Civil War rifles
Encyclopedia
During the American Civil War
, the rifle
was the most common weapon
found on the battlefield. Most of the rifles during that time were loaded with a small lead
musket ball or with a minnie ball (or Minié ball
) and black powder
. Most rifles of this era were muzzle loaded rifled musket
s. These rifles were used by both the United States of America
("Union") and the Confederate States of America
.
, which had been in use for almost two hundred years, had been replaced by the caplock
in the 1840s. Rifles had been in use for many years, but prior to the civil war had been rare in military use. The black powder at the time quickly fouled the barrel, making reloading slower and more difficult. Round balls did not fit so tightly into the barrel, and therefore did not suffer from the slow loading problem common to rifles. Black powder also quickly obscured the battlefield, which led military leaders of the time to conclude that the greater range of rifles was of little value on the battlefield. Military leaders therefore preferred the faster loading smooth bore weapons over the more accurate rifles. The invention of the Minié ball solved the slow loading problem, allowing smoothbore muskets to be replaced by rifles in the decades just before the civil war. In addition, most existing military doctrine was based around the smoothbore musket. Since the 17th century, infantry normally fought in a tight shoulder-to-shoulder line and fired volleys at each other. When one side gained the upper hand, they would finish off the attack with a bayonet charge. These tactics developed because smoothbore muskets were only accurate at short ranges. Rifles made this type of fighting obsolete because of their much greater range. In Civil War battles, infantry typically fought in a widely-spread out line, with the men using trees, rocks, buildings, etc. for cover. Linear formations were thus rarely seen any more (although it did occur in the Battle of Brawner's Farm the evening before Second Bull Run).
However, most American army officers in 1861 had been schooled in obsolete Napoleonic tactics, especially since many of them had served in the Mexican War, which was still fought in the old way with smoothbore muskets and linear formations. As such, officers
typically failed to realize the power of rifles and continued to launch massed attacks against fortified enemies, which invariably resulted in heavy losses. For years, one of the standard manuals used in the US Army had been an 1835 translation by General Winfield Scott
of a French work. Shortly before the Civil War, William J. Hardee
(later to become a Confederate lieutenant general) updated it to include information on rifles, but he still assumed the use of linear formations in the book. Nonetheless, Hardee's book was produced in a huge variety of editions during the war, often for different types of infantry. For instance, one was produced specially for African-American troops, and another for Zouave
units. There were many Southern editions, and at least one Northern edition that omitted Hardee's name from the title page.
Even worse was the state of cavalry tactics. Traditionally, mounted soldiers carried a lance, sword, or pistol and could sweep enemy infantry weakened by artillery or musket fire. Napoleon normally always tried to rout opposing armies from the field after softening their line with massed artillery barrages. The Napoleonic cavalry charge was thus made both obsolete and suicidal by rifles. At least two major battles in the Civil War, Gaines Mill and Gettysburg
, saw such attempts, both with predictable results. As a result, cavalry came to be used mainly for raiding and scouting, and seldom participated in major battles. Mounted charges gave way to dismounted combat where men would tie up their horses and fight on foot.
When the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, neither the North (about 360,000 small arms) nor the South (about 240,000) had enough weapons to fight a major war. Stockpiles of rifles and handguns carried by individual soldiers were limited. As the war escalated those arms stockpiles were quickly diminished. Soldiers were often forced to use older smooth bore and flintlock muskets, which had been considered to be obsolete, simply because the newer rifles were not available in sufficient quantities. Many soldiers were forced to use their own personal hunting rifles, which were typically Kentucky or Pennsylvania type rifles. These rifles, while more accurate than smoothbore muskets, had been designed for hunting, and fired less deadly smaller caliber ammunition.
