I just saw a Myth Buster's episode which I missed before. The Confederate Missile myth- a guided rocket launched from Richmond to Washington D.C. What I liked about the show is they used period chemical propellents that could have been used. They showed the use of gun-cotton which the Confederates used a lot of, mainly for explosives in shells. What I noted was it burned faster and a lot cleaner than gun powder. They showed the use of
nitrous oxide as a liquid propellent + a solid wax fuel...and it worked very well. Also, they built, by period plans, rockets that were in use during the 1860s...and each one worked on the first launch. They busted the myth that a rocket could be built that could go such a distance in the 1860s (and a rocket of the size they tested, even by todays technologies, would not go that distance). I liked the Confederate flag on the rocket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLX_9YVXWgc (last launch only)

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/confederate-rocket-minimyth.htm (full epsiode)

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David Upton