1. Civil War Weapons
By: Brittany Miller

2. Weapon Types Artillery Small arms Edged weapons
Firearms larger than small arms
Small arms
Any weapon smaller than a canon and carried by a soldier
Edged weapons
Bayonets, sabers, swords, short swords, cutlasses, Bowie knives, pikes and lances

3. Artillery Classification
Inventor/Factory
Dahlgren/Napoleon
Rodman/Parrott
Whitworth
Weight of Projectile
12/24/32 - pounder
Rifled
Path of Trajectory
Gun = flat
Mortar = high arch
Howitzer = between
Caliber of
bore diameter
3/8/10 - inch
Smooth
bore
Tactical Deployment
Field
Seacoast
Siege artillery
Method of Loading
Breech/muzzle

4. Weapon Material
Depended on material availability
Steel
Bronze
Iron

5. Napoleon Smoothbore, muzzle loading, 12-pounder “gun howitzer”
Favorite artillery weapon for Union and Confederacy offensively and defensively
Developed in 1857 under Louis Napoleon of France

6. Napoleon Made from bronze until South ran out, then iron
Max range-1700 yards
Most effective at 250 yards
Probably caused most causalities of all artillery pieces

7. Parrott Rifles Model 1861 2.9 inch Model 1863 3-inch
Developed in
Distinguished by muzzle swell
First workable rifled gun for either side
Union produced it quickly, inexpensively and in mass quantities
Model inch
Could use same ammo as 2.9 but 3 inch ammo often jammed the 2.9 guns
Phased out mid-way through the war
End of the Civil War ended the Parrott’s career

8. Model 1861
2.9 inch
Parrott Rifle
Model 1863
3 inch

9. 3 inch Ordinance One of most used guns
Most accurate, longer range (up to 2300 yards)
Long range meant that the shooter had to see the target to be accurate
Rifled cannon was good for knocking down fortifications
Key at Vicksburg and Atlanta

10. Model 1861 3-inch Ordinance Rifle
Original was named “Griffin Gun” after John Griffin
Found a procedure to strengthen iron and keep the barrel from bursting
Lethal under 1 mile; effective at 1 ½ mile
100 pounds lighter than the Parrott
Union produced about 1,000
Confederacy lacked the technology

11. 12 pound Mountain Howitzers
Manufactured by Armstrong and Whitworth
Smallest and most portable
Useful in the mountains of the Western theater

12. Dahlgrens/Rodman Smoothbores
Naval and siege cannon
Heaviest and most powerful
8-10 inch siege howitzers range was over 2000 yards
Fired pound shells

13. Artillery Ammunition Solid shot Grape Canister Shell Chain shot
Long range, fixed target
Grape
Canister
Shell
Chain shot
Used against masts and rigging of ships

14. Solid shot
Shell
                             
Grape shot
Chain shot
Canister

15. Canister Shot Scattershot projectile
Small iron balls were incased in a canister, resembling a tin can
Upon firing the canister disintegrated
Effect was of a sawed off shotgun
Lethal at 250 yards or less

16. Grape Shot Worked exactly like canister shot
Only difference, it was wrapped in cloth or canvas
Was not very practical for field artillery use

17. Small Arms Musket Smoothbore Long-barreled shoulder arm Rifle
Shoulder gun with spiral grooves cut into the inner barrel
Carbine
Short-barreled rifle
Handguns
Pistol
Revolver

18. Small Arms
Classified by caliber; mode of loading (breech/muzzle) and maker
Most used was .58 cal Springfield Musket and .69 cal Harper’s Ferry Rifle
Both muzzle loading and fired mini ball
These rifles changed infantry tactics
Before, soldiers would be in mass groups and charge the enemy
After, with greater accuracy and longer range (lethal at over ½ mile) frontal assaults were very deadly

19. .58 cal Springfield Musket .69 cal Harper’s Ferry Rifle

20. Other important small arms
Henry Repeating Rifle – 15 rounds of .44 cal cartridges
Sharp’s Carbine
.44 cal Model 1860 Colt Revolver

21. Minie Ball
Before – use of rifles was impractical because ammo was expensive and loading was time consuming
1848 – French army Capt. Claude F. Minie developed smaller, hollow-based bullet
Easier loading, expanded upon firing and spun out of gun barrel. The spin made them more expensive but very accurate and far traveling.
1855 – Harper’s Ferry Armory worker James H. Burton found a cheaper way to make the ball
Became the standard bullet for both sides

22. Minie Ball

23. Edged Weapons Bayonets Swords Sabres Short Swords Cutlasses
Bowie knife
Pikes and lances

24. Edged Weapons Mostly served as decoration
Out of about 250,000 wounded treated in Union hospitals only about 922 were injured from an edged weapon; most were from private disagreements
Sabre
Cavalry sword
Lethal with trained mounted soldiers
Volunteers created many lop-eared horses
Sword
Sign of officer’s authority
Lance
Deadly with trained troops
Shortage in the South

25. North vs. South Comparison
North had a huge advantage over South in all artillery and higher percentage of rifled cannon to smoothbore cannon.
Union had about 1,200 Napoleons produced for them; Confederacy produced between on their own.
In small arms, the South depended on smuggled imports from England and France.
South was at disadvantage in majority aspects of weapons simply because of the lack of material availability and technology.

26. Bibliography http://www.civilwarhome.com/weapons.htm