Civil War Weapons

1. Civil War Weapons

2. Civil War MREs

3. Civil War Food • According to military intelligence, food was 3rd on the list of supply importance behind weapons and shelter. • Samples of food: • Beef Jerky Acorn coffee • Crawdad stew small bird roast • Swamp cabbage stew Hardtack • Most foods were eaten at night in order for the soldier not to see what may be crawling on or in his food.

4. Repeating Rifles

5. Repeating rifles • Union Army introduced the Spencer .52 caliber and the Remington .44 caliber rifles. • Breech loading repeating rifles. • Could hold between 8 and 15 bullets in rifle. (Fire 15 – 25 rounds per minute) • The main problem was that both sides were running out of ammunition for their rifles.

6. Sidearm Revolvers

7. Sidearm Revolvers • Only officers carried a sidearm. • Each revolver could carry 6 shots. • Minnie Balls and black powder pellets were used. • The range of sidearm(non-rifled barrels) was less than 20 yards.

8. Minie Ball

9. Minie Ball • ½ inch lead bullet revolutionized the battlefield. • Reduced reloading time from 25 seconds to 3 to 5 seconds. • Bullet, paper wad, and black powder all together. • Range was 250 yards. • The minie ball made open field fighting obsolete.

10. Rifled Cannons

11. Short Range Cannon

12. Mortar Cannon

13. Cannister Shells

14. 175 lb. explosive Core Shells

15. Civil War Cannons / Ammo • 3 types of cannons used: • Smooth barrel (Medium range 300 to 600 yards) • Rifled (Long ranged > 1,000 yards) • Mortar (Short range < 300 yards) • Cannon Ammunition: • Solid core shells • Explosive core shells • Canister shells • Cannons were used as artillery to attack the enemy at greater distances.

16. IRONCLADS U.S.S. Monitor

17. C.S.S. Merrimac

18. Ironclad Battleships • Iron plated shells help to protect the internal of the ship from musket and cannon fire. • The ironclads had permanently mounted cannons. • The U.S.S. Monitor had the 1st revolving gun turret. • The main drawback to the ironclads was excess water. If the ships took on any extra water, the ironclad would sink.

19. Fortification Ft. Pulaski

25. Fortifications • During the Civil War, many older forts from prior battles were beefed up to be effective during the Civil War. • Earth fortification was the most effective tool against enemy artillery. • Large Brick walls were erected to help protect from enemy bombardment. • These brick walls were usually around 6 to 10 feet thick. • Many forts built moats around the fort to help prevent troops from storming the walls.

26. Hand Grenades

27. Hand Grenades • The hand grenades ranged from about 4 lbs up to 16 lbs. • They had the same explosive power as a small cannon shell. • The main idea of the grenade was to put artillery in the hands of a soldier.

28. Gatlin Gun

29. “Gatlin Gun” – Machine Gun • The first effective machine gun developed. • 6 - .52 caliber barrels which revolved. • The Gatlin Gun could fire up to 600 rounds per minute. • The gun was very inaccurate. • The Gatlin Gun was only used once during the Civil War. (Battle of Petersburg, VA – 1864)

30. C.S.S. Hunley

31. Hot Air Balloon

32. Hot Air Balloon • Was not used to fire weapons. • The main purpose of the balloons was to locate the enemy and design maps of enemy troops locations.

33. Civil War Medical

34. Amputation Tools

35. Bone Sawing Tools

36. Civil War Medicine • The medicine and surgical techniques used during the Civil War was perfected during the late 1700’s. • 1 out of every 4 soldiers that was wounded died because of poor medical procedures. • Because of demand for surgeons, the surgeon training took place over an 8 week period. • Over 5,000 women served as nurses. (Clara Barton, a Civil War Nurse, help to establish the Red Cross) • The surgeons became known as “Butchers” because over 47,000 amputations during the 4 year war. • Contrary to the myth, chloroform was used in most cases. • Of the 620,000 men who died, only about 210,000 died on the battlefield.