Weapons of the American Civil War

Muskets and rifles were the most common weapons used in the Civil War.

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865, with more than 3 million Americans fighting and more than 600,000 men dying in its many battles. This period saw several advancements in military weapons which, in large part, contributed to the high number of casualties seen in the Civil War.

Guns

The most common weapons used in the Civil War were muzzle-loading muskets, breech-loading rifles and carbines, and revolvers. Civil War muskets were smoothbore weapons that tended to be more inaccurate than the newer spiral-barreled rifles, which had better accuracy and range. Carbines were a major advancement in weaponry because they were a shorter and lighter rifle which could be reloaded while on horseback.

Artillery

Civil War artillery mainly consisted of field guns (cannons) and howitzers. Cannons had longer barrels and fired at a flatter trajectory than howitzers, which had shorter barrels and fired cannonballs with more of an arc. According to Civil War Home, the favorite artillery piece on both sides was the Napoleon, a smoothbore, muzzle-loading howitzer that caused more casualties than all other artillery pieces combined.

Edged Weapons

Sharp-edged weapons used in the Civil War included swords, sabers, bayonets, Bowie knives and cutlasses. These weapons, however, were only used in close hand-to-hand combat scenarios, and did not account for many deaths during the course of the war.

References

• Civil War Weapons
• Civil War Home: Weapons of the American Civil War