To combat the arms shortage, the Union and Confederacy both imported large quantities of rifles from Europe, with each side buying whatever they could get. The relatively poor South only bought 50,000 by August 1862, while the North bought 726,000. Accordingly, during the first two years of the war soldiers from both sides used a wide variety of rifles, including many that were over 50 years old and were considered obsolete. At the same time, Northern rifle and gun manufacturers such as Sharps
, Colt
, Remington
, and the United States armory at Springfield, Massachusetts
quickly increased their production of rifles; Springfield alone increased its annual output from 20,000 to 200,000. The North was thus able to supply its own small arms needs while the South had to continue to rely on foreign sources, eventually purchasing 580,000 rifles.
This was a single shot, muzzle-loading gun that used the percussion cap firing mechanism. It had a rifled barrel, and fired the .58 caliber Minié ball
. The first rifled muskets had used a larger .69 caliber Minié ball, since they had simply taken .69 caliber smooth bore muskets and rifled their barrels. Tests conducted by the U.S. Army indicated that the .58 caliber was more accurate at a distance. After experimenting with the failed Maynard primer system on the Model 1855 musket
, the Model 1861
reverted to the more reliable percussion lock. The first Model 1861 Springfields were delivered late in that year and during 1862 gradually became the most common weapon carried by Union infantry in the eastern theater. Western armies were slower to obtain Springfield rifles, and they were not widely used there until the middle of 1863.
Rifles were more accurate than smooth bore muskets, and could have been made using shorter barrels. However, the military was still using tactics such as firing by ranks, and feared that shorter barrels would result in soldiers in the back ranks accidentally shooting front rank soldiers in the back of the head. Bayonet fighting was also important at this time, which also made militaries reluctant to shorten the barrels. The Springfield Model 1861 therefore used a three-band barrel, making it just as long as the smoothbore muskets that it had replaced. The 38-inch-long rifled barrel made it a very accurate weapon, and it was possible to hit a man sized target with a Minié ball as far away as 500 yards (457.2 m). To reflect this longer range, the Springfield was fitted with two flip up sights, one set for 300 yards (274.3 m) and the other for 500. Along with a revised 1863 model
, it was the last muzzle-loading weapon ever adopted by the US Army.
By the end of the war, approximately 1.5 million Springfield rifle muskets had been produced by the Springfield Armory
and 20 subcontractors. Since the South lacked sufficient manufacturing capability, most of the Springfields in Southern hands were captured on the battlefields during the war.
Many older Springfield rifle muskets, such as the Model 1855 and 1842, were brought out of storage and used due to arms shortages. Many smooth bore muskets dating all the way back to the Springfield Model 1812 were brought out of storage for similar reasons. These old and obsolete weapons were replaced by newer weapons as they became available.
The second most widely used weapon of the Civil War, and the most widely used weapon by the Confederates, was the British Pattern 1853 Enfield
. Like the Springfield, this was a three-band, single-shot, muzzle-loading rifle musket. It was the standard weapon for the British Army
between 1853–1867. American soldiers liked it because its .577 cal. barrel allowed the use of .58 cal. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies. Originally produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory
at Enfield
, England, approximately 900,000 of these muskets were imported during 1861–1865, seeing use in every major battle from Shiloh
onward. Many officers, however, preferred the Springfield muskets over the Enfield muskets—largely due to the interchangeability of parts that the machine-made Springfields offered.
The Enfield had a stepped flip up sight, which was adjustable from 100 – (1200 yards (1,097.3 m) in later models) in 100 yard increments. Realistically, though, hitting anything beyond 500 yards was mostly a matter of luck.
The third most widely used weapon of the Civil War was the Lorenz Rifle
. This rifle was invented in 1854 by Austrian lieutenant Joseph Lorenz. This rifle had first seen action in the Second Italian War of Independence
.
The Lorenz rifle was similar in design to the Enfield rifle-musket. It used a percussion lock, was similar in length, and had three barrel bands, like the Springfield and Enfield. The Lorenz rifle was originally .54 caliber. A large number were bored out to .58 caliber so that they could use the same ammunition as the Springfield and Enfield rifle-muskets.
