Weapons of the American Civil War PDF Download

Author: Ian V. Hogg
Publisher: Pergamon
ISBN: 9781855850187
Category : Military weapons
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 0760339716
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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"Featuring guns photographed by Dennis Adler from the Mike Clark/Collector's Firearms Collection; the Dr. Joseph A. Murphy Collection; and the Dennis LeVett Collection, with additional photography provided by the Rock Island Auction Company Archives."

Author: Graham Smith
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510756728
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Learn about the evolution of weapons by studying the design of the Civil War weapons cataloged in this attractive, full-color reference book. More than three million Americans fought in the Civil War and over six hundred thousand men, or two percent of the population, died in this dreadful conflict. Its impact is still felt today, for the war shaped our nation, and our national character. Studying the weapons used by both the Union army and Confederate forces tells an intriguing story of its own. The well-equipped Union army had access to the best of the industrial North's manufacturing output. By contrast, the South had to get by with imported arms and locally made copies of patented weapons. But the pressure of war quickly led to improvements in both sides' firearms. A War that began with single-shot horse pistols ended with multi-shot revolvers. Poignant archive photography is used throughout the book, showing the weapons in contemporary action, and placing them in their Civil War context. Evocative paintings by renowned Civil War artist Don Troiani bring the battlefield action to life.

Author: John Walter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472842243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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During the American Civil War, the mounted soldiers fighting on both sides of the conflict carried a wide array of weapons, from sabers and lances to carbines, revolvers, and other firearms. Though some sections of the cavalry placed their trust in the sabre, the advent of viable breechloading carbines -- especially repeaters such as the Spencer -- was to transform warfare within little more than a decade of General Lee's final surrender at Appomattox. However, output struggled to keep up with unprecedented demands on manufacturing technology and distribution in areas where communication was difficult and in states whose primary aim was to equip their own men rather than contribute to the arming of Federal or Confederate regiments. In addition, the almost unparalleled losses of men and equipment ensured that almost any firearm, effectual or not, was pressed into service. Consequently, the sheer variety of weaponry carried reflected the mounted soldiers' various roles in different theatres of operation, but also the availability -- or otherwise -- of weapons, notably on the Confederate side. Fully illustrated, this study assesses the effectiveness of the many different weapons arming the Civil War cavalryman and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the decisions made after 1865 concerning the armament of the US cavalry.

Author: James C. Hazlett
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252072109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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This is a detailed survey, replete with photographs and diagrams, of the field artillery used by both sides in the Civil War. In paperback for the first time, the book provides technical descriptions of the artillery (bore, weight, range, etc.), ordnance purchases, and inspection reports. Appendixes provide information on surviving artillery pieces and their current locations in museums and national parks.

Author: Martin Pegler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472815920
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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At the outset of the American Civil War, the Union Army's sharpshooters were initially equipped with the M1855 Colt revolving rifle, but it was prone to malfunction. Instead, the North's sharpshooters preferred the Sharps rifle, an innovative breech-loading weapon capable of firing up to ten shots per minute – more than three times the rate of fire offered by the standard-issue Springfield .58-caliber rifled musket. Other Union sharpshooters were equipped with the standard-issue Springfield rifled musket or the .56-56-caliber Spencer Repeating Rifle. Conversely, the Confederacy favoured the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket for its sharpshooters and also imported from Britain the Whitworth Rifle, a .45-caliber, single-shot, muzzle-loading weapon distinguished by its use of a twisted hexagonal barrel. Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this is the engrossing story of the innovative rifles that saw combat in the hands of sharpshooters on both sides during the Civil War.

