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Weapons of the Union and Confederate Army 1861-1865. Antique engraving presents illustrations of various artillery equipment and cannons, swords, revolvers and rifles.

The Civil War was a rifleman's war. Expert use of artillery often helped bring victory, but in the long run, the infantry remained queen of battles. Union snipers on their lonely vigils, or Confederate companies beating back Yankee attacks, found the guns they carried with them to be their best friends.

Firearms available in North and South at the war's beginning varied widely in type and quality. In the early days, purchases from abroad increased the variety of rifles and muskets in the field. Ammunition wagons were forced to carry five or more different kinds of cartridges, and critical shortages developed at crucial times.

In 1862, the North achieved a satisfactory degree of standardization, and by the following year was able to discontinue foreign purchase. Indirectly, the Confederates reached the same standardization by stripping battlefields of Northern arms.

The basic weapon manufactured in the North and used by both sides was the Springfield rifle, model 1861. This was a muzzle-loader, fired by percussion cap, shooting a .58 caliber bullet. It was an accurate gun with high enough muzzle velocity to give it solid hitting power.

The grooves in its rifled bore gave the 1861 model accuracy and penetration. Its projectile was a Minie ball, a lead slug with a conical nose and a hole in its tail. When the rifle was fired, gas from the explosion entered the hole and expanded the ball slightly, squeezing the soft lead into the spiraled grooves.

The squeezing process guaranteed that the projectile would pick up rotation from the grooves. The spinning motion kept the ball on a true course. Expansion of the Minie ball's base also made a tight seal within the barrel, so there was little gas leakage. Because of this, the bullet was pushed from the barrel with the full force of the powder explosion. The Minie ball used in the Springfield was more than one-half inch in diameter and about an inch long. It could kill at half a mile. The soft lead expanded when it hit bone, and caused a terrible wound.

The Springfield was accurate up to 250 or 300 yards, and a good man could get off two shots per minute. To achieve this speed, a soldier had to work fast, for there was much to be done before his rifle could be fired. Springfield ammunition was one-piece, a paper cartridge containing powder and ball. In action, the infantryman tore the cartridge open with his teeth, poured the powder down the barrel, pushed in the bullet with his thumb, drew his ramrod and forced the projectile down, put the ramrod back in its tube, pulled back the hammer, put a percussion cap on the nipple beneath the hammer, and was ready for firing.

The Springfield 1861 was popular with both Yankees and Confederates, as were the later models of 1863 and 1864. Earlier Springfields, model of 1855, were used at the start of the war by the North but their specialized priming systems functioned poorly in wet weather.

Antiquated smoothbore muskets, caliber .69, were carried by many Southern soldiers in 1861. Some Rebels got .54 caliber rifles. Such arms were eventually replaced by captured Springfields and British .577 caliber Enfields. The Confederacy bought 400,000 of these dependable rifles, and the North also purchased them in large numbers.

Breech-loading rifles, some of them repeaters, were available in 1861, but found small favor with Colonel James W. Ripley, the Union Chief of Ordnance. His objections mentioned their large initial price, complicated mechanisms, the need for special ammunition, and the possibility the troops would burn ammunition too fast because the rifles fired rapidly.

Despite objections, the breech-loaders found their way into the Union army, many purchased by states or individuals, and eventually, by the Ordnance Department. Rebel soldiers complained that the Yankees loaded their repeaters on Sunday and shot them all week. Famous breech-loaders were the Sharps single-shot, the Spencer, carrying seven cartridges in its magazine, and the Henry, which held fifteen shells at a time.

The rumble of field artillery as it went "into battery" to set up its guns and open fire was a reassuring sound to foot troops. Horse-drawn field guns, on light, wheeled carriages, accompanied the infantry into battle. Artillerymen rode their guns and the ammunition-carrying caissons; there were a few batteries of "horse artillery," in which every man had his own mount.

As with small arms, field guns varied in kind, depending on whether or not their barrels were rifled. Especially favored by both armies were the 3-inch U.S. rifle, made of wrought iron and firing a 10-pound shot, and the Napoleon 12-pounder, which had a bronze barrel.

