List of weapons in the American Civil War

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American Civil War Weapons were used during 1861-1865 by Union and Confederate soldiers. It was considered the first "modern" war in history. The American Civil War saw development in existing weapons, such as rifles, and the use of new weapons.

1 Handheld firearms
2 Hand Grenades
3 Gatling Gun
4 External links

[edit] Handheld firearms

Colt Army Model 1860

Colt revolvers- The myriad revolvers that Colt made are perhaps the most well-known revolvers of the Civil War. The most popular version in the Union was the Colt Army Model 1860, which was a .44 caliber six-shot revolver. However, as it was rather expensive ($13.75), orders from the government stopped in November 1863. The Confederacy favored the Colt Navy Model 1861, which was .36 caliber.
Starr revolver- Originally, it was a six-shot double-action revolver. It could fire a combustible cartridge as well as the plain ball and power. The double-action revolver was briefly used in the Western theater of the war, until the U.S. Ordinance Department persuaded Starr Arms Co. to create a single-action variant after the discontinuation of the Colt. The company eventually complied, and the Union acquired 25,000 of the single-action revolvers for $12 each.

LeMat revolver

LeMat revolver- This revolver was perhaps the most well-known foreign designed revolver in the Civil War. It had two barrels, one on top of the other. The top barrel could fire up to nine .40 caliber rounds, while the lower barrel was .63 caliber for a charge of buckshot. The shooter could simply flick the hammer to align to the top or bottom barrel, making it a deadly weapon. The creator, a French doctor living in New Orleans, Jean Alexander Francois Le Mat, moved back to France to create more revolvers for the Confederacy. The French-made revolvers, however, were unreliable, and he eventually contracted Belgian and English companies.
In addition, stocks were made that could be screwed onto the butt of the pistol. The stock allowed the handgun to be held at the shoulder, increasing range and accuracy.

[edit] Hand Grenades

It is a little known fact that the Civil War did have crude hand grenades equipped with a plunger that would detonate the device upon impact of the target. "There was also a wooden fin mounted on the grenade to give it stability in flight. Most, however, failed to explode because the grenade had to land flat on the target in order to work. This resulted in a vicious game of "hot potato" in which Union and Confederate forces continuously lobbed them back and forth repeatedly at each other until it finally exploded. [1]

[edit] Gatling Gun

Gatling gun, displayed by the National Park Service at Fort Laramie in Wyoming

The Gatling Gun was a multi-barreled, .58 caliber repeating machine gun that was capable of firing off 600 rounds per minute that was created by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling. The Civil War version was precursor to later models of machine guns. The cartridges were fed by a hand crank. As the crank was turned, a barrel revolved into place before the breech, a cartridge was inserted and fitretred, and the empty shell was extracted in a continuous cycle. Since there were multiple barrels, a gatling gun could be fired for long periods of time without overheating. Another weapon that resembled this was the Dictator. It was a large mortar, capable of launching a 220 lb. projectile into the air, over a mile high. The projectile than exploded into hundreds of fragments, each about the size of someone's fist. These fragments could then stab and kill people.