Colin Grossman
Mr. Gold
AP US History
5 December 2018
The Weapons of the Civil War
The United States Civil War was the most bloody and devastating war this country has ever seen. It was also considered the first modern war in history. This was due to the face that around the time of the war the mass production of weaponry increased dramatically and the invention of new weapons brought gore and bloodshed like no other. In the time period starting in 1861 to 1865, the evolution of weaponry and the mass production of the weapons set in a new age of war and battle and led to the bloodiest war in United States history.
The Civil War had many causes, but most of them all close in on one peculiar institution; slavery. Many try to zoom in on specific reasons such as Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, or the Fugitive Slave Act, but it all comes down to the Southern practice of slavery. The North truly wanted the union and did not have the abolishment of slaves on top of their priorities at first even with most abolitionists residing there. They more were looking for angle to compromise with the slave-owning South such as stopping the spread of slavery in new territories, but the South kept pushing for slavery to expand westward as the frontiersmen did. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 made an attempt to solve the argument over the spread of slavery by having popular sovereignty rule, but that just buttered the slippery slope to the Civil War. After Abraham Lincoln was elected as president, South Carolina seceded from the union. Lincoln wanted to keep the union, so as a last ditch attempt to appease the South, the Crittenden amendments were proposed. These would prohibit slavery in territories north of 36 30 parallel but the concession for the slavery owners is that new states admitted could choose to be a slave state or not. This attempt did not work as southern states followed in the footsteps of South Carolina and seceded to form the Confederate States of America. They elected their first president, Jefferson Davis. The violent encounters with Harper’s Ferry in 1859 and the shots fired at Fort Sumter in April 1861 set off the start of the war. Which in turn set off the revolution of mass production of weapons and weapon improvements to win this crucial war.
Early on during American history, swords and muskets were their only advanced weapons. Coming in to the time of the Civil War many advances in weaponry technology came about. They used rifles, handguns, muskets, cannons, and swords. An editor from History Net describes “Many technological advances in weaponry occurred during the Civil War, rendering the weapons far more lethal and contributing to the enormous war casualties of that war.” The new technology did not work with the Revolutionary style war and the commanders did not adapt to this and this is the reason why there was an extreme amount of casualties. (Civil War Academy Editor)
The sword has been a basic weapon that has been used for ages. With the start of the Civil War, it ushered in a time in which the sabers and swords were greatly improved, and continued to be improved over the course of the war. The group that most commonly carried and used a sword was the calvary units. (Civil War Academy Editor) The first start was the M1832 Foot Artillery Sword. It was used by regular and foot artillery regiments of the US army up until 1872. It was not a practical weapon for combat yet it was used for other purposes. It was a very useful tool for clearing paths such as in the Second Seminole War. (Hotaling, 55) After Ames Manufacturing Company made the Model 1832, they produced the M1840 Calvary saber. It was first used in the Mexican War, but later issued to the Union Calvary in the first years of the Civil War. General McClennen used to carry one of these on his person. (Hotaling, 61-62) Innovations were then made to the Model 1840 Calvary saber for easier handling. It was the M1860 Light Calvary saber. 800 were issued in 1862 and was used from the Civil War to the end of the Indian Wars. By the end of the war, over 300,000 were produced. Later in the war, even after all of the sabers were issued tp the calvary units, the charges became very rare and they took on the role of skirmishers. (Hotaling 63-64) Civil War swords and sabers were overall just a symbol of the war. The the invention and improvements of firearms, the swords were regarded as ceremonial weapons for officers. (History Net Editor)
The biggest innovations of weaponry in the Civil War came to the rifles. In 1861, after tensions rose between the North and South, they made the switch from traditional muskets to the innovated rifles. 90 percent of all casualties in the war were caused by rifles. (Civil War Academy Editor) Most rifles were also equipped with a bayonet, a sharpened piece of steel attached to the end, which had uses for close combat and also other practical uses. It was often used to open cans, cut meats, and to stir food. A famous example of the use of the bayonet is when the 20th Maine of the Union rushed Fort Wagner and chased the Confederates down Little RoundTop. Rifles were used before the war but technological advances made it to where everyone was using a rifle. Around the time of the war, manufactures were then able to mass produce rifled barrel field artillery, which also gave a boost to the guns accuracy and range. This gave the North an advantage because their states contained most of the factories and manufacturers. (Civil War Academy Editor)