Transcript Civil War Technology

First Modern
War
Why Was It So Deadly?
• Time of military transition
– Officers still thought that the idea of forming
large masses and using a lot of firepower was
the best way to fight.
• Weapons were becoming more accurate
• Neither side was fully prepared for war
• Spies gathered information on both sides
Weapons Used
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Small Arms
Artillery
Ironclad Ships
Edged Weapons
Hand Grenades
Small Arms
• Many different types of guns were used in the war.
• Muskets
– Old muskets were not accurate so having long lines of
soldiers was not a problem
– New muskets were much more accurate.
• Rifles – shoulder guns with grooves
– Example: Whitworth Rifle
• Very Accurate
• Telescopic lens
• Handguns
– Example – Colt Revolver
• Often used by cavalry
Artillery
• Howitzers – lower muzzle velocity and arc
their shots in the air
• Mortars – have a very pronounced arc of
flight and were not very accurate
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Artillery Ammunition
• Fuses
– Shell wrapped around a fuse
– Paper fuse - The paper fuse could be cut to burn for
the desired time.
• Paper fuses were common but often unreliable and easily
damaged by moisture
• Solid shot
– Used against long range fixed targets such as forts
• Grape shot
– Consisted of two or more balls connected by a chain
• Looked like grapes
– Used mostly in naval battles to knock down masts
and rigging
Ironclad Ships
• Ironclad ships were used to fight and more
importantly for a naval blockade
– Blockade - Set up of ships used to block off
ports and cut off supplies
• Examples:
– USS Monitor
• Usually consisted of a crew around 7
– CSS Virginia
• Slightly bigger, consisted of a crew around 8
Edged Weapons
• Included weapons such as bayonets, sabers,
swords, cutlasses, Bowie knives, pikes, and
lances.
– Bayonet – sharp tip at the end of a rifle
– Saber – cavalry swords
• These weapons were used only when handto-hand combat was engaged in.
Other Weapons
• Hand Grenades
– Lit by hand and thrown at the opposing side
• Airships
– Similar looking to blimps
– Filled with air and dropped bombs
• Charvaux-de-frise
– 10 to 12 foot logs attached to wooden stakes
– Used to slow down the enemy
• Minie Ball
– Created by Captain Claude Minie (a Frenchman)
– Expanded with rifled grooves and spun from the muzzle
of the gun
– Allowed the ball to be 5 times more accurate than any
other weapon
New Technology
• Railroad
– Used to move men and ammunition to the front
line
• Telegraph
– Sent cryptic messages about locations of troops
• Land Mines
• Early Trenches
• Balloons
– Used to locate other troops
Union Spies
• Pauline Cushman
– Actress who entertained Confederate
troops and gathered information for
the Union
• Lafayette Curry Baker
– Caught several times but lied his way
out of trouble
• Allan Pinkerton
– His detective agency interrogated
slaves and others for information
– His information was often
misinterpreted and he told McClellan
several times that the Confederate
army was much larger than it actually
was.
Confederate Spies
• Nancy Hart
– Excellent rider and carried messages
• Henry Thomas Harrison
– Scout on the Potomac River
• Sam Davis
– Part of a group called “Coleman’s Scouts”
– Caught by the Union and hung
– Called the Confederate’s Nathan Hale
African American Spies
• The Dabney’s
– Mrs. Dabney served as a laundress for the
Confederates
– Signaled to her husband using the clothesline
• John Scobell
– Best known black Pinkerton agent
• W.H. Ringgold
– Riverboat worker who provided information for
the Union