![battlefield 1 cavalry sword battlefield 1 cavalry sword](https://www.eviltailors.com/73636-thickbox_default_2x/light-cavalry-sabre-pattern-1796-with-steel-scabbard.jpg)
Even with advancements in firing mechanisms, the average soldier was still confined to shooting two to three rounds per minute in often strict formation. Cavalry carbines were simply short rifles designed to be used on horseback. Short rifles and cavalry carbines are very close to the same gun and were used by close-quarters fighters where a long barrel was inefficient. Each type was built for a specific purpose and was meant to be used by a specific person. Five types of rifles were developed for the war: rifles, short rifles, repeating rifles, rifle muskets, and cavalry carbines.
![battlefield 1 cavalry sword battlefield 1 cavalry sword](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p-9S3WtK1NU/maxresdefault.jpg)
Rifles were the most common and most accurate of the small arms at the time. As the war progressed, so did weapons manufacturing and technology within the States. At the onset of the Civil War, both sides were forced to purchase large numbers of ineffective weapons from Europe so they could at least put a gun in a majority of their soldiers' hands. Accuracy was soon increased with the introduction of the French Minié ball bullet, with its cylindrical body, rounded tip, and hollow bottom, replacing the extremely inaccurate ball style bullet. The creation of percussion cap systems ushered in a new wave of rifles and revolvers with increased rates of fire. Old flintlock style rifles and pistols ensured that a soldier could only fire once every minute or so. Interestingly, at the beginning of the war when more sophisticated weapons were not readily available, soldiers were sometimes equipped with medieval style lances and pikes which were quickly replaced as supplies grew.īladed weapons are useful, but they were no match for the state of the art small arms (revolvers and rifles) being developed at the time. However, even more knives were made in small scale blacksmith shops up and down the east coast. Many knives carried by soldiers were mass produced by armories such as the Confederate States Armory in Kenansville, North Carolina. Another popular and overlooked edged weapon of the era was the knife.
![battlefield 1 cavalry sword battlefield 1 cavalry sword](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GFPakdq0UZ8/maxresdefault.jpg)
The sword’s shape itself resembled that of an ancient Roman gladius. Artillerymen (operating large weapons such as canon) for example carried a short sword used mainly for swiping at charging cavalrymen. While cavalrymen (men on horseback) carried sabers, other ranks were known to have utilized different edged weapons. As a testament to the chivalrous beginnings of the war, when Union cavalrymen began sharpening the edges of their sabers, Confederates who had learned of it apparently protested, claiming that using sharpened sabers did not fit within the rules of modern warfare. Sabers themselves were used as thrusting weapons with the only sharp section being the tapered tip. The initial sabers were Dragoon style meaning they were heavy cavalry sabers which could be awkwardly weighted and extremely long, with some possessing blades up to a yard in length. A large part of the soldier ideal of the time included an edged weapon of some sort, usually a saber. The Civil War was initially romanticized by many young men. During the Civil War, North Carolina from Fort Fisher and Bentonville all the way to Bennett Place saw and experienced the impact of changing weapons technology. The changes in military tactics, however, were not confined to land: new steam powered ships and submarines challenged the age old conventions of masted naval warfare (sailing ships). Due to new artillery and small arms weapons, the phalanx style of fighting (troops staying and moving together in formation) familiar in the Revolutionary War and the early part of the Civil War gradually gave way to the trench style warfare common in WWI. War is a driving force behind innovation and invention, and every change or advancement in weapons technology impacts the tactics and the style of warfare utilized at the time.