The 3-inch rifle far outranged the Napoleon, was more accurate, and delivered its shell with greater hitting power. But gunners had trouble with projectiles. Some shells, coated with lead to insure a tight seal within the gun, left lead particles behind to foul the grooves. Those shells that carried copper rotating bands (which theoretically expanded into the grooves at the moment of firing) often malfunctioned. Smoothbore Napoleons were murderous at close range. Their bronze construction made them tough and they wore well in the field.

Rifles and Napoleons both fired solid shot, useful against enemy guns and fortifications. Both could also handle exploding shells, some filled with shrapnel balls. The smoothbore Napoleons could efficiently employ grape and canister. These were cases carrying slugs or iron balls. They were blown open by the firing charge, scattering the small projectiles like shotgun pellets. At ranges of a few hundred yards, case shot could cut troops to shreds.

Case shot from the Napoleons was effective to about 700 yards. Loaded with other projectiles, the guns had only about half the range of the 3-inch rifles. Nevertheless, McClellan's chief of artillery specified that two-thirds of the guns for the Peninsular Campaign be these smoothbores.

Similar in appearance to field artillery, but heavier and built on sturdier carriages, was siege artillery. Trains of this weighty ordnance, which could fire projectiles up to 100 pounds and more, were drawn into position so the guns could hammer enemy fortifications.

Truly big guns made their mark during the Civil War. Seacoast forts were defended by huge cannon, and troops attacking such structures employed guns that threw an impressive weight of metal. Ironclads and monitors carried monster weapons.

The famous Confederate floating battery used against Fort Sumter was armed with 32- and 42-pounders. Coastal citadels like Sumter were often defended by Columbiads. These were 8-, 10-, and 12-inch guns, some of which could hurl a 128-pound shell 5,000 yards.

Massive weapons were difficult to move and demanded special carriages. Within forts, the barbette mount, with a traverse carriage, was often used, as on the 8-inch howitzers. Such guns were positioned to fire just over the top of a protecting parapet. Small wheels, running on a semicircular track behind the gun, enabled it to be pivoted over a wide arc.

Proud of its gigantic guns, the North's Ordnance Department occasionally displayed its creations. The public gathered in awe to see exhibitions of such weapons as a Rodman gun, a 15-inch monster destined for a monitor turret, and a 13-inch mortar of the type used to hurl projectiles into the Rebel lines at Petersburg.

Faced with a rapidly growing Union navy, the Confederacy went underwater to cut the enemy fleet down to size. A group of ingenious weapons for use against ships sprang from Southern hands. Mines, usually called "torpedoes," were widely used. Commander Matthew F. Maury, after pleading his case for months, was put in charge of a bureau responsible for underwater warfare and given a budget to develop his weapons.

Rebel torpedoes, made from beer kegs, old boilers, demijohns, or barrels, came into being. Filled with powder, they hung beneath or just at the surface and were exploded by percussion caps set off by passing vessels. Barrel torpedoes were used in pairs. Joined by cable or chain, two barrels (with powder-filled boilers attached underwater) floated downstream to entangle Union ships.

Some Confederate torpedoes were exploded chemically, the shock of contact breaking a tube of sulphuric acid that set off the detonation. Others were attached to electric wires running to shore. Observers watched until Union ships neared the torpedo, then sent current through the wires to cause the explosion.

By the war's end, the Federal fleet had worked out torpedo sweeping techniques to clear explosive-strewn rivers. Areas such as the entrance to Mobile Bay were heavily mined by the Rebels, and the monitor Tecumseh met death there. Other monitors, Milwaukee and Osage, suffered a like fate in later days. In all, Confederate torpedoes sank thirty-one Union ships including seven ironclads.

Submarines played a part in the Southern attempt to neutralize Yankee shipping. The first crude craft were driven by propellers turned by hand cranks. When submerged, the craft obtained air through a rubber tube floating on the surface. In theory, the submarines were to come up under an enemy ship and attach a torpedo with a delayed fuse to the vessel's hull through a waterproof gasket, then escape before the explosion.

John S. Blay. Weapons. The Civil War; A Pictorial Profile. Bonanza Books, New York, 1958.

Civil War Weapons & Equipment Davis. This beautifully illustrated book follows a soldier, a gunner and a cavalryman from enlistment to deployment in the field to present a detailed look at the tactical deployment of forces and at fighting methods employed, including information on the weapons of the war: from the infantryman's simple rifle and bayonet through a variety of officer's swords, sabers, pistols and revolvers, to the mighty artillery pieces.

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