General Grant once said of smoothbore muskets “you might fire at a man all day from a distance of 125 yards without him ever finding it out.” Unfortunately, (for the troops) most of the muskets in the Civil War were “rifle muskets”. A “rifle musket” barrel has spiral grooves extending through the barrel. This made the muskets more accurate, and extended their range up to about a half-mile. So, when a massed army charged an entrenched enemy they had virtually no chance. It wasn’t until fairly late in the war that the tactics began to catch up with the weapons.

Shoulder Arms of the Civil War

Often referred to generically, (and sometimes inaccurately) as muskets, there were dozens of different models of shoulder arms used by both the Union and Confederate armies during the civil war.

They ranged from the clunky, inaccurate and short-range, to streamlined and refined rifles that were advanced killing machines for their time. Because of the shortage of weapons when the war broke out, divisions of men were built up (especially on the Confederate side) using weapons that were already in their possession.

There were two main types of shoulder arms used by both armies during the civil war:

·    Smoothbore muskets and rifle muskets
·    Carbines

Muskets

Muskets are the common name given to muzzle-loaded or breech-loaded weapons and, later in the war, some rifle muskets. Strictly speaking, the musket is a smoothbore weapon. Muskets tend to be inaccurate, with an effective range of only a couple hundred yards in the hands of the very best marksman.

Later, increasing numbers of troops used rifles. (Rifles had been in existence for some time, and were famously used to good effect in the War of 1812, but it was only later in the Civil War that rifles were issued to significant numbers of troops.) Though many of these were labeled “rifle muskets,” they were true rifles, with rifled (or spiraled) barreling that imparted a spin to bullets for much greater accuracy at much longer ranges.

Muskets were the standard issue of infantry on both sides, with cavalry having the benefit of carbine weapons during the war. Early in the war, some of the militia that had sprung up across the southern states had put together an arsenal of revolutionary war muskets and other older model rifles. It wasn’t until the South started to mobilize its own trained infantry that it brought in new weapons.

Most of the infantry, early in the stages of the US Civil War used the 1842 Springfield musket, and then eventually both sides evolved into the more accurate and rangy Springfield 1861.

The Springfield 1842 had a 42” long barrel and fired a lead slug from a .69 caliber barrel. It was a smoothbore weapon with limited range. The Springfield 1861 was built with a shorter, rifled barrel. Over 700,000 of the 1861’s were built between 1861 and 1865. They were one of the most important shoulder arms of the Civil War.

Here are some of the advantages of the Springfield 1861 over the 1842:

In a comparison done between the two weapons firing at a 200-yard target, the Springfield 1861 had an accuracy rate of 96%, while the 1842 was markedly lower, with a 74% accuracy rate.

The Enfield Rifle Musket was an imported rifle used fairly equally between the Union and Confederate forces, with nearly 400,000 of them imported on each side. It was named for the armory in Britain where it was manufactured. One of the biggest advantages of the Enfield Rifle, was the fact that ammunition was interchangeable between it and the Springfield 1861. Both fired what amounted to a .58 caliber slug. This rifle was in fact quite a bit more accurate at long distance than the Springfield 1861, with good accuracy up to 1,100 yards. But, infantry complained of rough stocks and handmade metal parts, rather than machine made parts. Still, it was considered the most important weapon for the armies of the South.

Enfield Three Band Percussion Rifle - $ 149.99 This British pattern 1853 rifled musket became the Confederate standard rifle of the Civil War. The Enfield was reliable, qui ...

Lorenz Rifle Musket

This was another imported rifle, in this case from Austria. Nearly 100,000 of these were imported by the Confederate forces, and when the North saw the success of the new armament, they brought in 225,000, mainly to keep them out of the hands of the Southern forces.

The Lorenz was lighter and more compact than either the Springfield or the Enfield rifle musket.

The first ‘sniper’ rifle – the Whitworth

Whitworth Rifle

With a telescopic site, the British-made Whitworth rifle could pinpoint a target 1,800 yards away. That is more than a mile away! It was the most accurate rifle of the entire Civil War era. What made it so unique was the bore and the slug that it fired – both were hexagonal.

Other rifles in the Civil War

There were a number of other rifles used during the Civil War – there were well over 100 in all – and we have found information on a few of them as a result of queries made by some of you out there.

The Thomas Turner Rifle

Another sharpshooter rifle, the Thomas Turner rifle, became a popular alternative to the Whitworth rifle. Although very similar in appearance, Thomas Turner had his own bore patented, with minor modifications and improvements on the Whitworth hexagonal bore.

This sharpshooter’s rifle was imported almost exclusively by the South, along with the British rifle called the Kerr Rifle.

The Kerr Rifle

This weapon was another British import that had an interesting feature. It was issued with two separate bores – one that was 39” long and fired .577 caliber slugs, and the other a 37” long bore with .451 slugs.

It was another prestigious weapon that was manufactured by the London Armory Company. The Kerr Rifle was used mainly by the South

The Henry rifle

This was considered a revolutionary weapon during the Civil War because it used a rimfire cartridge with a metal casing rather than the standard self-contained powder, ball and primer at the center. It fired a .44 caliber shell, and one of the largest advantages it gave to the Union soldiers was that it could hold 15 rounds at one time. With the lever action, it could be fired rapidly – making it one of the first successful repeating rifles.

