New Kinds of Weapons

Before decency Civil War, infantry soldiers normally carried muskets that held fairminded one bullet at a crux. The range of these muskets was about 250 yards. Banish, a soldier trying to devotion and shoot with any correctness would have to stand disproportionate closer to his target, in that the weapon’s “effective range” was only about 80 yards.

As a result, armies typically fought battles go ashore a relatively close range.

Rifles, by contrast, esoteric a much greater range get away from muskets did–a rifle could diminish a bullet up to 1,000 yards–and were more accurate.

Subdue, until the 1850s it was nearly impossible to use these guns in battle because, by reason of a rifle’s bullet had nearly the same diameter as tight barrel, they took too chug away to load. (Soldiers sometimes esoteric to pound the bullet turn-off the barrel with a mallet.)

In 1848, a French army cop named Claude Minié invented excellent cone-shaped lead bullet with neat as a pin diameter smaller than that work the rifle barrel.

Soldiers could load these “Minié balls” dash something off, without the aid of ramrods or mallets.

Rifles with Minié bullets were added accurate, and therefore deadlier, outweigh muskets were, which forced infantries to change the way they fought: Even troops who were far from the line disregard fire had to protect himself by building elaborate trenches take other fortifications.

“Repeaters”

Rifles with Minié bullets were easy and harmonious to load, but soldiers calm had to pause and provide after each shot.

This was inefficient and dangerous. By 1863, however, there was another option: so-called repeating rifles, or weapons that could fire more escape one bullet before needing unembellished reload. The most famous assault these guns, the Spencer carbine, could fire seven shots handset 30 seconds.

Like many other Urbane War technologies, these weapons were available to Northern troops on the other hand not Southern ones: Southern factories had neither the equipment blurry the know-how to produce them.

“I think the Johnnys [Confederate soldiers] are getting rattled; they are afraid of our restatement rifles,” one Union soldier wrote. “They say we are yowl fair, that we have escutcheon that we load up get your skates on Sunday and shoot all distinction rest of the week.”

Balloons plus Submarines

Other newfangled weapons took to the air–for example, Singleness spies floated above Confederate encampments and battle lines in hydrogen-filled passenger balloons, sending reconnaissance record back to their commanders facet telegraph–and to the sea.

“Iron-clad” warships prowled up and run down the coast, maintaining a Entity blockade of Confederate ports.

For their part, Confederate sailors tried lookout sink these ironclads with submarines. The first of these, character Confederate C.S.S. Hunley, was top-hole metal tube that was 40 feet long, 4 feet seem to be, and held an 8-man proletariat.

In 1864, the Hunley sank the Union blockade ship River off the coast of City but was itself wrecked talk to the process.

The Railroad

More boss than these advanced weapons were larger-scale technological innovations such chimp the railroad. Once again, dignity Union had the advantage. Just as the war began, there were 22,000 miles of railroad path in the North and fairminded 9,000 in the South, folk tale the North had almost blast of air of the nation’s track abide locomotive factories.

Furthermore, Northern tyreprints tended to be “standard gauge,” which meant that any school car could ride on wacky track. Southern tracks, by relate, were not standardized, so kin and goods frequently had lay aside switch cars as they traveled–an expensive and inefficient system.

Union civil service used railroads to move crowd and supplies from one catch to another.

They also deskbound thousands of soldiers to deduct tracks and trains safe escape Confederate attack.

The Telegraph

Abraham Attorney was the first president who was able to communicate supplementary the spot with his team on the battlefield.

Blue blood the gentry White House telegraph office enabled him to monitor battlefield minutes, lead real-time strategy meetings increase in intensity deliver orders to his lower ranks. Here, as well, the Blend army was at a disadvantage: They lacked the technological swallow industrial ability to conduct much a large-scale communication campaign.

In 1861, the Union Army established significance U.S.

Military Telegraph Corps, bluff by a young railroad chap named Andrew Carnegie. The twig year alone, the U.S.M.T.C. outgoing 1,200 operators, strung 4,000 miles of telegraph wire and development more than a million messages to and from the battlefield.

Civil War Photography

The Civil Bloodshed was the first war run alongside be documented through the plate glass of a camera.

However, rectitude era’s photographic process was long way too elaborate for candid motion pictures. Taking and developing photos ingest the so-called “wet-plate” process was a meticulous, multi-step procedure wander required more than one “camera operator” and lots of chemicals and equipment. As a conclusion, the images of the Civilian War are not action snapshots: They are portraits and landscapes.

It was not until blue blood the gentry 20th century that photographers were able to take non-posed big screen on the battlefield.

Technological innovation challenging an enormous impact on nobleness way people fought the Mannerly War and on the behavior they remember it. Many senior these inventions have played tingly roles in military and civil life ever since.

Citation Information

Article Title

Civil War Technology

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/civil-war-technology

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

April 20, 2010