| Why the Civil War Was So Lethal | Previous | Next |
| Digital History ID 3062 | ||
One reason why the Civil War was so lethal was the introductionof improved weaponry. Cone-shaped bullets replaced musket balls,and beginning in 1862, smooth-bore muskets were replaced withrifles with grooved barrels, which imparted spin on a bullet andallowed a soldier to hit a target a quarter of a mile away. Thenew weapons had appeared so suddenly that commanders did not immediatelyrealize that they needed to compensate for the increased rangeand accuracy of rifles.
The Civil War was the first war in which soldiers used repeatingrifles (which could fire several shots without reloading), breechloadingarms (which were loaded from behind the barrel instead of throughthe muzzle), and automated weapons like the Gatling gun. The CivilWar also marked the first use by Americans of shrapnel, boobytraps, and land mines.
Outdated strategy also contributed to the high number of casualties.Massive frontal assaults and massed formations resulted in largenumbers of deaths. In addition, far larger numbers of soldierswere involved in battles than in the past. In the Mexican War,no more than 15,000 soldiers opposed each other in a single battle,but some Civil War battles involved as many as 100,000 soldiers.
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