Small Arms at Gettysburg: Infantry and Cavalry Weapons in America's Greatest Battle

Small Arms at Gettysburg: Infantry and Cavalry Weapons in America's Greatest Battle covers all of the individual soldier's weapons--muskets, rifle-muskets, carbines, repeaters, sharpshooter arms, revolvers, and swords--providing a detailed examination of their history and development, technology, capabilities, and use on the field at Gettysburg. Here we learn that the smoothbore musket, although beloved by some who carried it, sang its swan song, the rifle-musket began to come into its own, and the repeating rifle, although tactically mishandled, gave a glimpse of future promise. This is the story of the weapons and men who carried them into battle during three days in July 1863.

---

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

small arms at Gettysburg, 2010-03-06

The book was good, as far as the technical things were addressed. But i was looking for more of the day to day dealings with keeping their weapons clean,and what little tricks the solders might have had to keeping the water out. Also,the minie ball would have a tendency to want to slide back out of the barrel, if the rifle was pointed down and the barrel was clean. So, how did the solders deal with that? Im sure it came up from time to time. They were not shooting up hill all the time.Thats about it in a nut shell.

sicerely yours
Bill McClintock



1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent book on the small arms used in the Civil War, 2010-02-21
This book was recommended to me by the American Rifleman (one of the magazines for NRA members), and I'm glad that they recommended it. This is an excellent book that covers all the small arms used during the battle of Gettysburg and some that weren't. It does expect an understanding of the battle prior to the reader picking it up so I recommend that you read the Gettysburg book by Sears, Trudeau or Coddington first. Of course, if you have read any book that covers the whole battle, then you will be prepared for this.

The book covers all the small arms, each in its own chapter. First, the cavalry carbines are covered, then the rifled-muskets are covered, then the smoothbores, the repeating rifles, the sharpshooters and then it ends with pistols and sabers. The book provides the history of the development of the weapon and then some examples of its use at the battle of Gettysburg, and if not used there, its use in other Civil War (or even other military) actions.
All the major weapons, and not so major, are covered, the Sharps carbine, the Enfield and Springfield rifle-musket, the Spencer rifle, the Sharps rifle, and the Colts pistol and rifle.

Here are some interesting anecdotes that I picked up to whet your appetite.
1. The cavalry at Gettysburg used numerous different carbines, the Sharps, the Merrill, the Burnside, the Gallager, and even a rifle, the Spencer. It must have been a challenge to keep all of these different carbines supplied since they each used different bullets.
2. There were three major rifle-muskets used during the battle - the Springfield was the most used, and then the Enfield and an Austrian Lorenz in a number of different calibers.
3. Smoothbore muskets up to 100 yards, using buck and ball, where actually more deadly than rifle-muskets and much of the fighting was done at that distance. Consequently, a number of regiments used smoothbores although they stopped using them shortly after Gettysburg.
4. There were many different units that used the Sharps rifle, for its skirmishing companies, since this was a very accurate and quick firing rifle.
There were more interesting anecdotes.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Civil War.


0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Less than expected., 2010-02-15
Based on the reviews and the write-up I'd expected a book with detail on the design of the small arms used and their operational deployment. This book is something different. After reading the 1st chapter I sent it back.


4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

An excellent book for the advancing student of Gettysburg, 2008-07-14
This book is well-written, informative, and a real treasure for those with a serious (i.e., have already read five-plus books on the topic) interest in the American Civil War. Ignorant of firearms and their development, I found
the author's detailed treatment of the topic to be both appropriate and highly useful.

His treatment of cavalry action on the first and third days is especially
well done, and his considered conclusions regarding the development and use of weaponry are insightful.

This one stays in my library - as soon as I get it back from my brother-in-law, who owns a gun shop...


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Good Study of an Unusual Topic, 2008-07-07
Joseph Bilby, author of an excellent work on the development of repeating rifles, has provided another fine monograph on Civil War weaponry. This time he discusses the weapons used at our nation's largest battle. Bilby manages to make rather technical issues surprisingly interesting and understandable to the non-technical reader. In addition to discussing the weapons themselves, he illustrates their uses in battle. His section on sharpshooters is outstanding and worth the price of the book itself. While not a book for the beginner in Civil War history, this is a very readable work that will not fail to inform any reader.

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.