When Magruder abandoned his line at Yorktown, he left behind seventy-seven heavy guns, he could not move, a sorry loss for the Confederacy. Also left were a number of 8- and 10-inch Columbiad shells, buried and fused so they would explode when stepped upon or moved. So angry was McClellan at the introduction of land mines, he ordered Confederate prisoners to dig them up. They were the work of Brigadier General Gabriel J. Rains, who commanded a brigade under D. H. Hill in the Peninsular Campaign. Though not trained in ordnance or ever stationed at an arsenal, explosives were his hobby, and while commanding the post at Yorktown in the first winter of the war he mined the surrounding waters. Rains' surprise for the Union was not viewed kindly by his own superiors for that matter, as they considered it highly unethical. Captain G. Moxley Sorrel, an aide to Longstreet, left an interesting account: When Gabriel began moving out on our march he amused himself by planting shells and other explosives to tickle the pursuers. Hearing this I reported the matter to Longstreet, who instantly stopped it. He caused me to write to Rains a rather severe note, reminding him that such practices were not considered in the limits of legitimate warfare, and that if he would put them aside and pay some attention to his brigade his march would be better and his stragglers less numerous. This officer did not remain long in the field. His talents... lay elsewhere. "Elsewhere" turned out to be as head of the Torpedo Bureau, a post Rains assumed in June 1864. He finally received permission to use land mines in the approaches to Richmond, Mobile, Charleston and the James River, though ethical opposition to the weapon remained strong. Despite this the land mine, a weapon invented by a man who just liked to play with explosives, would become a fixture of later wars. Related McClellan in the Peninsula: Background and Organization McClellan in the Peninsula: The Advance up the Peninsula McClellan in the Peninsula: The Seven Days McClellan in the Peninsula: Conclusions Back to Cry Havoc #12 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com