The quality of Lorenz rifles during the Civil War was not consistent. Some were considered to be of the finest quality, and were sometimes praised as being superior to the Enfield. Others, especially those in later purchases, were described as horrible in both design and condition. The bored out versions were not consistent in caliber, ranging from .57 to .59. Many of these poorer quality weapons were swapped out on the battlefield for Enfield rifle-muskets whenever one became available.
The Union purchased 226,924 Lorenz rifles, and the Confederacy bought as many as 100,000.
The 1855 Springfield was produced in a shorter two band rifle version. However, the later Model 1861/1863, which replaced the Model 1855, was not produced in a shorter version.
The 1853 Enfield was also produced in shorter versions, called the Model 1856, 1858, and 1860. These were referred to as "two band" Enfields, since they only used two rifle bands to hold the barrel against the stock. The 1858 and 1860 models featured a heavier five-groove barrel with progressive depth rifling and a greater twist, giving them superior accuracy. These weapons were favored by Confederate sharpshooters.
was designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth
, and was manufactured in Manchester, England. The Whitworth rifle featured a unique hexagonal shaped bullet (with a matching hexagonal barrel) that gave it superior accuracy. This rifle was mostly used by Confederate snipers. The accuracy of the Whitworth was often exaggerated, but it was capable of hitting a man sized target beyond 1,000 yards.
Whitworth rifles were equipped with either Enfield style sights or telescopic sights. The telescopic sights were more accurate, but had a reputation for bruising the user's eye due to the rifle's recoil.
(not common), Burnside carbine
(used only by cavalry), Henry rifle
(privately purchased by soldiers only), and the Spencer rifle (used almost exclusively by cavalry). There was also the Model 1859 Sharps rifle, a single-shot breechloader. They were expensive to manufacture and only 11,000 were produced, most of which were unissued or went to sharpshooters. However, the Sharps carbine was very common, with over 90,000 produced. The rifles differed from each other mainly in the different "actions" they had. Most all rifles were made with iron barrels, while only some, like the Burnside used the then-expensive steel instead.
Model 1855 rifles were fairly common. Most of the regular army was equipped with them in 1861, and the Confederates had a few thousand that had been stored in Southern arsenals. They acquired more through battlefield pickups and would use them throughout the war (although the 1855 rifle was eventually replaced in the Union ranks by 1861 Springfields).
The Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle
, the progenitor of the Model 1855 and 1861 Springfield, was still used in the Civil War to a fair degree, especially by Confederate non-commissioned officer
s (NCOs) and sharpshooters.
The Confederacy also produced a variety of weapons itself, standardizing on .58 caliber in 1862. These were usually clones of existing designs and tended to be poor quality due to shortages of raw material and skilled labor. Some such weapons included clones of the Sharps carbine, the Richmond/Fayetteville rifles
(a Springfield clone) and imitations of Enfield rifles and musketoons.
The only breechloading rifle (not built as a carbine like the Burnside) firing a primed-metallic cartridge (a .50 cal. rimfire) made by the Federal Government (at Springfield Armory) and actually designed for issue to infantrymen was the Model 1865 Springfield Joslyn Rifle, of which only 3,007 were made. In fact, this rifle was the first breechloader ever made in any national armory that fired a primed metallic cartridge. It was basically a Joslyn Carbine action fitted to a 1863 Springfield barrel and stock (though heavily modified). It was issued to disabled soldiers of the Veteran Reserve Corps very late in the war (April, 1865) and likely was never used in action. However, it established the single-shot metallic cartridge breechloader as a standard infantry weapon, which eventually all modern armies adopted in one form or another. The US adopted the breechloading 1866 Springfield "Trapdoor" infantry rifle
built from surplus rifle-musket parts after the war.
