American Civil War Weapons

The American Civil War was fought on the verge of a military revolution in small arms. Both the Confederate and Union forces were armed with a combination of weapons on their last legs and new items that became the forefathers of modern artillery, including cavalry swords and sabers.

Modern cartridge rifles like the Spencer repeating carbine showed the world what the rifle could be and that repeaters were the future of infantry rifles. The Union forces make extensive use of the Gatling gun, which while not technically a machine gun, did reveal it as a possibility. Bayonets of different styles and types were still heavy employed, as well as a variety of different muskets. Muskets came from American factories, and were imported from French, Prussian, and Belgian sources.

Quick Facts

• The Lemat revolver was a French design that employed a unique shotgun barrel placed beneath the normal barrel
• The Gatling gun was invented by a doctor named Richard Gatling
• The Civil War was the last major conflict in which swords were used with regularity