No war can be won by any army without good ammunition. In the American Civil War, the story was not too different. Warring South and North factions soon realized how good quality firepower was so important to winning the war. During the course of this war, a lot of advancements in weaponry came through and one of them was in the rifles domain.
Before the civil war, rather outdated rifles were used. These rifles were primarily used for firing round, iron balls at enemies. But as things panned out, the evolution of the Springfield 1861 model and the Enfield model proved too much for the enemies!
Talk of Springfield 1861, this is a rifle that needs some explanation, as it went on to become one of the favorite guns of the North armies.
Springfield 1861 – The gun that changed the face of the war
Very early into the war, it was clear that the South Army had only one objective – To stretch the war as far and as long as possible. They had a lot of guts and steely resolve, and led by the legendary Robert Lee, they were clearly determined to launch surprise attacks on the North armies, which clearly was the mode of operation for the rebelling army. Guns and rifles used earlier could not do justice to the thought, which led to the inception of Springfield 1861, a gun that went on to change the face of the war, and possibly, its outcome as well.
Soon enough, soldiers took a liking to the muzzle-loading feature and the flat projectile features of this rifle. This rifle went on to become the first rifle through which the 0.58 Caliber Minie ball could be shot.
Confederate Forces on their part to be fully equipped with the latest weapons started importing the weapons from the British Government. For a long time, Civil War Rifles and their numbers were evenly matched on both the sides, until the British Government stopped importing Civil War Rifles to the Confederate forces.
For more information visit www.armorvenue-ww2weapons.blogspot.com
Before the civil war, rather outdated rifles were used. These rifles were primarily used for firing round, iron balls at enemies. But as things panned out, the evolution of the Springfield 1861 model and the Enfield model proved too much for the enemies!
Talk of Springfield 1861, this is a rifle that needs some explanation, as it went on to become one of the favorite guns of the North armies.
Springfield 1861 – The gun that changed the face of the war
Very early into the war, it was clear that the South Army had only one objective – To stretch the war as far and as long as possible. They had a lot of guts and steely resolve, and led by the legendary Robert Lee, they were clearly determined to launch surprise attacks on the North armies, which clearly was the mode of operation for the rebelling army. Guns and rifles used earlier could not do justice to the thought, which led to the inception of Springfield 1861, a gun that went on to change the face of the war, and possibly, its outcome as well.
Soon enough, soldiers took a liking to the muzzle-loading feature and the flat projectile features of this rifle. This rifle went on to become the first rifle through which the 0.58 Caliber Minie ball could be shot.
Confederate Forces on their part to be fully equipped with the latest weapons started importing the weapons from the British Government. For a long time, Civil War Rifles and their numbers were evenly matched on both the sides, until the British Government stopped importing Civil War Rifles to the Confederate forces.
For more information visit www.armorvenue-ww2weapons.blogspot.com
2 comments:
Roman Shields
Shields are the oldest form of protection used to guard the warrior against the attacks by hand weapons such as swords,axes,maces etc. They were made either of iron or of wood. Adroitly crafted in rectangular, round & other shapes and featuring different multicolored symbolic pictures, our range of shield includes Viking shield, roman legionary shield, roman wooden shield, oval roman shield, republican scutum, roman legionnaire's battle shield, roman legionary scutum, republican oval scutum, ancient roman shield , roman soldier shield, roman legion shield, roman army shield, roman legionary shield, roman battle shield, roman cavalry shield, medieval knight shield and many more.
The testudo (literally tortoise) is one of the best known tactics of the Roman army. It was usually used to approach fortifications, and was first mentioned by Polybius, writing in the second century BCE. Basically it involved a number of men in a carefully planned formation, each with his shield facing outward so as to protect the whole from missiles etc. The number of men that made up one of these varied, but it required considerable training and rehearsal to perfect. Once formed it was all but invulnerable to missiles, though Josephus tells of how the defenders of Jotapata broke one by pouring boiling fat onto it.
This model is basically a lump with shields carved on all sides. The shields are perfectly tightly formed, with no gaps anywhere, though in fact the overhead shields should be overlapping. This testudo is stationary, yet the shield arrangement is perhaps a little too perfect for a group of men under fire, but it does mean there is no need to sculpt any part of the actual men themselves. This would be OK except that it has been taken too far. The testudo had shields to the front, sides and top to protect the men as they moved forward, but this model also has shields along the back (indeed there is no sense of which is the front and which the back here). This would have been quite pointless as the back was facing the rest of the Roman army. More seriously it would not have been possible as it would require four extra men to hold these shields, which would have enlarged the whole body such that the shields would not have covered everyone. Also, the means by which such 'rear gunners' would have been able to move forward while holding their shield behind them would have at best been very awkward and probably impossible. Of course, MIR have done this as the alternative would have been a very complex piece of sculpting to show all the men under the shields - simply not possible in one piece, even in resin and with a flexible mould like this.
This is a very cheap and easy way to place twenty odd Roman troops on a battlefield, and will no doubt be popular with wargamers in particular. The rear shields are not accurate, but this was probably a design decision that was forced on the manufacturer by the practicalities of the project. Other than that this is an interesting piece that should prove very useful.
good artical
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