Guns and Weaponry of the Civil War

990 Words4 Pages
The Civil War was long and bloody for both sides. It destroyed homes, families and much more. There were so many weapons used in the Civil War it would be impossible to list every one. The war started with old-fashioned infantry charges and cavalry attacks and ended with weapons of great firepower and destruction. Weapons ranged from guns, knives and swords for personal combat to large cannons for battlefield combat. This War introduced many new weapons such as cannons, hand grenades, armored ships and torpedoes. Many weapons were needed for the Civil War. All firearms larger than small arms are known as cannons or artillery. For the North, the Federal Arms Reserve held 437,000 weapons witch was thought to be enough for the Union. Soon each side found out that getting weapons could be a harder task than they thought. There were many different types of weapons used. Standard guns for both sides included the .54 caliber and the .58 caliber rifles. “Pocket pistols” were also common for people like generals and captains and were usually used in the event of an emergency. Edged weapons included spears, knives, swords and axes. Ammunition was an extremely important part and heavily needed in the Civil War. Both sides made and fired literally millions of bullets. In fact, it is estimated that over seven million were fired during the three day battle of Gettysburg alone. Factory workers could make 3,000 bullets per hour. Soldiers sometimes made their own in the field by melting lead and pouring it into a mold. Unlike the bullets of today which contain gunpowder, Civil War bullets were loaded into the muskets with gunpowder poured in before. Swords had many different uses in the Civil War. Although America saw the development of many new Civil War weapons, weapons with blades were still used at battle. One of the most widely used of weapons of the Civil War was
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