What new weapons were used for the first time in the civil war?

Answer 1

A number of weapons were introduced during the Civil War.

Rifled artillery, invented during the 1840s, was developed to the point of being useful and first deployed to effect in the Civil War. Most, but not all, of these were muzzle loaded.

Breachloading rifles with brass cartridges were first used for warfare in the Civil War.

Repeating Rifles were also first introduced in the Civil War.

The Civil War was the first conflict in which revolvers loaded with brass cartridges were used.

Answer 2

There really were no new weapons at the time. New ideas came about, such as the LeMat revolver style leading to the Remington rifle. But in terms of new weapons, not much was

innovated.

Second response to improve the answer. Warfare was changed in the world by the weapons that evolved during the US Civil War.In one sense this war became a testing ground for modern arms. Here are a few examples:

1. As perhaps alluded to above, the breech loading rifle was used which was later to become standard in armies around the world. These rifles increased the range of the infantrymen and almost ended bayonet tactics and lessened the effectiveness of calvary charges;

2. The Gatling gun was the forerunner of the modern machine gun. It was the most important artillery innovation of the Civil War. It was invented by a physician, Dr. Richard Gatling. He displayed the gun in public in 1862 and it fired 350 shots per minute;

3. Ironclads were not new, but the revolving turret of the USS Monitor, was very new. It's design would be put in use in the future development of the tank. As part of an ironclad, it gave the captain the advantage on not requiring a maneuver to shoot its cannon at enemy ships;

4. The use of observation balloons in warfare came about and aided the Union's efforts at spotting where Confederate troops were stationed or where they were headed;

5. Submarine warfare was developed by the Confederacy. Although they were not effective, it was a leaping advance in underwater warships;

6. The Dahlgren Gun was important. American cannon design had been improving constantly over the first half of the 19th Century. The critical problem was that common cannons had the metal they were built with incorrectly distributed along the length of the barrel. US Army Lieutenant Dahlgren developed a formula for a cast iron design that made the cannons of the US Navy superior to any other navy. They played a role in new artillery for both sides in the war. The Dalgrens were the cannon used by the USS Monitor; and

7. The Parrot Gun was a refinement for the delivery of exploding shells.

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Answer 3

The US Civil War brought forth new weapons that were more sophisticated then the weapons used in previous wars. Forced to find ways to win the conflict, new weapons such as the Gatling Gun was introduced by the Union. Named after its inventor, this was the prototype of the machine gun.

New ironclad warships such as the USS Monitor, a unique single barrel canon mounted on a revolving turret was another new weapon.

The South, with fewer warships than the Union developed the first workable submarine. The Hunley was the first to successfully sink a enemy warship. The sinking also scuttled the Hunley, but never before were such weapons used.