Rains Brothers, Marker C-66 - North Carolina Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

George (above left) and Gabriel (above right) Rains were brothers - brilliant, articulate, industrious men in the 1800's. Both attended West Point and George even taught at West Point. Their true devotion was to the South and when the war came, both defected, bringing their skills with them. George eventually ended up heading the Niter and Mining Bureau and Gabriel, the Torpedo Bureau. Both became famous for their work and were later known as the "Bomb Brothers."

George perfected the art of gunpowder making and his Augusta Powder Works, created nearly 2.75 million pounds of the finest gunpowder anywhere.

Gabriel caused much torment on the waterways of the South. Perhaps his cleverest invention was a miniature bomb which resembled a lump of coal. Smuggled aboard a ship, it was then cast into the coal storage bin where an unsuspecting sailor or boiler tender would eventually throw it into the ship's boiler. Many fine vessels floundered helplessly after such a device exploded.

It is said the Rains prolonged the Civil War. Both lived to ripe old ages, one dying in the North and one in the South.

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Boyhood Home of the Rains Brothers:

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