The Destroying Angel: The Rifle-Musket as the First Modern Infantry Weapon PDF Download

Author: Brett Gibbons
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781719857277
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
On the battlefields of the Crimean War, William Howard Russell described the new weapon in the hands of British troops -- the rifle-musket -- as "the Destroying Angel" that swept away their Russian foes. In a response to the popular belief among current historians that the rifle-musket's impact on military history was very limited, Brett Gibbons argues that the rifle-musket was in fact the first modern infantry weapon. Drawing upon a wealth of previously unidentified primary sources, Gibbons examines the rifle-musket and it's role in not just the American Civil War, but also the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the Italian Wars of Unification. He compellingly demonstrates that the rifle-musket forever changed the way battles are fought, and just as importantly, revolutionized the way soldiers are trained. Gibbons considers a number of historical battles, from well-known actions like the "Thin Red Line" at the Battle of Balaclava to obscure yet ferocious actions during the Indian Rebellion, to illustrate the varying impact of the rifle-musket in both trained and untrained hands. Drawing upon his broad domain knowledge as an expert on 19th century arms and a U.S. Army Ordnance officer, Gibbons compellingly demonstrates that the rifle-musket deserves a better reputation than it currently has from military historians.

Author: Scott Hippensteel
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811769828
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In the spirit of Robert Adair’s cult classic The Physics of Baseball, here is a book that tackles the long-cherished myths of Civil War history—and ultimately shatters them, based on physics and mathematics. At what range was a Civil War sniper lethal? Did bullets ever “rain like hail”? Could one ever step across a battlefield by stepping only on bodies and never hard ground? How effective were Civil War muskets and rifles? How accurate are photographs and paintings? In this genre-bending work of history, Scott Hippensteel puts the tropes of Civil War history under the microscope and says, “Wait a minute!” Combining science and history, Hippensteel reexamines much that we hold dear about the Civil War and convincingly argues that memoirs and histories have gotten it wrong. This is a work of history and science for our era of “fake news”—and for well beyond. Readers will never look at the Civil War the same way again.

Author: Jason Jones
Publisher: L&V Publishing
ISBN: 0991852214
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
In My Hundred Guns, Jason Jones takes us on a highly personal journey through the world of firearms, concentrating on the classic era of military and civilian rifles, shotguns, and handguns. With his own rich collection as a touchstone (spoiler: it’s more like 150 guns), Jones explores the history and evolution of modern firearms, and the pleasures of owning, restoring, maintaining, and recreationally shooting them. Mauser, Lee-Enfield, Colt, Browning, Garand, Tokarev, Mannlicher, Schmidt-Rubin, Carcano, Savage, Glock, Kel-Tec … the major names and designs are touched on in this witty, well-informed, somewhat off-kilter pilgrimage. Jones also examines the guiding ideals of gun design and manufacture; the “Zen of firearms” and their maintenance; “gun guys & gals”; guns as pop-culture icons; and contemporary gun-control debates. Illustrated with over 100 images, My Hundred Guns features a wide range of resources, from books and quotes about firearms, to today’s online communities of gun aficionados. Links throughout take readers to online videos from “Lyudmila & Vasily’s Shooting Adventures,” wherein the author and his range companion, Sherry, shoot the classics for your viewing pleasure. My Hundred Guns is a unique, colorful, and entertaining account of the world of modern firearms, and one person’s (peaceful) obsession with them. Jason Jones is a writer, educator, and photographer based in western Canada.

Author: Peter Smithurst
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849088705
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
The Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle was the first rifled firearm issued to every soldier in the British Army, and gave the infantry a revolutionary increase in firepower. First issued in 1853, the Enfield proved itself worthy during both the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny, where its long range, durability, and interchangeable parts made it a perfect campaign rifle. However, it was during the American Civil War that the Enfield saw the greatest use, with over a million rifles being sold to the armies of both the North and South. This title takes an in-depth look at the design, the history, the mechanics, and the use of one of the most important firearms of the 19th century.

Author: Paul Lockhart
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 154167295X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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Book Description
How military technology has transformed the world The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era. Across this period, improvements in firepower shaped the evolving art of war. For centuries, weaponry had remained simple enough that any state could equip a respectable army. That all changed around 1870, when the cost of investing in increasingly complicated technology soon meant that only a handful of great powers could afford to manufacture advanced weaponry, while other countries fell behind. Going beyond the battlefield, Firepower ultimately reveals how changes in weapons technology reshaped human history.