The new repeater rifles would see fairly limited use in the Civil War. The first such weapon adopted by the US Army was the Model 1855 Colt Revolving Rifle (and a companion carbine), but it had a serious defect in that the gun would often discharge several chambers at once, the extra rounds flying straight into the hand that was holding the barrel up. Some soldiers tried to get around this dangerous problem by loading only one chamber, however this defeated the purpose of having a repeater rifle. Most Colt Revolving Rifles were eventually sold off by the War Department for 55 cents just to get rid of them. The unfortunate experience the army had had with these led to a stigma against repeating rifles, combined with the old fear that they (and single-shot breech loaders) would encourage men to waste ammunition.
Spencer rifles were the first successful repeater used in the United States. After attending a demonstration firing, President Lincoln was impressed enough to give it his approval. The seven-shot Spencer was produced in rifle and carbine versions, although the latter was more common. By 1864, some Union companies were armed with them, although rarely whole regiments. A few fell into Confederate hands, but proved largely unusable due to a lack of ammunition (the Confederacy had insufficient supplies of copper to manufacture the Spencer's rimfire cartridges).
The Henry rifle had a copper or brass cartridge that effectively sealed the breech of the gun so that the hot propellant gases would be held inside of the gun. The ignition source was a folded rim on the inside of the gun. The inventor of the gun was able to mass produce a cartridge that had a powerful powder charge. The power of a Henry Rifle was comparable in power to military pistols, but that was not enough to be used as a shoulder fired rifle for the military. While most shoulder fired rifles during the time fired a bullet between 350 and 500 grains propelled by 40 to 60 grains of powder the Henry rifle shot a small .44 bullet of only 200 grains and 26 to 28 grains of black powder, giving it a quite short range. While the Henry was carried and used by men in the Civil War it was not widely accepted or popular by the military. Nonetheless, Henry and Spencer rifles were used at the December 1864 Battle of Nashville
to quite devastating effect.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
was the most common weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
found on the battlefield. Most of the rifles during that time were loaded with a small lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
musket ball or with a minnie ball (or Minié ball
Minié ball
The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilising rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle...
) and black powder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
. Most rifles of this era were muzzle loaded rifled musket
Rifled musket
The term rifled musket or rifle musket refers to a specific type of weapon made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels rifled...
s. These rifles were used by both the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
("Union") and the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
Background
In the decades leading up to the Civil War, numerous advances had been made in weapons. The flintlockFlintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
, which had been in use for almost two hundred years, had been replaced by the caplock
Caplock mechanism
The caplock mechanism or "percussion" lock was the successor of the flintlock mechanism in firearm technology, and used a percussion cap struck by the hammer to set off the main charge, rather than using a piece of flint to strike a steel frizzen....
in the 1840s. Rifles had been in use for many years, but prior to the civil war had been rare in military use. The black powder at the time quickly fouled the barrel, making reloading slower and more difficult. Round balls did not fit so tightly into the barrel, and therefore did not suffer from the slow loading problem common to rifles. Black powder also quickly obscured the battlefield, which led military leaders of the time to conclude that the greater range of rifles was of little value on the battlefield. Military leaders therefore preferred the faster loading smooth bore weapons over the more accurate rifles. The invention of the Minié ball solved the slow loading problem, allowing smoothbore muskets to be replaced by rifles in the decades just before the civil war. In addition, most existing military doctrine was based around the smoothbore musket. Since the 17th century, infantry normally fought in a tight shoulder-to-shoulder line and fired volleys at each other. When one side gained the upper hand, they would finish off the attack with a bayonet charge. These tactics developed because smoothbore muskets were only accurate at short ranges. Rifles made this type of fighting obsolete because of their much greater range. In Civil War battles, infantry typically fought in a widely-spread out line, with the men using trees, rocks, buildings, etc. for cover. Linear formations were thus rarely seen any more (although it did occur in the Battle of Brawner's Farm the evening before Second Bull Run).
