J. Pembroke Jones were placed near Fort Fisher to protect New Inlet., After the capture of Fort Fisher in January 1863, at least twenty floating keg torpedoes were sent to Fort Anderson and placed in the river between . batteries A ex B. They were fitted with sensitive contact fuses and anchored to the river bottom with enough buoyancy to keep them just below the surface. The fort was also provided with boiler type torpedoes that contained at least 1,000 pounds of black powder and could be electrically detonated using a Wheatstone Exploder. It is believed that Fort Anderson's torpedo bombproof was located behind you, in the extension off of Battery B.

It [Fort Anderson] was a very strong earth work and mounted a number of heavy guns. Directly in front of this formidable obstacle was a row of obstructions extending across the river with a narrow pas sage way in the channel near the fort. In this channel a number of large torpedoes with their wires leading inside the fort had been placed, and it would have been madness to have tried to run the gauntlet. John W. Gratten Acting Ensign, United States Navy

(captions) , This is a U.S. Navy map of Fort Anderson. Although less accurate than the U.S. Army map about land features, it identifies the location of Confederate torpedoes and the fort's wharf., Boiler Torpedoes were the largest mines placed in the river in front of Fort Anderson. Holding 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of black powder, they were detonated by an electric Wheatstone Exploder located in Battery B., Raines Keg Torpedoes were the most common type of torpedoes made by the Confederacy, and many were placed in front of Fort Anderson. They were usually made from a five gallon beer keg, with cone-shaped ends added to provide buoyancy and filled with black powder. They were fitted with contact fuses., This wayside was made possible by: The Captain Samuel A. Ashe Chapter 2572, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Raleigh, N.C.