Blue light (pyrotechnic signal)
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Blue light is an archaic signal, the progenitor of modern pyrotechnic
flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, o ...
. Blue light consists of a loose, chemical composition burned in an open, hand-held hemispherical wooden cup, and so is more akin to the flashpan signals of the Admiral Nelson era than the modern, encased signal flares, which are often launched by mortar or rifle and suspended by parachute. Widely used during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for signaling by the world's military forces, and for general illumination in the civilian sector, blue light was remarkable for its use of poisonous arsenic compounds ( realgar and orpiment), which contributed to its replacement by safer flares in the early twentieth century.


Confusion with blue-colored lanterns

Blue light was famously mentioned in accounts of the ''
H.L. Hunley ''H. L. Hunley'', often referred to as ''Hunley'', '' CSS H. L. Hunley'', or as ''CSS Hunley'', was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. ''Hunley'' demonstrated the advantages and th ...
'', the Confederate
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
which became the first to sink an enemy vessel, the , on February 17, 1864, during the Civil War. Such blue light has been repeatedly misidentified by authors and researchers of the ''Hunley'' story as a blue lantern, since they failed to realize the 1864 meaning of "blue light" as it was known to eyewitnesses who testified to its use during the battle between the ''Hunley'' and ''Housatonic''. Pyrotechnic blue light was commonly used by the vessels of the Federal South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off of
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
and would have been a familiar sight to both Union and Confederate soldiers and sailors. Recipes for blue light appear in early chemistry texts and often included antimony or copper compounds meant to add a blue color, but by the time of the American Civil War, standard military texts listed recipes for blue light which lacked any such coloring agent. While the generic moniker "blue light" was retained, the pyrotechnic signal was meant to burn with a vivid, white light. Modern authors have been confused by the generic name of blue light, and have imagined incorrectly that the signal which was seen during the ''Hunley'' - ''Housatonic'' encounter was blue. The oil lantern which archeologists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center recovered from the ''Hunley'' submarine has a clear, not a blue, glass lens, further evidence which discounts the modern "blue lantern myth" of the ''Hunley''. Blue light as made in 1864 has been reproduced according to the two recipes listed in period 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 "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
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n visit of the Prince of Wales.


As a nickname

"Blue Light" was a derisive nickname given to military officers of the 18th and 19th centuries, whose evangelical
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
zeal burned as brightly as its namesake signal, to the chagrin of those less ardent.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 During the American Civil War, Confederate General
Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...
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 Shelby may refer to: Places United States * Shelby, Alabama, a census-designated place and unincorporated community * Shelby, Idaho * Shelby, Indiana, an unincorporated town * Shelby, Iowa, a city * Shelby, Oceana County, Michigan, a village ...
; the nickname is referenced in the lyrics of "
Stonewall Jackson's Way "Stonewall Jackson's Way" is a poem penned during the American Civil War that later became a well-known patriotic song of the Confederate States and the Southern United States. It became very popular, but its authorship was unknown until almost 25 ...
" (penned circa 1862).


References


Further reading

* {{cite journal , author=Christopher Rucker , title=Blue Light and the H.L. Hunley Debunking the Blue Lantern Myth , journal=Civil War Navy the Magazine , volume=1 , issue=1 , date=Spring 2012 , page=6 Lighting Emergency communication Military communications Pyrotechnics