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Civil War Weapons

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

WEAPONS OF THE CIVIL WAR

BY: SEAMUS oLIVER, TYLER SACCOMANDI, AND BRETT KWOKA

CIVIL WAR SWORDS

  • Soldiers assigned different swords based on different ranks and positions
  • Bayonets entered common use and are still used today
  • Bayonet: A 23 inch blade that turned a slow-loading rifle into a close-range spear

THE CAVALRY SABER

  • Issued single-edged sabers designed to hack and slash
  • Became less popular with the popularity of repeating rifles and machine guns, as cavalry charges became suicidal

The NCO Sword
The Officer's Sword was a more expensive-looking sword made with leather and brass instead of standard issue steel
It was more a symbol of authority and a decoration than for actual battle

From Left
An NCO Sword
An NCO Sword
A Staff Officer Sword
A Cavalry Saber
An NCO Sword

  • An NCO Sword
  • An NCO Sword
  • A Staff Officer Sword
  • A Cavalry Saber
  • An NCO Sword

PISTOLS

  • The pistol was only starting to become a common sidearm by the time of the Civil War
  • They were most commonly percussion-style revolvers, meaning they had a percussion cap that would be struck by the hammer
  • Almost every pistol from that time was a revolver, meaning it had a revolving chamber
  • The Derringer Deringer was developed at the time as one of the first "pocket pistols" designed for a single shot

PISTOLS USED BY THE UNION

  • The North primarily used established revolvers already being made
  • They preferred percussion revolvers
  • They generally used Colt, Remington, and Navy-style pistols

PISTOLS USED BY THE CONFEDERACY

  • The South generally had to use new revolvers made after secession, due to their lack of industrial infrastructure
  • They used pistols like the LeMat, a grape shot cap-and-ball revolver with nine rounds
  • They also used pistols imported by both sides, like the British Beaumont-Adams Revolver or the French Lefaucheux Double-Barreled Revolver, which had 20 shots

RIFLES

  • Rifles were in their early stages during the Civil War
  • Their were many types of rifles, carbines, repeaters, and muskets
  • Many calibers of ammo were produced like .22, .56, etc.

REPEATERS

  • Easy and quick to reload
  • Could fire 7 shots in 30 seconds
  • Used only by the north

CARBINES

  • Different types: breach, single shot, and revolving rifles
  • Used bullets, not balls
  • Required industry to mass-produce

MASSIVE ARTILLEREY

  • Seacost- used 7000 pounds of gunpowder.
  • Rodman gun- weighed over 50000 pounds and fired 425 pounds.
  • Parrot were recognized produced in 100 pounds

BEGINNING AND END

  • The federal forces began with over 4000 pieces of artillery.
  • In the Beginning of the war the South only had one working cannon foundry giving them a big disadvantage .
  • At the end of the war the South still only had a handful of foundries and armories compared to the north.

CANNONS

  • Cannons were the lions of the battlefield. They were big loud and packed a punch.
  • They inflicted huge casualties on the 1200 men who attacked the union lines during the picket charge.
  • Every major battle involved these huge weapons.

CIVIL WAR AMMUNITION

  • Different calibers of ammo: .22 .41 .42 .44 .36 .52 .54 Minie Ball and .56
  • The Minie Ball could crack bone and could put a soldier out of commission with just a grazing hit

QUESTIONS

  • Why were mortars so powerful?
  • What side used repeating rifles?
  • In what way did front line combat change with the invention of the repeating rifle?
  • Why did the South mostly use muskets and breach-loaded rifles at the beginning of the war?
  • How would kids younger than 18 truthfully say they were over 18 to get into the army?

INFO SOURCES

  • "History of Civil War Swords." Sword History. Web. 24 Jan. 2017
  • "Civil War Pistols and Revolvers (1861-1865)." Military Factory - Military Weapons.
  • "Camp Curtin Historical Society and Civil War Roundtable." Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
  • "History.com — Shows, Full Episodes, American & World History." Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
  • "Military Factory - Cataloging Aircraft, Vehicles ..." Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
  • "The Civil War Artillery Projectile and Cannon Home Page." Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
  • "Saving America's Civil War Battlefields." Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.