Whale Oil... I had done extensive research a couple years ago on the topic of lighting, lamps, materials used during the war era both in the field and at home. The demise of the whale oil industry, both due to overhunting and costs, greatly affected what was available for use. It was a light oil that burned fairly cleanly, and gave off a bright dependable light. But quickly became very expensive and difficult to obtain. Dont think the light viscosity of the oil would have been of much value as a lubricant on such things like a wagon wheel.
Then came the exploration of alternate use of lard and any burnable liquid substance that could be found. The average folks still relied on candles for the most part.
Kerosene early days were in the mid-1850's in western Pa, but hadnt figured a way to extract enough to be marketable yet... a few years later on the verge of the civil war it really started up. It was moreso refered to as "Coal Oil" then, then further refinement of the product later to be known as Kerosene. Due to high extraction and production costs in those first few years it wasnt much cheaper than whale oil but regionally it was available.. By the 1870's it started to become more available and cheaper... most new lamp designs being made reflected using this fuel exclusively instead..