The civil war marked a technological revolution in the different weapons used in warfare. This was highlighted by a shift from rifles that had to be loaded through the mussle each time a soldier wanted to fire a round to smoother shoulder fired weapons that held more than one round.
1861 colt navy revolver
This military gun was a favorite of both sides, The Union and The Confederate side. This weapon was a .36 caliber 6 shot revolver. It was not as heavy and complicated to use, making it very popular with military officers. When firing the weapon, gun powder was contained in a combustible tube of nitrated paper with the bullet at one end. The paper was completely consumed when the cartridge was fired, leaving a place for another cartridge to be inserted. This gun could also be loaded using traditional loose powder and ball.
1853 Enfield Rifle
This military gun was also used by both The Union and The Confederate side. This was one of the many rifles imported from Europe during the war. The rifle was was a percussion-ignition firearm developed to fire the .58-caliber minie ball conical bullet which was one of the bullets preferred by the union and the confederate. A special adjustable rear sight helped shooters compensate for the rainbow-shaped trajectory of the 530-grain projectile that left the barrel at a relatively modest muzzle velocity of 900 fps. The Minie Ball bullet was a revolutionary projectile that replaced the original musket. Everything from the shape to the size of the bullet was revolutionary since it helped propel the bullet further and more accurately.
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun was developed by Richard J. Gatling in 1861 but it was not widely used during the Civil War. This gun was a six-barreled weapon capable of firing 200 rounds per minute. It was a hand-driven, crank-operated, multi-barrel, monstor machine gun. Richard J. Gatling had set out to create the most devastating weapon known to man which would make people afraid to go to war, much like the creation of the atom bomb. Creating the Gatling gun, Richard believed that it would end war by making it unthinkable to go up against a beast like this that
would butcher anything in its way.
would butcher anything in its way.
7 Shot Spencer rifle
This gun was created by Christopher Spencer in 1860 and was adopted by The Union army. It was a shorter and lighter version rifle that was put into use to complement the muzzle loading bayonet rifles. It is a seven shot repeater loaded through the stock at the back end. Operating the Spencer rifle required both working the lever to load a fresh cartridge and separately cocking the hammer (still better than shoving a ball down a barrel). It used the first self-contained metallic cartridge powerful enough for regular military use.
16 Shot Henry rifles
This gun was created by Benjamin Tyler Henry in 1860 and it was never actually adopted by the union but many soldiers purchased it for their own funds because there were only 14,000 units manufactured during the time in the civil war. Only 15 Confederate units came in contact with this weapon. It was made of copper when it was first created and later changed to brass because it broke to easily when it was used in the civil war. This was one of the fastest rifles shooting 28 rounds per minute. It was also a manually lever action breech loading rifle.
Telegraph
It was created by Samuel F. B Morse, and the first telegraph sent was in 1844 which was before the civil war but it proved to be a major invention during the civil war. The telegraph took the place of the Pony Express and quickly began to be used to report battle information. It became the most important form of military communication. Telegraph lines were quickly being put in place and by the end of the war 15,000 miles of telegraph lines had been build for military purposes only.
Hot air balloons.
These were used to scope out the area before battle and gain vital information about the enemy. The first person to receive an order to build an Hot Air Balloons for the Union army was John Wise. In April of 1861 Murat Hasket wrote a letter to the U.S. treasury Salmon D. that the U.S. should create a balloon corps to use as a spying device under Thaddeus Lowe's command. During this time the opposing side tried to shoot down the spying balloon.
Photography
The civil war was the first to use pictures. Photography during the Civil War, especially for those who ventured out to the battlefields with their cameras, was a difficult and time consuming process. Photographers had to carry all of their heavy equipment, including their darkroom, by wagon. They also had to be prepared to process cumbersome light-sensitive images in cramped wagons. For the first time in history, citizens on the home front could view the actual carnage of far away battlefields. .
Railroads
Railroads could be considered a weapon for the union because the north had most of the railroad tracks and was able to manipulate what went in and out of the Confederacy. The union had 22,000 miles of rail road tracks while the confederacy had just 9,000. This proved to be a major factor in the union victory.
Medicine
The American Civil War brought about crucial advancements in medicine. The Union used their medicle supplies to their advantage and one way was when President Lincoln banned the exportation of medicine from the North to the South early on. The North developed, because it had many hospital operations not just close behind the lines, but all the way up through the Northern states using the railroad to transport wounded soldiers. The north had chloroform and the first use of modern anesthetics was in the Northern armies. The South, also had large hospitals, but the care was nothing compared to what was organized in the North.
Ironclads
Ironclads were steam propelled ships protected by iron or steel plated armor. They were used in the civil war in place of the unreliable wooden ships. The first battle between ironclads was the battle of the civil war between the CSS Virginia/Merrimac and the USS Monitor in 1862.
Bayonet
This was a sharpened piece of steel that infantrymen were given as a form of protection. During the Civil War it was rare for someone to die from a bayonet wound. Soldiers usually used their bayonet as an everyday tool around their camp rather than a weapon. During the war there was a few cases that soldiers were required to use their bayonet, for example in the battle of Battle of Gettysburg. This weapon wasn't particularly popular with the soldiers and even some troops just threw them away.
Musket Rifles
This was a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun that was fired from the shoulder. This was the weapon made by to The musket replaced the arquebus.
Cavalry Sword
It was a European and American sword, this sword was originally a very heavy, curved sword, but a lighter, more easily wielded weapon with only a slight bend was developed in Italy late in the 19th century for dueling and fencing.