How Technology Advancements Affected The Civil War

Gauge Zidlick

Mollie Swayne

English 102

12 February 2018

How Technology Advancements Effected the Civil War

The Civil War brought about many different advancements in a variety of areas during the time period. Everything from battlefield communication to weapon technology received an upgrade, allowing both the North and the South to become more effective fighters on the battlefield. New weapon technology allowed soldiers to engage each other in ways never thought of in previous wars. Soldiers were able to fight at much larger distances and with the invention of repeating rifles they were able to fire more bullets in a shorter amount of time. This caused army generals to have to rethink battle plans and come up with new strategies to avoid

These muskets had a smooth bore, the inner barrel was smooth, and used musket balls as projectiles. Musket balls were made of lead and had an effective range of about 300 feet. This caused armies to fight closer to each other due to the limited range of their weaponry. The musket also only held one bullet before a soldier had to take the time to reload. This reload involved loading the barrel with gunpowder and a musket ball before taking a ram rod and packing both as tightly down as the soldier could. The long reload time as well as a short effective range caused armies to look for better solutions to make their soldiers more effective on the battlefield. One of the first improvements made to the musket was a rifled barrel. A rifled barrel consists of spiraled groves down the inner barrel that gave bullets a spin as they exited the barrel. This spin allowed the bullets to travel roughly 900 feet allowing soldiers to engage each other at a much longer distance. Displayed in Artifact B, rifling also carried over into cannons where the inner barrels were being rifled similar to muskets. Artifact B was able to fly further and faster than previously used cannon shells due the new rifling techniques and design of the shell. The increased range of the rifled barrels caused a change in how battles were fought during the Civil War. Compared to wars before, military generals now had to take advantage of the range

Artifact C shows what was called a Spencer Rifle. This rifle allowed for soldiers to load up to seven shots of a .52-caliber bullet and them to be fired rapidly. This new rifle was a major advantage for soldiers as they could load and fire multiple bullets where as the standard musket that could only load and fire one bullet at a time. Pictured next to Artifact C, the Spencer Rifle used a .52-caliber bullet that was a self-contained unit. This meant that the bullet and gunpowder were contained within a metallic cartridge that could be loaded into the rifle. This technology allowed for soldiers to carry more ammunition onto the battlefield as well as load the rifles faster due to not having to pack the gunpowder and bullet into the rifle. Compared to previous muskets the Spencer Rifle was more effective and deadlier on the front lines causing more casualties than in previously fought wars. Artifact D pictures a Colt model revolver used by Navy officers during the war. This revolver worked similar to how Spencer Rifles did but instead of seven shots the revolver was six. Weapon technology like this allowed for officers to have a means of defending themselves while also being able to ride on horseback. The effect the Spencer Rifle had on the Civil War was how fast it was able to shoot. The rapid-fire ability of the Spencer Rifle