However, most American army officers in 1861 had been schooled in obsolete Napoleonic tactics, especially since many of them had served in the Mexican War, which was still fought in the old way with smoothbore muskets and linear formations. As such, officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
typically failed to realize the power of rifles and continued to launch massed attacks against fortified enemies, which invariably resulted in heavy losses. For years, one of the standard manuals used in the US Army had been an 1835 translation by General Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
of a French work. Shortly before the Civil War, William J. Hardee
William J. Hardee
William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army officer, serving during the Second Seminole War and fighting in the Mexican-American War...
(later to become a Confederate lieutenant general) updated it to include information on rifles, but he still assumed the use of linear formations in the book. Nonetheless, Hardee's book was produced in a huge variety of editions during the war, often for different types of infantry. For instance, one was produced specially for African-American troops, and another for Zouave
Zouave
Zouave was the title given to certain light infantry regiments in the French Army, normally serving in French North Africa between 1831 and 1962. The name was also adopted during the 19th century by units in other armies, especially volunteer regiments raised for service in the American Civil War...
units. There were many Southern editions, and at least one Northern edition that omitted Hardee's name from the title page.
Even worse was the state of cavalry tactics. Traditionally, mounted soldiers carried a lance, sword, or pistol and could sweep enemy infantry weakened by artillery or musket fire. Napoleon normally always tried to rout opposing armies from the field after softening their line with massed artillery barrages. The Napoleonic cavalry charge was thus made both obsolete and suicidal by rifles. At least two major battles in the Civil War, Gaines Mill and Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
, saw such attempts, both with predictable results. As a result, cavalry came to be used mainly for raiding and scouting, and seldom participated in major battles. Mounted charges gave way to dismounted combat where men would tie up their horses and fight on foot.
When the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, neither the North (about 360,000 small arms) nor the South (about 240,000) had enough weapons to fight a major war. Stockpiles of rifles and handguns carried by individual soldiers were limited. As the war escalated those arms stockpiles were quickly diminished. Soldiers were often forced to use older smooth bore and flintlock muskets, which had been considered to be obsolete, simply because the newer rifles were not available in sufficient quantities. Many soldiers were forced to use their own personal hunting rifles, which were typically Kentucky or Pennsylvania type rifles. These rifles, while more accurate than smoothbore muskets, had been designed for hunting, and fired less deadly smaller caliber ammunition.
To combat the arms shortage, the Union and Confederacy both imported large quantities of rifles from Europe, with each side buying whatever they could get. The relatively poor South only bought 50,000 by August 1862, while the North bought 726,000. Accordingly, during the first two years of the war soldiers from both sides used a wide variety of rifles, including many that were over 50 years old and were considered obsolete. At the same time, Northern rifle and gun manufacturers such as Sharps
Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company
Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of Sharps Rifle. It was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in Hartford, Connecticut on October 9, 1851 with $100,000 in capital. John C. Palmer was president, Christian Sharps an engineer, and Richard S....
, Colt
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
, Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
, and the United States armory at Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts - from 1777 until its closing in 1968 - was the primary center for the manufacture of U.S. military firearms. After its controversial closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory was declared Western Massachusetts'...
quickly increased their production of rifles; Springfield alone increased its annual output from 20,000 to 200,000. The North was thus able to supply its own small arms needs while the South had to continue to rely on foreign sources, eventually purchasing 580,000 rifles.
Springfield Rifle Musket
Minié ball
The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilising rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle...
. The first rifled muskets had used a larger .69 caliber Minié ball, since they had simply taken .69 caliber smooth bore muskets and rifled their barrels. Tests conducted by the U.S. Army indicated that the .58 caliber was more accurate at a distance. After experimenting with the failed Maynard primer system on the Model 1855 musket
Springfield Model 1855
The Model 1855 Springfield was a rifled musket used in the mid 19th century. It was produced by the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts.Earlier muskets had mostly been smooth bore flintlocks. In the 1840s, the unreliable flintlocks had been replaced by much more reliable and weather resistant...
