Civil War Weaponry

[cyberia]

Springfield rifled musket

The most frequently used rifle of the Civil War was the American-made Springfield rifle musket - a single-shot, muzzle-loading gun detonated with a percussion cap. Not only did it have the rifled barrel, which dramatically increased accuracy over a smoothbore musket, but it also was the first rifle to fire the famous .58 cal. Minié ball - an inch-long, bullet-shaped projectile, rather than a round ball as used in older muskets. The 39-inch-long rifled barrel made it possible to hit a target with a Minié ball as far as 500 yards.
By the end of the war, approximately 1.5 million Springfield rifle muskets had been produced by the Springfield Armory and 20 subcontractors. Since the South lacked sufficient manufacturing capability, most of the Springfields in Southern hands were captured on the battlefield during the early part of the war.

Enfield rifled musket

The second most widely used weapon of the Civil War was the British Enfield three-band, single-shot, muzzle-loading musket. It was also the standard weapon for the British army between 1853-1867. American soldiers liked it because its .577 cal. barrel allowed the use of .58 cal. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies.
Originally produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, England, approximately 900,000 of these muskets were imported during 1861-1865. Many solders, however, preferred the Springfield muskets over the Enfield muskets - largely due to the interchangeability of parts that the machine-made Springfields offered.

[TRDG]

The Minie ball for the Springfield, that was why there were so many casualties dead and so many amputations compared to other weapons (ammo) used?
Also, the pics (many of them that I've seen) of dead soldiers and their cloths looking like they have been "searched", that was the soldiers themselves looking for the Minnie ball "hit", to judge if it was almost instantly fatal? I read/saw that somewhere, but is it true, I think Ken Burns??

Cheers

Tom

[Airchallenged]

Originally Posted by TRDG

The Minie ball for the Springfield, that was why there were so many casualties dead and so many amputations compared to other weapons (ammo) used?
Also, the pics (many of them that I've seen) of dead soldiers and their cloths looking like they have been "searched", that was the soldiers themselves looking for the Minnie ball "hit", to judge if it was almost instantly fatal? I read/saw that somewhere, but is it true, I think Ken Burns??

Cheers

Tom

Tom,

The Enfield also used the Minie Ball just a different caliber. the Minie ball is just the name of the conical shape not the specific round. The reason for so much more amputations was not because of the Minie ball but because of the nature of the rounds, both round and Minie, to tumble through the target and pull in clothing fragments. Instead of just making clean cuts through bone they shattered them and cut jagged edges which were a lot harder to repair. Also the medical practices of the day led to Gangrene and similar diseases so it was simpler to just cut off the limb.

Most bodies in pictures look like they have been rifled through because they probably have been but not for the reason you suggested. Depending on the side they were on they would have been rifled for different reasons. A reb would be rifled by his comrades for more rounds and caps because the 80 they had could go very quickly. Union soldiers may have also been rifled by their own men for the same reason but more likely than not if it was a Southern victory then it was by southern scroungers looking for better equipment or ammo for their northern rifles.

Hope this helps,
Matt

[TRDG]

I see Matt, that is totally different than the programs I have seen, most of them way back, and the Ken Burns series as well.

Cheers, how would you rank that Ken Burns series by the way?

Thanks

Tom

[Airchallenged]

For the most part I find that Ken Burns seems to focus more on the racial aspects of the war more than the actual political and military events. I have not watched the whole thing (only the first two parts) but even with the World War 2 series he seemed to do this as well. It is still a well done series to say the least.

Any more questions?

[McCoy]

A thing that one shouldn't forget 'bout Ken Burns is also that he's not an historian.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Airchallenged

For the most part I find that Ken Burns seems to focus more on the racial aspects of the war more than the actual political and military events. I have not watched the whole thing (only the first two parts) but even with the World War 2 series he seemed to do this as well. It is still a well done series to say the least.

Any more questions?

Matt, you know your stuff here so how about an example of some of the side arms used. I know there was a variety of them.

[gi-rene]

PM firing a musket:

YouTube - At the Range 1: Enfield Musket

[Airchallenged]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Matt, you know your stuff here so how about an example of some of the side arms used. I know there was a variety of them.

I pulled out my trusty Time Life "Echoes of Glory" on Confederate Weapons and Uniforms and here is a list of some revolvers:

Colt "Army" Revolver- preferred sidearm of the South. .44 caliber 1860 model with percussion cap. six-shot. Image

Colt "Navy" Revolver- Common in the Army and Navy. .36 Caliber six shot. most were privately owned weapons. Image

Many sidearms were imported from London including the Adams and Deane Revolver, Le Mat Revolver, and Kerr Revolver.

The Griswold Revolver was a southern made copy of the Colt Navy Revolver. The Spiller and Burr Revolver was a copy of the .36 Cal Federal Whitney Revolver.

I will do a Union list in the next post.

[Airchallenged]

From the Union version of the above book:

The Colt "Army" and "Navy" Revolvers were widely issued to the Northern Cavalry. Like the Colt Revolver the Remington Models came in both the .44 cal Army model and .36 cal Navy model. Around 115,563 Remington Armys were sold during the war of which most were made after 1860. The Whitney Navy revolver and Starr (single action) Revolvers were also used. The foreign made Lefaucheux (I assume it is from France) Revolver was the only non Percussion revolver sold to the Northern forces. They were mainly used to arm troops in the Western theater.

For above post here is a Le Mat Revolver: