THE FALL OF ATLANTA 2 SEPTEMBER 1864 – PART THREE Meanwhile in the West the Union forces were slowly establishing control over the Mississippi river and blocking Southern railways, leading to the capture of New Orleans in April 1862. At sea the US Navy was blockading Southern ports and while blockade runners did succeed in bringing in some Enfield rifles bought from Britain, very soon the Confederacy was forced to make its own weapons, mainly in the Tredegar iron works in Richmond. The North too imported Enfield rifles as well as manufacturing its own Springfield. It was these weapons that were one of the causes of the very heavy casualties suffered by both sides. Initially most infantry units were armed with smooth bore muskets, many of them flintlocks adapted to take percussion caps. The smooth bore musket was inherently inaccurate and fired a lead ball at low velocity effective up to about 100 yards. Assuming it hit the target (only certain if fired in mass volleys) and provided it did not hit a vital organ, it would stop a man but not necessarily kill him. As long as the medical officers could extract the ball and any detritus driven in by it before gangrene could set in, or in the worst case amputate an arm or a leg, then the man would probably recover given time. The rifle, whether Enfield or Springfield, fired a minié bullet to a far greater range with much more accuracy and at a higher velocity than the musket (1400 feet per second compared to the 1000 fps). The rifle was thus a much more deadly weapon than its predecessor, and tactics developed for the smooth bore musket, that is advancing in close order and firing in volley, were completely unsuited to fighting with the rifle, and so butchers’ bills were much higher until eventually tactics were adapted to cater for the new weapon.
THE FALL OF ATLANTA 2 SEPTEMBER 1864 - PART THREE
THE FALL OF ATLANTA 2 SEPTEMBER 1864 - PART…
THE FALL OF ATLANTA 2 SEPTEMBER 1864 - PART THREE
THE FALL OF ATLANTA 2 SEPTEMBER 1864 – PART THREE Meanwhile in the West the Union forces were slowly establishing control over the Mississippi river and blocking Southern railways, leading to the capture of New Orleans in April 1862. At sea the US Navy was blockading Southern ports and while blockade runners did succeed in bringing in some Enfield rifles bought from Britain, very soon the Confederacy was forced to make its own weapons, mainly in the Tredegar iron works in Richmond. The North too imported Enfield rifles as well as manufacturing its own Springfield. It was these weapons that were one of the causes of the very heavy casualties suffered by both sides. Initially most infantry units were armed with smooth bore muskets, many of them flintlocks adapted to take percussion caps. The smooth bore musket was inherently inaccurate and fired a lead ball at low velocity effective up to about 100 yards. Assuming it hit the target (only certain if fired in mass volleys) and provided it did not hit a vital organ, it would stop a man but not necessarily kill him. As long as the medical officers could extract the ball and any detritus driven in by it before gangrene could set in, or in the worst case amputate an arm or a leg, then the man would probably recover given time. The rifle, whether Enfield or Springfield, fired a minié bullet to a far greater range with much more accuracy and at a higher velocity than the musket (1400 feet per second compared to the 1000 fps). The rifle was thus a much more deadly weapon than its predecessor, and tactics developed for the smooth bore musket, that is advancing in close order and firing in volley, were completely unsuited to fighting with the rifle, and so butchers’ bills were much higher until eventually tactics were adapted to cater for the new weapon.