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weapons of the civil war

r the bullet that caused nearly ninety percent of the soldier casualties in the Civil War. Captain Henri-Gustave Delvigne, Colonel Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin, and Captain Claude-Etienne Minie` were the men which developed this masterpiece. This bullet was designed after discovering that when a standard bullet was put down the barrel of a rifle and was pounded with the ramrod, it would be grossly disfigured which greatly reduced the accuracy of the gun. Since the bullets needed to be pounded into the gun, Delvigne designed an elongated cylindrical bullet that had a flat base that would expand more evenly after being struck by the ramrod. A few years of development and a patent later, the minie` ball was ready for combat. In the 1850's, James H. Burton, a master of arms, made a few alterations such as slightly lengthening the bullet and thinning the walls of the hollow base. These alterations made the minie` ball much easier and cheaper to mass-produce; this is what was used by the blue and gray's out on the battlefields. The Union soldiers were more likely to carry the U.S. Model 1861 Springfield Rifle-Musket than any other weapon. These guns were not the easiest or most convenient weapons even if they were the most common. The Model 1861 was a .58 caliber gun, was 58.5 inches long, and weighed in at a heavy 9.25 pounds. This rifle was nicknamed "The Widow Maker." This nickname was made with great thanks to the minie` bullet which was an integral part of this rifle-musket. The combination of the rifle-musket and the minie` bullet forever changed the face of warfare; thus because for the first time ever, men could aim at a distant target, and have a decent chance of hitting it. This luxury allowed the gun-bearers to hide in a safe place, yet still be able to knock down their target. Colonel George Hanger, an American Revolution officer, wrote in 1814:A soldier's musket if not exceedingly ill-bored (as many are), will strik...

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