Portal:American Civil War/Selected biography/51

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Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay (April 19, 1822–September 3, 1875) was a member of the Confederate Secret Service and the inventor of the coal torpedo, a bomb disguised as a lump of coal that was used to attack Union steam-powered warships and transports. In August 1863, Courtenay approached Sterling Price with a plan to attack Union shipping by means of an explosive device disguised as a lump of coal, the coal torpedo. The coal bombs would be planted in the coal piles used to fuel Union steamships and locomotives by a team of operatives working behind enemy lines. When a coal bomb was shovelled into the firebox, it would explode, resulting the explosion of the pressurized steam boiler and the destruction of the vessel.

Courtenay was motivated by a Confederate Bounty Law that offered a reward of up to 50% of the value of Union shipping destroyed by means of new inventions. However, the Confederacy had not established a legal framework that would allow private citizens to conduct attacks that were essentially military in nature. A secret bill authorizing the formation of independent secret service corps was passed by the Confederate Congress on February 15, 1864. Courtenay was given a Captain's commission in the Confederate Army and permission to form a Secret Service Corps of up to 25 men. The Corps was authorized to attack any Union military vessel or transport carrying military goods found in Confederate waters, but was forbidden to attack civilian shipping or Union shipping in Northern waters. Courtenay would not draw a regular Army salary, but would receive up to 50% of the value of ships and cargo destroyed or captured, payable in Confederate war bonds.