Civil War Weapons

The American Civil War of 1861, has been taught in schools of America to be a war between the Confederates and the Union about the institution of slavery. However, this war also created the basis of new forms of weaponry and technology. Small arms of the American Civil War, were revolutionized in order to ultimately create faster-firing weapons that would prove to immensely assist soldiers in the war. Also, the advancement in weapon technology impacted the tactics and the style of warfare utilized during the war. Finally, the advancement in weapons lead to new forms of technology being created, artillery and military, that had extremely strong fire power and would be used on both sides, Confederates and the Union. The outbreak of the American
The Civil War Trust Organization states how the revolution of small arms was highlighted by a changeover in shoulder-fired weapons from smoothbore firearms, that had to be loaded through the muzzle each time it was fired, to rifled-barrel firearms, for which some could be reloaded at breech. In an article titled “Weapons of the Civil War,” Matthew Kent, a North Carolina State University author, discusses the importance of new features in the advanced firearms, and how they dramatically changed it’s usability and functioning. The creation of percussion cap systems lead to the new wave of rifles and revolvers having an increased rate of fire. Additionally, the French Minié ball bullet was used with the new firearms and it greatly increased accuracy instead of the traditional ball-style bullet, that was previously used in past wars. Handguns were fast which then became the additional weapon of choice for many soldiers, replacing swords of past battles, due to their portability and relative accuracy. This revolution of small arms to faster-firing arms in the American Civil War, dramatically changed tactics and how soldiers fought in
According to Matthew Kent, as fortifications and trench warfare began in the Civil war, hand grenades were developed to aid in exploding enemies in the trenches. Also a new type of artillery was introduced in the war by a North Carolinian know as Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling. He invented the World’s first successful rapid fire gun, the Gatling gun, in an effort to create a weapon so horrible that it would stop the Civil War in its tracks and prevent any future conflict from rising. Also the creation of naval ironclad ships, that were outfitted with massive Parrot Rifles and Dahlgren guns, were effective weapons against traditional ships during naval warfare. The ironclad lead to the creation of underwater craft that was outfitted with a spar, that held an explosive charge, and could be rammed into the wooden undersides of traditional ships and ironclads. All the new technological advancements that were created throughout the war, came to be from the influence of the revolution of weaponry that started in the beginning of the American Civil