Weapons, Tactics, and Strategy

Weapons, Tactics, and Strategy — page 1 — Introduction Civil War forms part of the Curriculum Connections series Each of the six volumes of the set covers a particular aspect of the conflict Home Front and the Economy Behind the Fighting Weapons Tactics and Strategy Politics Battles and Campaigns and People About this set Each volume in Civil War features illustrated chapters providing in-depth information about each subject The chapters are all listed in the contents pages of each book Each volume can be studied to provide a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the conflict However each chapter may also be studied independently Within each chapter there are two key aids to learning that are to be found in color sidebars located in the margins of each page Curriculum Context sidebars indicate to the reader that a subject has a particular relevance to certain key state and national history guidelines and curricula They highlight essential information or suggest useful ways for students to consider a subject or to include it in their studies Glossary sidebars define key words within the text At the end of the book a summary Glossary lists the key terms defined in the volume There is also a list of further print and Web-based resources and a full volume index Fully captioned illustrations play an important role throughout the set including photographs and explanatory maps 4 Weapons Tactics and Strategy

Weapons, Tactics, and Strategy — page 2 — About this book Weapons Tactics and Strategy explores the ways in which changes in technology affected the way in which the war was fought At the start of the war generals largely employed traditional tactics involving cavalry charges and close-quarter fighting By the conflict’s end the development of long-range rifles and entrenched defenses foreshadowed the slaughter in the trenches of World War I 1914 1918 In weapons rifles could fire farther and more accurately The machine gun was developed during the war but not widely used Artillery became more powerful and included siege guns designed to lob shells over defensive walls The submarine made its first appearance in conflict New battleships covered in iron armor marked a revolution in naval warfare wooden-hulled ships were instantly obsolete sparking a ship-building race among the leading maritime nations that would continue until World War I In terms of strategy control of railroads and rivers became essential for the rapid movement of troops and the supply of armies The North set out to break the Confederacy in two by cutting off communications between east and west It also aimed to strangle the Southern economy by blockading Confederate ports Confederate commanders meanwhile sought ways to invade the North and threaten Washington D C Introduction 5

Weapons, Tactics, and Strategy — page 3 — Artillery Two main types of artillery were used during the Civil War Highly mobile field artillery supported the troops on the battlefield More powerful heavy artillery was used from fixed positions to attack and defend fortifications and ports The Union and Confederate armies employed guns of several kinds as field or heavy artillery Smoothbore muzzleloaded cannons were the most common but there were rifled guns breechloading guns and mortars Some guns were highly specialized such as the Union’s 12-pounder 5 4-kg mountain gun which was only 33 inches 84 cm long and could be carried by mule The Napoleon The most versatile and widely used artillery piece was the Model 1857 12-pounder Napoleon named for the French Emperor Napoleon III When the Civil War broke out only five Napoleons were in use U S arsenals were still stocked with old Model 1841 6-pounders which the Confederates seized when they captured federal arsenals in 1861 The 6-pounder was their main field gun in the first year of the war but it lacked the range and power of the Napoleon By July 1862 the Tredegar Works in Richmond Virginia the main Confederate gun foundry was casting the 12-pounder The Napoleon was a muzzleloaded smoothbore with a bronze barrel 5 feet 6 inches 168 cm long It had a range of up to 1,600 yards 1,463 m and could fire four types of shot The Confederacy made more than 450 Napoleons compared with 1,127 produced in the Union Ammunition types Solid shot was used against large bodies of enemy troops at long range or to batter enemy fortifications A traditional cast iron cannonball weighing 12 pounds Muzzleloaded breechloading Muzzleloaded weapons were loaded through the end of the barrel breechloading took place through a gap near the back of the weapon Curriculum Context As in other areas of American culture artillery in the mid-19th century was based on European models Smoothbore Without rifled grooves on the inside of the barrel 6 Weapons Tactics and Strategy

Weapons, Tactics, and Strategy — page 4 — 5 4 kg it was the most accurate type of ammunition The shrapnel shell was used against troops in the open or in trenches Its accuracy depended on a timed fuse that started when the gun went off Another ammunition type the explosive shell also depended on a fuse This projectile was filled with about 8 ounces 225 g of black powder It was designed to penetrate and blow up fortifications and buildings Canister shot was used against attacking infantry and cavalry at close ranges of 350 yards 320 m or less Canister was a large tin can filled with 27 pieces of 1 inch 2 5-cm diameter iron shot As the gun was fired the can split apart releasing the shot and turning the artillery piece into a kind of giant shotgun At times of extreme danger artillerymen sometimes loaded their guns with double or even triple rounds of canister The most common method of firing artillery in the Civil War was by using a lanyard a special rope to pull and ignite a friction primer inserted into the rear vent hole of the gun The friction primer was a copper tube filled Curriculum Context Curricula might ask students to analyze the effect of different weapons on the battlefield Shot Small spherical pellets that are packed into canisters or shells Union artillery waiting to be transported in May 1863 including solid shot foreground coehorns and Parrott guns background Artillery 7

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