Civil War Gunpowder Mine
When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Childersburg men joined the Confederate Army and the whole community supported the Confederate cause. Toward the end of the war, the Confederate Army encouraged families to mine caves for saltpeter, used in making gunpowder. The situation became so critical that the Army encouraged young men to mine saltpeter rather than enlist. They paid them up to 59¢ per pound for saltpeter. Because of the promise, DeSoto Caverns became a gunpowder-mining center.
Cave soil, often rich in calcium nitrate (Ca (NO3)2 " 4H20), called saltpeter, can be processed into potassium nitrate, or niter (KNO3). Niter makes up 75% of what we call gunpowder. The mining of saltpeter required a lot of water, which DeSoto Caverns with its spring-fed well had, in abundance.
A wooden vat was constructed so that when water was added, the soil in the vat became thoroughly saturated. The nitrate-enriched water would filter out the bottom of the vat into a leaching trough. The water was allowed to stand so that the soil's impurities would settle out. The nitrate water was then carried in buckets out of the cave and boiled in large kettles where it was mixed with potash or woodashes.
This process converted the calcium nitrate into potassium nitrate or niter. Finally, the water was boiled off leaving niter crystals usable, after drying, for making gunpowder. The actual well, leaching trough, and a reconstructed vat used in this operation are on display in the caverns.
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