Blue light (pyrotechnic signal)
Blue light is an archaic signal, the progenitor of modern
Confusion with blue-colored lanterns
Blue light was famously mentioned in accounts of the
Recipes for blue light appear in early chemistry texts and has been tested with success over the same distances involved in the Hunley engagement.
Decline
Blue light has been obsolete for signaling since early in the twentieth century, but pyrotechnic lighting is still popular for celebratory fireworks displays, and its synonyms[citation needed] "Bengal light" and "Bengal fire" can still be found in modern pyrotechnic manuals. Such displays were also popular in nineteenth century civilian life: two hundred blue lights were used in the first illumination of Niagara Falls during the 1860 North American visit of the Prince of Wales.[12][13]
As a nickname
"Blue Light" was a derisive nickname given to military officers of the 18th and 19th centuries, whose evangelical Christian zeal burned as brightly as its namesake signal, to the chagrin of those less ardent.[14] During the American Civil War, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson carried the nickname "Old Blue Light" because his men said his eyes glowed with a blue light when battle commenced Shelby Foote, The Civil War; the nickname is referenced in the lyrics of "Stonewall Jackson's Way" (penned circa 1862).
References
- ^ Proceedings of the Naval Court of Inquiry on the Sinking of the Housatonic NARA Microfilm Publication M 273, reel 169, Records of the Judge Advocate General (Navy) Record Group 125
- ^ J.N. Cardozzo, Reminiscences of Charleston (Charleston, 1866) p. 124. Google Book search Dec. 10, 2011
- ^ Noah Webster, International Dictionary of the English Language Comprising the issues of 1864, 1879 and 1884, ed. Noah Porter, p. 137 at www.archive.org/details/webstersinternat01webs Accessed Dec. 10, 2011
- ^ Report of Lieutenant-Commander W.D. Whiting (commanding the USS Ottawa off Charleston, 22 January 1863); ORN I, 13, PP. 525-526
- ^ Samuel Frederick Gray (1828). The Operative Chemist. p. 499.
- ^ The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army (3rd ed.). 1861. p. 307.
- ^ J.G. Benton (1862). A Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery Compiled for the Use of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy (2nd ed.). p. 369.
- ^ George William Francis (1842). Chemical Experiments: Illustrating the Theory, Practice and Application of the Science of Chemistry. London. p. 152.
- ^ Tom Chaffin (2008). The Hunley: The Secret Hope of The Confederacy. New York. p. 242.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Ordnance Manual, p.307
- ^ Benton, p.369
- ^ "News from Londonderry". The Times. Cumberland, England. 1860-09-26. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- ^ "Illumination of Niagara Falls". Retrieved 2020-06-12.
Mr. Blackwell [...] had some 200 Bengal lights made of the largest size which it was possible to manufacture. About 20 of these were placed in a row under the cliffs, beneath Clifton House, and facing the American fall: 20 more were placed under table rock, and 20 more behind the sheet of water itself [...]
- ^ Gareth Atkins, review of Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775-1815: Blue Lights and Psalm-Singers by Richard Blake (review no. 799) accessed Dec. 24, 2011 at www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/799
Further reading
- Christopher Rucker (Spring 2012). "Blue Light and the H.L. Hunley Debunking the Blue Lantern Myth". Civil War Navy the Magazine. 1 (1): 6.