Artillery generally falls into three basic categories; guns, howitzers and mortars. The main difference between them being the trajectory of the round fire. A gun has a high muzzle velocity and a very flat trajectory. Normally a gun is used in a direct fire mode where the target can be seen and penetration is desirable. Good targets for a gun would be things like brick or earth forts, ships, buildings, and targets in tree lines.

Howitzers have a somewhat lo

Mortars have a very pronounced arc of flight. They have a relatively low muzzle velocity and are unsuitable for direct fire. Their principle value comes from being able to lob shells behind an obstacle such as a fort or a hill. Unlike modern mortars, those used during the Civil War were bulky devises and mounted at a fixed angle usually between 45 and 50 degrees. They were not very accurate and depended solely upon the amount of propelling powder to determine their point of impact.

Dr. Richard J. Gatling, a North Carolina farm boy, patented a six-barrel machine gun on November 4, 1862. He later adapted it to use steel-jacketed cartridges. The rate of fire for the gun was 250-300 rounds per minute. General Ben Butler ordered twelve Gatling guns for the Union. Gatling, however, was a "copperhead", a Northerner who sympathized with the Confederacy. His reputation did not help sell the gun to the Union, especially since he was thought to sell some to the Rebels. The Union had chances to get the Gatling gun but did not take advantage of it. In 1862, Governor Morton of Indiana saw the gun being tested and wrote to the Secretary of War suggesting that the gun be officially used by the North, but nothing was done. Later, the Navy adopted the gun in 1862 and so did the Army but not until 1866.

wer muzzle velocity and arc their shells onto a target. They are used in both a direct fire and indirect fire mode. Keep in mind with the limited range of the pieces available during the Civil War there was no indirect fire such as we know it today. Targets were generally always within the line of sight of the artillery men. This is especially useful when an enemy is concealed behind a prepared position or the artillery men desire to have a shell explode over an enemy's head. The air-burst does less damage to hardened targets such as masonry walls, and redoubts, but causes many more human casualties due to the shrapnel covering a large area.

During the early 1800's most guns were muzzle loaders. In 1948, Christian Sharps invented a rifle that loaded from the breech, or back end, of the barrel. He was, however, not the first to create rifles that loaded in this manner. In his rifle the breech block moved down when the trigger guard was moved down. A paper or linen cartridge with powder and bullet was placed into the receiver. The bullets used were .54 caliber. Then the breech block was moved back up it tore off the paper exposing the powder and fired using a percussion cap. During the Civil War

Some common words found in the essay are:
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