Minié Balls and Rifles

When you think of modern warfare Vietnam or World War II probably pops into your head. If, on the other hand, you immediately think of Call of Duty, you might need to start cracking open those history books more often.

 

It might surprise you to know that the first modern war was the American Civil War. Officers on both sides were trained in outdated tactics  using muskets and bayonets. But, the traditional tactics of stand in a line and shoot were going to get a whole lot of people killed in the first battles of the Civil War. The Battle of First Bull Run (July 21, 1861) taught everyone some hard lessons.

 

The minié ball, first developed by French manufacturer Claude-Étienne Minié, (pronounced min YAY but Americans say minnie) changed the battlefield forever. Before this time muskets rather than rifles were the weapon of choice for most modern armies. But the musket was slow to load and didn’t have a great accuracy beyond 100 yards. The minié ball was designed to be smaller than the barrel which made it faster to load. The four grease filled grooves made it spin increasing its speed and range. The new minié balls could accurately kill a man 500 yards away with such force that would tear through flesh and shatter bone.

 

The minié ball made the Civil War was the main reason for the high casualty rates on the battlefield. The Civil War also gained notoriety for the large number of soldiers who had to have their limbs amputated. This is because when the soft lead minié ball, no bigger than the width of your little finger, expanded and flattened out as it left the barrel. When it made contact it didn’t just break the bone it completely shattered it leaving army surgeons little choice but to amputate.   The exact number is unknown but estimates put the number of amputees at around 60,000; or 10% of the total casualties.