Essay On Civil War Weapons

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The American Civil War is one of the most pivotal moments in our nation’s history, and one of America’s bloodiest. The war cost the United States approximately 1,000,000 casualties , and it will forever be a bitter memory in our American history. Yet, the United States learned much from this conflict, and many modern technologies arose or were tested during this period. The Civil War saw the first uses of submarines, aerial reconnaissance, ironclads, and many other technologies that would cause the Civil War to be called one of the first “modern” wars. Infantry weapons would improve greatly over the course of the Civil War. While smooth-bore muskets were still the primary infantry weapon at the beginning of the war, as the war progressed rifles …show more content…

This is because weapons still used black powder, which produced large amounts of smoke when used by massed infantry. By the time the battle starts, armies could barely see each other and needed the massed volley of line infantry to actually have a chance at hitting the enemy. By 1863 Spencer repeating rifles will also be used in small numbers, primarily by cavalry in the Union Army. Repeaters were rifles that had the capacity to store 7 rounds, whereas muzzle-loaded rifles had to be reloaded after each shot. Muzzle-loaded rifles also had to be reloaded in a standing position, so cavalry were often only armed with a sidearm and cavalry sword. The Spenser Repeating Rifle also came in a shorter, lighter carbine version which will be used extensively by cavalry units. It was not adopted for infantry due to logistical concerns about supplying the large amount of ammunition required. These Rifled muskets and repeating rifles would greatly improve the effectiveness and firepower of infantry. The Gatling gun, invented by Richard Gatling in 1861, presented a huge leap in firearms technology. A Gatling gun featured multiple rotating barrels turned by a hand crank. It was innovative

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