Before the civil war the uses of rifling musket used smooth bore barrels, of guns made the weapons more effective in combat. But firing the weapon for a long time would cause the barrel would cause fouling in the barrel clogging the barrel of the gun. This type of gun helped both sides in combat situations. The Rifled Musket also Gave groves to help spin the mini ball bullet. Which hade a major impact on casualties in war.
Mini ball
The French mini-ball
The mini ball was a French made design. The bullet would be fired from a rifled musket, in which the groves helped spin the bullet. When fired the bullet would SPLINTER the bones of the victim. Because of the damage the arm or leg would have to be cut off, if you were gut shot you would bleed out because of the damage the bullet would bounce off bones in your body.
Percussion caps
Rifle percussion caps
Percussion caps took the place of fling in the field of combat. If you had a fling musket, you would have a chance of your fling breaking in the middle of combat. Percussion caps could be replaced very quickly in combat and helped both sides during the war.
Cavalry swords
Southern cavalry saber
In the cavalry you would be issued a sword. If you were on a running horse you would not be able to reload your guns before you were cut down by fire from both sides. The cavalry saw a major fight during the battle of Brandy station or battle of Fleetwood hill
Sharps rifle
Sharps rifle (cavalry version)
The Sharps rifle (also called a buffalo gun) was used in the cavalry on horseback to fight enemy units. Fired .52 cal. Projectile, could fire 8 to 10 shots per minute, maximum range was 1000 yards, also had an open ladder sight. This gun was ...
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...o the ground when the barrels were rotating. This weapon was later redesigned and used in Vietnam War to today in a-10 war hawks. The gun was also used in many battles and in many countries around the world
Strange weapons
A steam powered gun
Not all weapons caught on in war. Like the steam powered gun. The gun was an Idea considered but was never used in any type of battle and failed to live up to its reputation. The hand grenade was also used in the war but It was a very big fail in combat. One reason the grenade failed because it was a plunger weapon, when it hit the ground it didn’t usually go off, During the siege of port Hudson, Louisiana, The confederate soldiers reportedly use blankets to catch the explosives before throwing them back at their attackers. Many Ideas were turned down during the war, but some came back in later dates and wars.
One weapon used in the Civil War is a Sharps Carbine. It was developed primarily for Calvary, because of the shorter barrel. They were much easier to handle on horse back than their longer brother the Breech-Loader. Sharps were preferred because they could be loaded on a moving horse, something virtually impossible with a Muzzle-Loader. Also, Breech-Loaders carbine which fired moisture proof metallic cartridges, where more reliable than rifles that fired paper cartridges. As I said be fore it is easier to load a Sharps than a Muzzle-Loader. A Muzzle-Loader took 9 long hard steps just to fire one shot. Even the most skilled solder could only get three rounds off in a minute on the old Civil War Muzzle-Loader. And No wonder. After each shot you have to (1) steady the gun on the ground take out a new cartridge out of a belt pouch. (2) Tear open a piece of paper with your teeth. (3) Empty the powder in the barrel and insert a bullet in to the muzzle. (4) Draw the long “rummer” out of its carrying groove under the barrel. (5) ram the bullet all the way down. (6) Return the rod back to its groove. (7) Lift the weapon half-cocked the hammer. (8) Fully cock the hammer, aim, and finally,(9) fire.
When in combat, both sides had the same kind of artillery. Soldiers used muskets and small handguns and generals on the other hand would ride on horseback with a sword and pistol. Another type of weaponry that was used were cannons. Even though cannons were much more powerful, muskets were easier due to the fact that they were portable and fired rounds quicker.
Another piece of weaponry that the U.S had made their own version of was the cannons. The cannon was first used in 1861 at Fort Sumter in the U.S Civil War. These were a major upgrade in weaponry as it could help take out big crowds of men and helped so men wouldn’t have to be on the front lines and risk getting killed. Also battles seemed to get quicker because of its strength, but it had some downsides too. These downsides including very bad injuries to the men, also more men would be killed in battles, and finally a lot of cities were destroyed because of it.
...waste ammunition.” During the war colonel Hiram Berdan formed a regiment of sharpshooter for the union army called Berdans sharpshooters. These new soldiers would be better shooters against their enemy and would be save great amounts of ammunition and money. Contests were held across the country to find these elite sharpshooters. To make the cut you had put 10 consecutive shots into a target at two hundred yards. Each shot couldn’t be more than to inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders called magazine rifles would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were deigned to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun.”3
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
The Civil War had many large technological advancements that would greatly evolve warfare. The war introduced the first ironclad ships, the first repeating rifles and carbines, and the first metallic rifle and pistol cartridges. The military didn't solely rely on this new technology, however. Older weapons and other tools were still trusted, such as paper cartridges and smoothbore muskets.
