A few months ago, I posted an entry on how I was able to get my hands on a complete set of the Time-Life Books' "Civil War" series by winning an auction on eBay. Last night I was flipping through the title “Spies, Scouts, and Raiders” when I came upon a faded and folded magazine page that had been left behind. This set is a compilation of used books that are all in extremely good condition and at first I thought that the page was simply a scratch-bookmark. Upon further inspection I saw that it was an article that had been removed from an October 1998 issue of “U.S. News & World Report.” The article was from the magazine’s Science and Ideas section and was titled, “The battle was lost in a zone of silence: Acoustics help explain Civil War blunders.”

According to the piece, which was written by Brendan I. Koerner, members of the A.S.A. (Acoustical Society of America) have specialized in the study of acoustics and the pivotal roles that they have played in major world events. One of the members in particular who was interviewed was a gentleman named Charles Ross, a physics professor at Longwood College in Farmville, VA. Prof. Ross contends that “acoustic shadows” affected at least 11 major engagements during the Civil War including Gettysburg and Chancellorsville.

The A.S.A.’s findings stated that this natural phenomenon, in which sounds become inaudible to those close to the source, directly affected many command decisions, which were often based on reactions to battlefield noise. There were several instances of this cited in the article including The Battle of Five Forks and The Battle of Iuka in Mississippi. However, one event in particular stood out above the rest. This episode apparently took place at The Battle of Seven Pines. According to historians the original battle-plan as devised by then acting commander, General Joseph E. Johnston, head of the Confederate forces, was for the Virginians to attack the Federals at the first sound of gunfire.

Unbeknownst to the rebels (or anyone else in the 19th-century for that matter) was the presence of "acoustical shadows." Apparently the previous night’s severe thunderstorms had led to a weather-condition known as “temperature inversion,” which occurs when the temperature becomes significantly warmer at higher altitudes, but remains cooler near the ground. This creates a dome-like reaction in which sound waves are prevented from moving upward and out. Therefore, all sound is prevented from traveling and the result is an unrecognizable audible that is undetectable in the vicinity of its origin. This impromptu "zone-of-silence" led to a botched attack and subsequent wounding of Johnston, who was replaced by Robert E. Lee, two days later. Prof. Ross added that, “You can say that Robert E. Lee’s command of the Southern armies is directly attributable to an acoustic shadow.”

Like most "weathermen," I don’t always believe what they say, but I do find this theory to be most interesting. If this is indeed a scientific fact, then who knows what other military engagements could have been altered by natural phenomena’s like this. BTW: Did you hear something?