Author: Eric Michael Burke
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807178756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Winner of the 2022 Civil War Books and Authors Book of the Year Award In Soldiers from Experience, Eric Michael Burke examines the tactical behavior and operational performance of Major General William T. Sherman’s Fifteenth US Army Corps during its first year fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Burke analyzes how specific experiences and patterns of meaning-making within the ranks led to the emergence of what he characterizes as a distinctive corps-level tactical culture. The concept—introduced here for the first time—consists of a collection of shared, historically derived ideas, beliefs, norms, and assumptions that play a decisive role in shaping a military command’s particular collective approach on and off the battlefield. Burke shows that while military historians of the Civil War frequently assert that generals somehow imparted their character upon the troops they led, Sherman’s corps reveals the opposite to be true. Contrary to long-held historiographical assumptions, he suggests the physical terrain itself played a much more influential role than rifled weapons in necessitating tactical changes. At the same time, Burke argues, soldiers’ battlefield traumas and regular interactions with southern civilians, the enslaved, and freedpeople during raids inspired them to embrace emancipation and the widespread destruction of Rebel property and resources. An awareness and understanding of this culture increasingly informed Sherman’s command during all three of his most notable late-war campaigns. Burke’s study serves as the first book-length examination of an army corps operating in the Western Theater during the conflict. It sheds new light on Civil War history more broadly by uncovering a direct link between the exigencies of nineteenth-century land warfare and the transformation of US wartime strategy from “conciliation,” which aimed to protect the property of Southern civilians, to “hard war.” Most significantly, Soldiers from Experience introduces a new theoretical construct of small unit–level tactical principles wholly absent from the rapidly growing interdisciplinary scholarship on the intricacies and influence of culture on military operations.

Author: Brett Gibbons
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket is one of the iconic weapons of the mid-19th century, used extensively in the American Civil War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and other conflicts. While the history of the Enfield rifle is well known, it was the ammunition developed for this rifle that was truly revolutionary. Brett Gibbons traces the history of the muzzleloading cartridge used in the Enfield rifle from the early development of the Minié bullet in France, to the dramatic yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt by the Confederate States to adopt the Enfield cartridge for the Southern armies in the American Civil War. The role of the Enfield "greased cartridge" in the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858 is carefully handled. Crossing several oceans and continents, from the sweltering heat of Central India in the summer of 1857 to the trenches of Petersburg in 1864, Brett Gibbons ties together the fascinating history of Enfield rifle-musket ammunition. Each development of the Enfield cartridge from 1853 to 1864 is covered, with over 60 helpful illustrations.

Author: Earl J. Hess
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700623833
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Civil War's single-shot, muzzle-loading musket revolutionized warfare-or so we've been told for years. Noted historian Earl J. Hess forcefully challenges that claim, offering a new, clear-eyed, and convincing assessment of the rifle musket's actual performance on the battlefield and its impact on the course of the Civil War. Many contemporaries were impressed with the new weapon's increased range of 500 yards, compared to the smoothbore musket's range of 100 yards, and assumed that the rifle was a major factor in prolonging the Civil War. Historians have also assumed that the weapon dramatically increased casualty rates, made decisive victories rare, and relegated cavalry and artillery to far lesser roles than they played in smoothbore battles. Hess presents a completely new assessment of the rifle musket, contending that its impact was much more limited than previously supposed and was confined primarily to marginal operations such as skirmishing and sniping. He argues further that its potential to alter battle line operations was virtually nullified by inadequate training, soldiers' preference for short-range firing, and the difficulty of seeing the enemy at a distance. He notes that bullets fired from the new musket followed a parabolic trajectory unlike those fired from smoothbores; at mid-range, those rifle balls flew well above the enemy, creating two killing zones between which troops could operate untouched. He also presents the most complete discussion to date of the development of skirmishing and sniping in the Civil War. Drawing upon the observations and reflections of the soldiers themselves, Hess offers the most compelling argument yet made regarding the actual use of the rifle musket and its influence on Civil War combat. Engagingly written and meticulously researched, his book will be of special interest to Civil War scholars, buffs, re-enactors, and gun enthusiasts alike.

Author: Thomas M. Arliskas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781577471226
Category : Military uniforms
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
A collection of notes from various sources describing what rebel soldiers really looked like during certain battles and in different locales.

Author: Paddy Griffith
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300084610
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
Military expert Paddy Griffith argues that despite the use of new weapons and of trench warfare techniques, the Civil War was in reality the last Napoleonic-style war. Illustrations.