, the Model 1861
Springfield Model 1861
The Springfield Model 1861 was a Minié-type rifled musket shoulder arm used by the United States Army and Marine Corps during the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as the "Springfield" , it was the most widely used U.S...
reverted to the more reliable percussion lock. The first Model 1861 Springfields were delivered late in that year and during 1862 gradually became the most common weapon carried by Union infantry in the eastern theater. Western armies were slower to obtain Springfield rifles, and they were not widely used there until the middle of 1863.
Rifles were more accurate than smooth bore muskets, and could have been made using shorter barrels. However, the military was still using tactics such as firing by ranks, and feared that shorter barrels would result in soldiers in the back ranks accidentally shooting front rank soldiers in the back of the head. Bayonet fighting was also important at this time, which also made militaries reluctant to shorten the barrels. The Springfield Model 1861 therefore used a three-band barrel, making it just as long as the smoothbore muskets that it had replaced. The 38-inch-long rifled barrel made it a very accurate weapon, and it was possible to hit a man sized target with a Minié ball as far away as 500 yards (457.2 m). To reflect this longer range, the Springfield was fitted with two flip up sights, one set for 300 yards (274.3 m) and the other for 500. Along with a revised 1863 model
Springfield Model 1863
The Springfield Model 1863 rifled musket is a .58 caliber rifled musket produced by the Springfield Armory between 1863 and 1865.The Model 1863 was only a minor improvement over the Springfield Model 1861. As such, it is sometimes classified as just a variant of the Model 1861. The Model 1861, with...
, it was the last muzzle-loading weapon ever adopted by the US Army.
By the end of the war, approximately 1.5 million Springfield rifle muskets had been produced by the Springfield Armory
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts - from 1777 until its closing in 1968 - was the primary center for the manufacture of U.S. military firearms. After its controversial closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory was declared Western Massachusetts'...
and 20 subcontractors. Since the South lacked sufficient manufacturing capability, most of the Springfields in Southern hands were captured on the battlefields during the war.
Many older Springfield rifle muskets, such as the Model 1855 and 1842, were brought out of storage and used due to arms shortages. Many smooth bore muskets dating all the way back to the Springfield Model 1812 were brought out of storage for similar reasons. These old and obsolete weapons were replaced by newer weapons as they became available.
Enfield Rifle Musket
Pattern 1853 Enfield
The Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle-musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867, after which many Enfield 1853 Rifle-Muskets were converted to the cartridge-loaded Snider-Enfield rifle.-History &...
. Like the Springfield, this was a three-band, single-shot, muzzle-loading rifle musket. It was the standard weapon for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
between 1853–1867. American soldiers liked it because its .577 cal. barrel allowed the use of .58 cal. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies. Originally produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory
Royal Small Arms Factory
The Royal Small Arms Factory was a UK government-owned rifle factory in the London Borough of Enfield in an area generally known as the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816...
at Enfield
Enfield Lock
Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, to the River Lee Navigation, including the Enfield Island Village. The locality gains its name from the lock on the...
, England, approximately 900,000 of these muskets were imported during 1861–1865, seeing use in every major battle from Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
onward. Many officers, however, preferred the Springfield muskets over the Enfield muskets—largely due to the interchangeability of parts that the machine-made Springfields offered.
The Enfield had a stepped flip up sight, which was adjustable from 100 – (1200 yards (1,097.3 m) in later models) in 100 yard increments. Realistically, though, hitting anything beyond 500 yards was mostly a matter of luck.
Lorenz Rifle
Lorenz Rifle
The Lorenz rifle was an Austrian rifle used in the mid 19th century. It was used in several European wars, and also featured prominently in the U.S. Civil War.-History:...
. This rifle was invented in 1854 by Austrian lieutenant Joseph Lorenz. This rifle had first seen action in the Second Italian War of Independence
Second Italian War of Independence
The Second War of Italian Independence, Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War, or Austro-Piedmontese War , was fought by Napoleon III of France and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859...
.