Only 14,000 of these weapons were made between 1860 and 1866, by the New Haven Arms Company. It was primarily used by select divisions of the Union army, and because of the high cost, it was usually purchased at the soldier’s expense. Interestingly, one of the reasons it wasn’t a mainstream weapon was because the US Army feared soldiers would waste ammunition, since the Henry could fire up to 14 rounds per minute instead of the standard 3 or 5 rounds.

Carbines

Another in a long line of weapon advances during the Civil War, the carbine was a considerably shorter and lighter weapon that was often used by the cavalry. Carbines were breech loading, and because of the ease of doing this, they could be reloaded while still on horseback.

Approximately 20 different models of carbines were used during the Civil War, and most were used by Union troops.

Even the developments within the carbine were extraordinary for the time. They changed from paper cartridges and percussion caps and then to moisture-proof metal cartridges. With the development of moisture proof chambers, it became possible to develop a way to expell spent cartridges. Finally, in order to create the repeating carbine, gun makers developed magazines that fed a continual supply of rounds into the breech with the flick of a lever.

The following are some of the more common carbines used during the Civil War:

Sharps Carbine

The Sharps Carbine was made en masse by the Union, with over 80,000 of them, versus the South, who only had about 5,000 of these weapons. Still, this was likely the most popular carbine during the Civil War.

One of the problems of the Sharps Carbine was that it had a tendency to misfire on occasion, and General Lee is claimed to have described the Sharps Carbine as, “. . .so defective as to be demoralizing to our men.”

Maynard Carbine

This weapon was a favorite with the Confederate cavalry, because it could shoot 12 times per minute and it was easily reloaded on horseback.

One interesting thing about this weapon is that it was manufactured in Massachusetts, and was being shipped to the South as late as 1861. In fact, one shipment was delivered after the war had been going on for four months. Union border patrols were told that the weapons were being shipped to Southern “sportsmen.”

The Spencer Carbine

There is often a debate between Civil War buffs over which carbine was ultimately a better weapon – the Sharps Carbine, or the Spencer Carbine. Many Civil War historians would call the Spencer Carbine the most advanced shoulder arm of its time, with the ability to fire off up to 22 rounds per minute.

One major innovation in the Spencer Carbine was a dual-action operating lever. When the lever was dropped, the spent cartridge was expelled, and at the same time, another bullet was placed in the chamber, ready for firing. This meant that a soldier would only have to cock the Spencer, aim and pull the trigger – giving it the claim to being the first true ‘repeating’ carbine.

The Colt Revolving Carbine

Colt Revolving Cylinder - 6 Shot Repeater - $ 140.99 A non-firing copy of the Colt original. Replicates the original in size, weight and appearance, and the parts function much l ...

While this was a very interesting concept, it didn’t make for a very practical weapon during the Civil War. In fact, there were many cases where this Colt weapon caused more harm than good.

It was a pistol revolver with an extended bore and a rifle stock. It was still loaded the same way as the pistol with all five chambers of the revolver loaded. The unfortunate thing about this weapon was that it had a tendency to fire all five chambers at once, literally blowing the fingers off the lead hand of the soldiers who fired it.

Advances in weaponry

The carbine was a major advance in weaponry in the civil war, just like the advancement in the rifled bore. No longer did battle happen across the length of a football field with soldiers elbow to elbow. With the advanced weapons, Cavalry could attack from as much as 500 to 800 yards away with the power of the carbines, and sharpshooters could pick off targets from nearly a mile with the rifled muskets, like the Whitworth equipped with a sight.

Military tactics took years before they caught up with the advancements in weapons, and this was a major reason why the casualty numbers were so high.

In some cases, it has been said that if some of the weapons like the Henry Repeating Rifle had been made amply available earlier in the war, it could have shortened the war by nearly a year.

Common differences in shoulder arms

The shoulder arm went through quite a change during the Civil War. Many of the early weapons were smoothbore, muzzle-loaded muskets. Technology allowed many of the later bores to be rifled – which meant that the inside of the bore was machined in a spiral fashion. Other changes were from the muzzle-loaded to the breech, or rear-loaded weapons, and changes were made in the firing of the weapons – including the rimfire cartridge.

Smoothbore vs. Rifled

This was likely one of the most important advancements in the bore that came out of the Civil War. A smoothbore musket may have had a range of 200 yards (inaccurately) while the rifled bore was able to reach a mile with some accuracy (the Whitworth).

The main difference between the two was that the rifled barrel had spiral grooves machined on the inside. This spun the slugs as they exited the bore, creating a considerable lift – keeping them in the air for a lot longer time. It also allowed the force of the blast to be maximized, and in many cases amplified because of the ability to keep the lead ball in the air.

One of the only minor changes to the bore, other than this, was making the interior of the bore in a hexagonal shape. This was found on the Whitworth Rifle. This was an advance that also helped the spin of the slug, and the aerodynamics of the hexagon shape aided in flight.

Muzzle-loaded vs. Breech (rear) loading

It doesn’t take long to see the benefits of having a rear-loaded weapon. We have all seen movies where the soldiers take a shot, and then they have to open their powder case, pour in gunpowder, put in the lead ball, pack it in, stick the firing cap on and then fire.

You could do that, and shoot 3 shots per minute (average soldiers), or you could shoot 5 per minute (average soldiers) with the rear-load musket.

That advantage alone was huge, but the breech-loading also helped lead to designs that allowed percussion caps to ignite the powder, and eventually the rimfire cartridge that is still the earliest ancestor to our modern day bullets.

Paper cartridges and percussion caps vs. Metal cartridges