Weapons, Gear, and Uniforms of the Civil War

Equipped for Battle

by Eric Fein

Tools of warfare began to evolve during the U.S. Civil War. Rifles were more accurate. Cannons were more powerful. And the first submarines were tested in battle. Read all about the amazing weapons, special gear, and unique uniforms used by the Union and the Confederacy.

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title is filled with interesting tidbits about the Civil War with a focus on the weapons, gear, and uniforms of the Confederates and Yankees. After a brief introduction to the conflict and a map showing the states involved in the war, the book describes the tools of warfare, detailing the things the men carried and what they wore. There are even descriptions and photographs of mess kits and Civil War food. Looking at the light and heavy weapons used by both sides makes it easy to see how inferior some of the Southern weapons were and how close to their opponents the soldiers would have to be in order to fight effectively. The Gatling gun which could fire 200 rounds in a minute certainly looked like a frighteningly effective weapon. The book contains interesting information about little known aspects of war such as identity discs, created by jewelers to identify the soldiers who did not receive dogtags. Other men simply wrote their names on paper that they stuck in their pockes. Late elementary and middle grade readers will be intrigued by the interesting details about war provided in this book.

[Trey Stuthman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an excellent guide for all the different weapons, gears, and uniforms of the civil war. Each one of those sections had at least 3 or 4 different pages going into detail of what those different topics were. The book that I chose to pair with this nonfiction book was "The Last Brother" by Trinka Hakes Noble. This was an excellent pairing for the nonfiction book as it told a story of an 11-year-old boy who was required to go to battle during the civil war. Throughout the book, Gabe was the bugle blower who sounded the different orders made by the captain. During a battle scene, many of the gun types were mentioned that were listed in the nonfiction book. Not only were guns a key component, but the uniforms that were worn in this greatly illustrated book matched perfectly with the nonfiction book. This was an excellent pairing because simply reading the fiction book, you could get a lot of information out of it. But if you read the nonfiction book before you read the fiction, you will understand all the different reasons as to why they were fighting, where they were fighting, or what uniforms/weapons they used.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the items used by soldiers in the Civil War.

[Sue]

Fairly sad to see how badly-equipped they were.