The Lorenz rifle was similar in design to the Enfield rifle-musket. It used a percussion lock, was similar in length, and had three barrel bands, like the Springfield and Enfield. The Lorenz rifle was originally .54 caliber. A large number were bored out to .58 caliber so that they could use the same ammunition as the Springfield and Enfield rifle-muskets.
The quality of Lorenz rifles during the Civil War was not consistent. Some were considered to be of the finest quality, and were sometimes praised as being superior to the Enfield. Others, especially those in later purchases, were described as horrible in both design and condition. The bored out versions were not consistent in caliber, ranging from .57 to .59. Many of these poorer quality weapons were swapped out on the battlefield for Enfield rifle-muskets whenever one became available.
The Union purchased 226,924 Lorenz rifles, and the Confederacy bought as many as 100,000.
Rifles based on rifle muskets
Many of the "rifle muskets" (which were named for the fact that they were the same length as the smooth bore muskets they had replaced) were also produced in shorter "rifle" versions. These shorter versions were often used by cavalry.The 1855 Springfield was produced in a shorter two band rifle version. However, the later Model 1861/1863, which replaced the Model 1855, was not produced in a shorter version.
The 1853 Enfield was also produced in shorter versions, called the Model 1856, 1858, and 1860. These were referred to as "two band" Enfields, since they only used two rifle bands to hold the barrel against the stock. The 1858 and 1860 models featured a heavier five-groove barrel with progressive depth rifling and a greater twist, giving them superior accuracy. These weapons were favored by Confederate sharpshooters.
Whitworth Rifle
The Whitworth rifleWhitworth rifle
The Whitworth Rifle was a single-shot muzzle-loaded rifle used in the last half of the 19th century.-History:The Whitworth rifle was designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a prominent British engineer and entrepreneur. Whitworth had experimented with cannons using twisted hexagonal barrels instead of...
was designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth
Joseph Whitworth
Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw threads...
, and was manufactured in Manchester, England. The Whitworth rifle featured a unique hexagonal shaped bullet (with a matching hexagonal barrel) that gave it superior accuracy. This rifle was mostly used by Confederate snipers. The accuracy of the Whitworth was often exaggerated, but it was capable of hitting a man sized target beyond 1,000 yards.
Whitworth rifles were equipped with either Enfield style sights or telescopic sights. The telescopic sights were more accurate, but had a reputation for bruising the user's eye due to the rifle's recoil.
Other rifles used
Other rifles used during the Civil War were the British P-1841-Bored Brunswick RifleBrunswick rifle
The Brunswick rifle was a large caliber muzzle-loading percussion rifle manufactured for the British Army at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the early 19th century.-History:...
(not common), Burnside carbine
Burnside carbine
The Burnside carbine was a breech-loading carbine that saw widespread use during the American Civil War.-Design:The carbine was designed and patented by Ambrose Burnside, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to devote himself full time to working on the weapon. The carbine used a special...
(used only by cavalry), Henry rifle
Henry rifle
The Henry repeating rifle was a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine rifle.-History:The original Henry rifle was a .44 caliber rimfire, lever-action, breech-loading rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in the late 1850s. The Henry rifle was an improved version of the earlier Volcanic...
(privately purchased by soldiers only), and the Spencer rifle (used almost exclusively by cavalry). There was also the Model 1859 Sharps rifle, a single-shot breechloader. They were expensive to manufacture and only 11,000 were produced, most of which were unissued or went to sharpshooters. However, the Sharps carbine was very common, with over 90,000 produced. The rifles differed from each other mainly in the different "actions" they had. Most all rifles were made with iron barrels, while only some, like the Burnside used the then-expensive steel instead.
Model 1855 rifles were fairly common. Most of the regular army was equipped with them in 1861, and the Confederates had a few thousand that had been stored in Southern arsenals. They acquired more through battlefield pickups and would use them throughout the war (although the 1855 rifle was eventually replaced in the Union ranks by 1861 Springfields).
The Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle
M1841 Mississippi Rifle
The M1841 Mississippi Rifle is a muzzle loading percussion rifle used in the Mexican–American War & the American Civil War.-History:When Eli Whitney Blake took over management of the Harpers Ferry Armory in 1842, he set about tooling up under his new contract from the U.S. government for making the...
, the progenitor of the Model 1855 and 1861 Springfield, was still used in the Civil War to a fair degree, especially by Confederate non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s (NCOs) and sharpshooters.
The Confederacy also produced a variety of weapons itself, standardizing on .58 caliber in 1862. These were usually clones of existing designs and tended to be poor quality due to shortages of raw material and skilled labor. Some such weapons included clones of the Sharps carbine, the Richmond/Fayetteville rifles
Richmond Rifle
The Richmond Rifle was a rifled musket produced by the Richmond Armory in Richmond, Virginia, for use by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-History:...
(a Springfield clone) and imitations of Enfield rifles and musketoons.
The only breechloading rifle (not built as a carbine like the Burnside) firing a primed-metallic cartridge (a .50 cal. rimfire) made by the Federal Government (at Springfield Armory) and actually designed for issue to infantrymen was the Model 1865 Springfield Joslyn Rifle, of which only 3,007 were made. In fact, this rifle was the first breechloader ever made in any national armory that fired a primed metallic cartridge. It was basically a Joslyn Carbine action fitted to a 1863 Springfield barrel and stock (though heavily modified). It was issued to disabled soldiers of the Veteran Reserve Corps very late in the war (April, 1865) and likely was never used in action. However, it established the single-shot metallic cartridge breechloader as a standard infantry weapon, which eventually all modern armies adopted in one form or another. The US adopted the breechloading 1866 Springfield "Trapdoor" infantry rifle
Springfield Model 1866
The Springfield Model 1866 was the second iteration of the Allin-designed trapdoor breech-loading mechanism. Originally developed as a means of converting rifled muskets to breechloaders, the Allin modification ultimately became the basis for the definitive Model 1873, the first breech-loading...
built from surplus rifle-musket parts after the war.
The new repeater rifles would see fairly limited use in the Civil War. The first such weapon adopted by the US Army was the Model 1855 Colt Revolving Rifle (and a companion carbine), but it had a serious defect in that the gun would often discharge several chambers at once, the extra rounds flying straight into the hand that was holding the barrel up. Some soldiers tried to get around this dangerous problem by loading only one chamber, however this defeated the purpose of having a repeater rifle. Most Colt Revolving Rifles were eventually sold off by the War Department for 55 cents just to get rid of them. The unfortunate experience the army had had with these led to a stigma against repeating rifles, combined with the old fear that they (and single-shot breech loaders) would encourage men to waste ammunition.
Spencer rifles were the first successful repeater used in the United States. After attending a demonstration firing, President Lincoln was impressed enough to give it his approval. The seven-shot Spencer was produced in rifle and carbine versions, although the latter was more common. By 1864, some Union companies were armed with them, although rarely whole regiments. A few fell into Confederate hands, but proved largely unusable due to a lack of ammunition (the Confederacy had insufficient supplies of copper to manufacture the Spencer's rimfire cartridges).
The Henry rifle had a copper or brass cartridge that effectively sealed the breech of the gun so that the hot propellant gases would be held inside of the gun. The ignition source was a folded rim on the inside of the gun. The inventor of the gun was able to mass produce a cartridge that had a powerful powder charge. The power of a Henry Rifle was comparable in power to military pistols, but that was not enough to be used as a shoulder fired rifle for the military. While most shoulder fired rifles during the time fired a bullet between 350 and 500 grains propelled by 40 to 60 grains of powder the Henry rifle shot a small .44 bullet of only 200 grains and 26 to 28 grains of black powder, giving it a quite short range. While the Henry was carried and used by men in the Civil War it was not widely accepted or popular by the military. Nonetheless, Henry and Spencer rifles were used at the December 1864 Battle of Nashville
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under...
to quite devastating effect.
