5 Most Lethal Weapons of the US Civil War

The Civil War remains the deadliest war in American history, despite later wars’ usage of superior weaponry. The weapons used in the Civil War included the Springfield Model 1861 rifle, the Henry Repeating Rifle, the LeMat Pistol, the Model 1857 12-Pounder “Napoleon” Gun, and the Gatling gun, which was the predecessor of the more modern machine gun. Although it only saw limited use, the Gatling was the deadliest weapon used in the war, capable of firing up to 600 rounds per minute.

Roughly 620,000 soldiers died between 1861 and 1865. Disease took about two out of every three of them, but the weapons below explain why the battlefields themselves were so terrible. Commanders were still using tactics from the age of smoothbore muskets while their men carried guns that could kill at several hundred yards.

1. Springfield Model 1861 Rifled Musket

This was the standard infantry weapon of the war, and both armies used it. It fired a .58 caliber Minié ball, a soft lead bullet that expanded into the rifling when fired. That made it accurate at ranges smoothbores could never reach. The heavy, slow bullet also shattered bone, which is why so many wounded men lost limbs in field hospitals.

2. Henry Repeating Rifle

The Henry held 16 rounds of .44 rimfire in a tube under the barrel and could be fired as fast as a soldier could work the lever. Most Union regiments that carried it paid for the rifles themselves. Confederate soldiers reportedly called it that Yankee rifle you load on Sunday and shoot all week.

3. LeMat Revolver

Invented by Dr. Jean Alexandre LeMat of New Orleans, this was a Southern favorite. It carried nine shots in its cylinder plus a short shotgun barrel underneath for close-range emergencies. Generals J.E.B. Stuart and P.G.T. Beauregard were among the officers who carried one.

4. Model 1857 12-Pounder “Napoleon”

The bronze Napoleon was the most common field cannon of the war. It could fire solid shot at long range, but its real power came at close range with canister, a tin can packed with iron balls that turned the gun into a giant shotgun. Charging infantry feared it more than almost anything else on the field.

5. Gatling Gun

Richard Gatling patented his hand-cranked, multi-barrel gun in 1862. The Army was slow to adopt it, and only a few saw action, including at the siege of Petersburg. Even so, it pointed the way to the machine guns that would change warfare forever.

Explore the flags these soldiers fought under in our Confederate flag collection.

Read the original article: 5 Most Lethal Weapons of the US Civil War (The National Interest)

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