Author: Guy R. Hasegawa
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809334313
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Most studies of modern chemical warfare begin with World War I and the widespread use of poison gas by both sides in the conflict. However, as Guy R. Hasegawa reveals in this fascinating study, numerous chemical agents were proposed during the Civil War era. As combat commenced, Hasegawa shows, a few forward-thinking chemists recognized the advantages of weaponizing the noxious, sometimes deadly aspects of certain chemical concoctions. They and numerous ordinary citizens proposed a host of chemical weapons, from liquid chlorine in artillery shells to cayenne pepper solution sprayed from fire engines. In chilling detail, Hasegawa describes the potential weapons, the people behind the concepts, and the evolution of some chemical weapon concepts into armaments employed in future wars. As he explains, bureaucrats in the war departments of both armies either delayed or rejected outright most of these unusual weapons, viewing them as unneeded or unworkable. Nevertheless, many of the proposed armaments presaged the widespread use of chemical weapons in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Especially timely with today’s increased chemical threats from terrorists and the alleged use of chemical agents in the Syrian Civil War, Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons and the American Civil War expands the history of chemical warfare and exposes a disturbing new facet of the Civil War. In chilling detail, Hasegawa describes the weapons proposed and prepared for use during the war and introduces the people behind the concepts. Although many of the ideas for chemical weapons had a historical precedent, most of the suggested agents were used in industry or medicine, and their toxicity was common knowledge. Proponents, including a surprisingly high number of civilian physicians, suggested a wide variety of potential chemical weapons—from liquid chlorine in artillery shells to cayenne pepper solution sprayed from fire engines. Some weapons advocates expressed ethical qualms, while others were silent on the matter or justified their suggestions as necessary under current circumstances. As Hasegawa explains, bureaucrats in the war departments of both armies either delayed or rejected outright most of these unusual weapons, viewing them as unneeded or unworkable. Nevertheless, many of the proposed armaments presaged the widespread use of chemical weapons in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. For example, while Civil War munitions technology was not advanced enough to deliver poison gas in artillery shells as some advocates suggested, the same idea saw extensive use during World War I. Similarly, forms of an ancient incendiary weapon, Greek fire, were used sparingly during the Civil War and appeared in later conflicts as napalm bombs and flamethrowers. Especially timely with today’s increased chemical threats from terrorists and the alleged use of chemical agents in the Syrian Civil War, Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons and the American Civil War reveals the seldom-explored chemical side of Civil War armaments and illuminates an underappreciated stage in the origins of modern chemical warfare.

Author: Harry Turtledove
Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 0307792358
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 577

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"It is absolutely unique--without question the most fascinating Civil War novel I have ever read." Professor James M. McPherson Pultizer Prize-winning BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM January 1864--General Robert E. Lee faces defeat. The Army of Northern Virginia is ragged and ill-equpped. Gettysburg has broken the back of the Confederacy and decimated its manpower. Then, Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle: Its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking--and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantitites to the Confederates. The name of the weapon is the AK-47.... Selected by the Science Fiction Book Club A Main Selection of the Military Book Club

Author: William Bennett Edwards
Publisher: Book Sales
ISBN: 9780890095843
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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A detailed, photographically illustrated examination of the production and use of firearms in the North and the South during the years of the Civil War

Author: Robert S. Seigler
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1611177936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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A thoroughly researched account of weapons innovation and industrialization in South Carolina during the Civil War and the man who made it happen. A year after seceding from the Union, South Carolina and the Confederate States government faced the daunting challenge of equipping soldiers with weapons, ammunition, and other military implements during the American Civil War. In The Best Gun in the World, Robert S. Seigler explains how South Carolina created its own armory and then enlisted the help of a weapons technology inventor to meet the demand. Seigler mined state and federal factory records, national and state archives, and US patents for detailed information on weapons production, the salaries and status of free and enslaved employees, and other financial records to reveal an interesting, distinctive story of technological innovation and industrialization in South Carolina. George Woodward Morse, originally from New Hampshire, was a machinist and firearms innovator, who settled in Louisiana in the 1840s. He invented a reliable breechloading firearm in the mid-1850s to replace muzzleloaders that were ubiquitous throughout the world. Essential to the successful operation of any breechloader was its ammunition, and Morse perfected the first metallic, center-fire, pre-primed cartridge, his most notable contribution to the development of modern firearms. The US War Department tested Morse rifles and cartridges prior to the beginning of the Civil War and contracted with the inventor to produce the weapons at Harpers Ferry Armory. However, when the war began, Morse, a slave-holding plantation owner, determined that he could sell more of his guns in the South. The South Carolina State Military Works originally designed to cast cannon, produced Morse’s carbine and modified muskets, brass cartridges, cartridge boxes, and other military accoutrements. The armory ultimately produced only about 1,350 Morse firearms. For the next twenty years, Morse sought to regain his legacy as the inventor of the center-fire brass cartridges that are today standard ammunition for military and sporting firearms. “Does justice to one of the greatest stories in American firearms history. If George Woodward Morse had not sided with the Confederacy, his name might be as famous today as Colt or Winchester.” —Gordon L. Jones, Atlanta History Center “Excellent and well-researched.” —Patrick McCawley, South Carolina Department of Archives and History “For connoisseurs and scholars of military history (especially Civil War), history of technology, or Southern/South Carolina history, this is a must-read and reference volume pertaining to a previously little-known aspect of the nineteenth century that had a far-reaching impact in the manner wars would be fought by soldiers decades later.” —Barry L. Stiefel, College of Charleston