by Bradley Streeter

Created on: February 12, 2009

The American Civil War saw the use of a wide variety of weapons. Much of the variety can be attributed to the fact that states and counties were often responsible for mustering and equipping units to send to the war effort. Unlike the modern military, a large standing force, uniformity among the ranks was not the norm. This variety was also the result of innovation; the Civil War was the first to be fought since industrialization became commonplace, and leaders slowly adapted their tactics and choice of equipment to technological advances. A lack of resources on both sides, especially for the Confederates, was a final cause of this variety in weaponry. In some cases, elite units were given rifles while the rank-and-file had to make do with muskets. In other cases, soldiers would bring their trusted rifle to the war with them from the farm or would pick superior weapons off of unfortunate corpses.

The most common small arm used in the American Civil War was the smoothbore musket. Muskets were shoulder-fired weapons, typically muzzle-loaded. These weapons were slow to fire and highly inaccurate, but were cheap and easy to produce. Perhaps more importantly, minie balls, the ammunition of choice for muskets and rifles, were cheap and could even be recycled by soldiers in the field.

The rifle also enjoyed wide usage in the Civil War. Although the layperson might a musket for a rifle, the distinction between the two weapons is of vital importance. Rifles get their name from the "rifling" inside of their barrels, ridges cut into the barrel in a corkscrew pattern. These ridges would cause the round to spin at a high velocity as it exited the barrel, the physics of which allowed the rifle deadly accuracy and a far greater range than the musket. The use of the rifle was limited to sharpshooter units early in the war, due to the cost of the weapons and its ammunition. But as the minie ball became more popular and commanders learned hard lessons about fighting with new technology, the rifle became a mainstay by war's end.

The weapon of choice for cavalry was the carbine, a short-barreled version of the rifle. The carbine favored by cavalry is also distinguishable from the rifle and musket in that it was breech-loaded (loaded from the rear). This made it much faster to fire than muzzle-loaded weapons, allowing the cavalry an advantage when fighting on the run.

There was also a wide variety of artillery pieces to see action during the Civil War. These ranged from the mobile

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