Blogging Through the Alphabet: G is for Gunsmiths and the American Civil War

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It goes without saying that gunsmiths played an important role during the American Civil War. From names we know, like Samuel Colt and Eliphalet Remington to Christian Sharps, Christopher Spencer, and Benjamin Henry, there were several influential men in the gunsmith industry who helped modernize weapons and impacted the way the American Civil War was fought.

Revolver 

Samuel Colt (Jul 19, 1814- January 10, 1862) perfected the first pistol of its kind while in his 20s. Colt received his first patent in 1835 and started the Patent Arms Company in Patterson, New Jersey. He would later set up a factory in Hartford, Connecticut, where he introduced interchangeable parts and assembly lines to help with production. After additional improvements were made to the design, his sales increased during the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War. Improvements would continue to be made, and the Colt revolver would be a popular choice during the Civil War. In fact, the Union Army purchased 130,000 Colt Revolvers and individual soldiers purchased 70,000.

Rifles 

Christian Sharps (January 2, 1810-March 12, 1874) designed the Sharps .54-caliber rifle, which was a single-shot breech loader. He was issued a patent on September 12, 1848, for what would eventually become the first commercially successful breech-loading rifle. It could fire 8 to 10 rounds per minute. The Sharps carbine, shorter and lighter than the standard rifles, would be a favorite among the cavalry of the Union Army.

Another man from Connecticut, Christopher Spencer (June 20, 1833 – January 14, 1922), would also impact the American Civil War with his gunsmithing.  Spencer, who had 42 patents during his lifetime, would design a gun with a self-priming metallic cartridge in 1860. The Spencer repeating rifle was the first military breech-loading repeating rifle. The ammunition was loaded in a chamber at the rear of the gun barrel instead of the muzzle. The Spencer rifle became the standard arm of the Union Cavalry in the later stages of the American Civil War. This partly came about because Spencer personally demonstrated his rifle in a shooting match on the White House lawn to Abraham Lincoln.

Benjamin Henry (March 22, 1821-June 8, 1898), who worked for the Oliver Winchester Company in Connecticut, designed the .44-caliber Henry rifle. The Henry rifle's magazine held 15 bullets and was produced for army use starting in mid-1861. The Henry rifle was the first reliable lever-action repeating rifle.

Machine Guns 

In 1862, Dr. Richard Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903) patented the first hand-cranked weapon known as the Gatling gun. It had six barrels that would rotate around a central axis. The Gatling gun could fire 175 rounds per minute. It would be the first successful machine gun. Even though Gatling was born and raised in North Carolina, he would be a supporter of the Union, but that did not mean that his gun would only be used by the Union Army. Union General Benjamin Butler was the only Union general to purchase any Gatling guns, and they were only used once during the American Civil War.

The quote is different depending upon where you read it, but Gatling wrote regarding his thought in designing the Gatling gun, "It occurred to me if I could invent a machine – a gun – which would by its rapidity of fire enable one man to do as much battle as a hundred, then the number of men exposed to danger would be diminished." Personally, I understand the dream behind his thoughts, but the practicality is unfathomable. As we know having machine guns in war does not mean fewer men are put in the way of danger, but in reality, more men. We just have to look at the deaths in World War I as men went over the top (in trench warfare) to meet their death at the hands of one soldier operating a machine gun.

There were so many firsts in the world of gunsmithing prior to and during the American Civil War. Each gunsmith set forth to improve upon the design of guns for multiple reasons. Some even wanted to improve upon the design so that there would be less death and danger on the battlefield, like Gatling.  It's interesting to note most of the advancements took place in the North, but then again, it makes sense, considering the North was home to more of the factories than the South.