Using this tactic, they were able to bring the maximum number of muskets to on the enemy. The muskets were very inaccurate at fifty yards. Even with a very well-aimed shot, there was still an eighteen-inch variance. The muskets were heavy, weighing in at over ten pounds. The barrel was at least three feet long, making the musket very difficult to aim. Since smokeless powder was not invented yet, so flint was used as an igniter. This was limited to roughly twenty shots before replacing. Once the first volley had fired, the battlefield was obscured by smoke. In consequence, all soldiers trained to aim at areas rather than individual targets. Once properly trained, the soldiers could fire three rounds per minute under the stress of battle. During the Battle of Yorktown, there are an unknown number of artillery pieces used during the siege but estimated to 375 pieces. During the Battle of Yorktown, there were an average of 1,700 cannon balls sent down range each day, which averaged 1.2 shots every minute. Between the British, French, and Americans, there were four different artillery pieces used during the battle. They were the Field Cannon, the Garrison Cannon, the Howitzer, and the Mortar. The Field Cannon used three different types of shells; solid ball,
Some of these smaller weapons include pistols and rifles. The majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increase in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless, but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Military spent a lot of time into making a better sidearm. Pistols were mainly used in emergencies or whenever a soldier ran out of ammunition....
The rifle was an extremely effective advancement in military history. The rifle has been used for centuries because of its effectiveness, shooting bullets straight and accurate because of the aerodynamics and physics of the spiral motion with the bullet. What makes the rifle a rifle and much better than a musket, is the fact that it has rifling throughout the barrel of the gun. Rifling is a system of spiral grooves in the surface of the bore of a gun causing a projectile when fired to rotate about its longer axis (Merriam-Webster). The rifle changed America by starting long range warfare, enforcing a new industry of American weaponry, and leading to the sniper rifle which now has many important uses such as protecting the white house.
During the civil war before the introduction of the machine guns, union soldiers predominantly used smoothbore muskets. “The rifle’s low muzzle velocity and consequent high parabolic trajectory made for difficult long-range shooting, especially since soldiers engaged in little target practice and received virtually no training in estimating distances or in using the adjustable sights to compensate for the bullet’s curved flight. The tangled terrain of most battlefields—and the black powder smoke that engulfed every battle—often rendered enemy soldiers invisible until they were within smoothbore range” (Hess 288). This was assumed to be the reason of why the war was prolonged, and the combat losses were higher during the smoothbore era. Also with an ability of only firing a “maximum of three rounds per minute” (Howey), this rat...
In relation to war, the most preferred weapon was the javelin, which could be used for both close combat and long range. The javelin was a highly effective weapon and it ensured that those using it were not easy to defeat. Furthermore, the javelin was often used alongside a shield, which was essential for not only blocking attacks, but also kept the enemy at bay while the javelin was used to strike. 'The horse' was also used but because of having to use both a shield and
Swords in the Middle Ages had many uses. One of these uses was to knock enemy riders off their horses. Once they were off, their long riding weapons were of no use to defend them. They were bombarded by soldiers and killed easily.
My conclusion is that I would not want to be shot by any of these guns. They used very heavy ammunition that devastated what ever it hit. I guess that is why the American Civil War was called the bloodiest war of all time. Not only are you trying to kill your opponent, you are trying to kill a fellow American which must of been tougher. Also, if we adopted the Gatling gun, I feel that the war would of been over a lot faster than it was. To be able to fire 250 to 300 rounds in one minute is devastating. That gun was very mobile because it could be moved around by the horses because it was on wheels.
Long distance weapons were essential to European combat. The main long distance weapons used by Europeans during that time were the longbow and the crossbow. Each form of weaponry had its unique advantages and their pejorative. The long bow (shown in figure 1) was the original form of distance weapons. The term ‘bow’ means to be made from wood, iron or steel. The Welsh, who inhabited England, were the first people to use longbows. Longbows were 6-7 feet long and had a range of 250 yards, and still had the ability to pierce a knight’s armor (Byam 12). A well trained archer could shot 10- 12 arrows in a single minute. Despite these pro’s the longbow had a lot of disadvantages as well. One draw back was only skilled archers, who were costly to train, could use a longbow. Another disadvantage was it didn’t have a ready loaded arrow (Edge 34). The crossbow (shown in figure 2) on the other had been emphatically different. The crossbow had a span of 2-3 feet and could kill a knight on horseback with one shot, because of good aim (Byam 30). Crossbows had ready loaded projectiles, while the longbow didn’t and the crossbow could be used by anyone since it didn’t require any skill. The crossbow did have a down side though, it had slow reloaded because of a crank and it was expensive. Crossbows were also used for other thi...
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...