Trickery has always been a part of warfare. During the Civil War one favorite scare tactic was to paint logs black and mount them on carriages to make the enemy think you had artillery. This was done by both sides, especially the Confederates, who suffered from a serious weapon shortage.
Here are two images from the Library of Congress showing these "Quaker guns", so called because they wouldn't kill anybody. The bottom image even has a few scarecrows, or "scare Yankees"!
Home to author Sean McLachlan and the House Divided series of Civil War horror novels. A Fine Likeness, the first in the series, is available now. This blog is dedicated to the Trans-Mississippi Civil War and historical fiction, and occasionally veers off into adventure travel when I go somewhere interesting.
Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!
Friday, March 23, 2012
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They were resourceful!
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