WEAPONRY

Many Weapons were used in the The Civil War from knives to swords along with a variety of firearms, including rifles, pistols and muskets.

Infantry:The Infantry in the American Civil War comprised foot-soldiers who fought primarily with small weapons , and they carried the brunt of the fighting on battlefields across the United States.

Cavalry:
The principal shoulder weapon of the mounted services was a short-barrelled carbine. These were effective out to 200 yards. Numerous designs appeared early in the war, and close to 20 different types were eventually adopted by Federal forces.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

In 1848, a French army officer named Claude Minie invented a cone-shaped lead bullet with a diameter smaller than that of the rifle barrel. Soldiers could load these “Minie balls” quickly, without the aid of ramrods or mallets.

To be effective the Minie ball required more effective rifles .
In 1863 repeating rifles were discovered.
This new weapons allowed the soldiers to shoot 7 bullets in 30 seconds.

1. Hand grenades
Civil War soldiers were known to make jury-rigged explosives using assortments of fuses and gunpowder, but the conflict also saw advances in the design and manufacture of hand grenades.

2. Rockets
Rocket launchers might seem like a 20th-century phenomenon, but they made a few appearances on Civil War battlefields.

3. Machine guns
Colt revolvers and Springfield muskets were the Civil War’s most popular firearms, but the era also gave rise to some of the earliest machine guns.

4. Landmines
Mines—or “torpedoes,” as they were then known—were largely a Confederate weapon.

5. Underwater mines
Along with landmines, the Civil War was also a major testing ground for underwater mines.

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

LINKS

• http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_in_the_American_Civil_War#Weapons_a...
• http://www.civilwar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222
• http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-unusual-civil-war-weapons
• http://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-weapons.html