Military Technology: Military technology advanced at a very rapid pace during the Civil War. Many new types of weapons were developed such as the repeating rifle. There were many other inventions used during battle that also changed the way ordinary people lived their lives. A very important invention was the rifle. The rifle could shoot at ranges past 300 yards. Before the war, rifles were much slower to reload because the ammunition was roughly the same size as the barrel. Muskets were generally preferred, because they were much easier to load, until a french officer named Claude Minié invented a smaller cone-shaped bullet. The new bullet was smaller and much easier to load and was called a Minié ball. Another technological advancement was the repeating rifle. The repeating rifle was a rifle that could shoot more than one bullet before needing to be reloaded. Repeating rifles were only available to the north and not the south. The south did not have factories or the knowledge to produce these kinds of rifles. This gave the Union an advantage over the Confederacy because they did not have to reload as often. All of these inventions and many other technological advancements such as the railroad, balloons, submarines, and the telegraph all advanced military technology.
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/civil-war-technology
http://www.infoblizzard.com/the-blog-smog/catholic-priest-arrested-for-pointing-musket-at-an-8-year-old-boy-over-football-rivalry
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/civil-war-technology
http://www.infoblizzard.com/the-blog-smog/catholic-priest-arrested-for-pointing-musket-at-an-8-year-old-boy-over-football-rivalry