Artillery

• The Union preferred using a cannon called the Napoleon because it was light, portable, and had an effective range of 1,700 yards.
  
  

Bayonets

• Bayonets are knives fixed onto the muzzle end of a rifle. They are used during an infantry charge and when soldiers are engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
  
  

Sabers

• Calvary officers carried a sword called a saber, in addition to pistols. When properly trained, the officer using a saber is deadly combatant.
  
  

Rifles

• Most Union soldiers carried one of two types of rifles into battle---a breechloader, which used a metal cartridge that was loaded from the rear and allowed faster firing, and a muzzleloader, which had to be loaded after each shot with powder and a lead ball separately through the muzzle.
  
  

Minie Ball

• The invention of the minie ball also occurred during the Civil War. The minie ball shot straighter and traveled farther than previous forms of ammunition because unlike earlier ammunition, the minie ball was grooved like the rifle barrel and had a conical tip.