Example research essay topic: Hand To Hand Combat Played A Major - 1,446 words

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The Revolutionary War and the Civil War may seem very different at first glance due to their differences in time. But actually they were very similar in many ways. One way in which they were so similar is in the weapons they used. Many of the weapons used in the Civil War were either the same or based off of the weapons from the American Revolution. One very important similarity is the use of black gun powder. Black gun powder was the primary source of firing power in both the American Revolution and also the Civil war.

It was used to fire all of the artillery and all of the calvert. But a very big problem with black gun powder was that it fouled very fast. This was a major issue because it ment that they could not hold on to it for very long or it would go bad. So they would have to be prepared for those long trips and battles. Black gun powder was also very messy and would get all over the soldiers and there equipment.

This kept it very hard for them to stay clean and also sanitary which brought on a lot of disease. Black gun powder played a major role in both wars. The use of black gun powder made the weapons used very similar. Cannons and Howitzers (shorter- barreled cannons with a chamber) were very important weapons in both wars. Cannons were very important to the armies because of there ability to shoot long distances. This made it possible for the armies to have less hand to hand combat.

Cannons from both wars were also made from the same materials. Iron and bronze were the most common materials used. Even though cannons were very important in the wars they were also very scarce. The cannons were very heavy and took many horses to move them from battle to battle. This would slow down the troops.

So they did not have many cannons if any at all. Howitzers were used mainly by the navy because of there short barrels and chamber at the base of the gun. They also were able to put more arc on there trajectory of the projectile. This was good for attacking other vessels. The use of cannons was important in both wars, but not as important as swords were. Swords were very popular in both wars.

Swords were used for fighting and also to show your rank. On the handle of the sword there would be a hand guard. This guard would have determined some ones rank. It would have had a certain number of bars coming down to show your rank the more there were the higher rank you were. Since there was a lot of hand to hand combat swords were very important. Many soldiers killed from the blade and were killed by the blade.

The sword also lead to some new uses of blades. Like to the ram rod on the end of Muskets and Rifles both had a sword type attachment called a ram rod. This was used for hand to hand combat. And due to the numerous amount of hand to hand combat the ram rod was very important to the soldiers. The ram rod was designed to fit on the muzzle of the gun and act as a sword in hand to hand combat.

The ram rod was carried on the soldiers belt until the officer would tell them to attack and then it would be placed on the end of the gun. The ram rod developed with time but stayed primly the same only changing to fit the called of the guns. While the musket went through some very important and drastic The rifle and musket may seem very similar at first glance but they are actually very different upon closer inspection. The musket is a very primitive type of gun compared to the rifle. The musket that was used in the revolutionary war had a very simple design compared to that of the rifle during the Civil War. There were two types of muskets used in the revolution the English brown bess and the scharlvel French.

The English brown bess got its name from the color of the barrel. The soldiers would sand it to build up a small coat of rust to prevent any further rust. Another difference was how it was held together. The scarlet was held together by metal bands while the bess was held together by pins. This may seem like a small difference but played a major part in the stability of the gun. The scharlvel was much more durable technique which made it used in later molds.

But both used the same hammer lock firing system. The one major difference between the musket and the rifle was the riffling in the rifle. The practice of cutting spiral grooves into a barrel to spin the projectile, giving it stability flight, which greatly increased the accuracy. When used by a marksman familiar with the weapon, a rifle could be deadly at the unheard of range of 300 yards- 3 times the effective range of a musket. The called (diameter of the barrel) also was different in the rifle and the musket. The rifles called was much smaller.

Most muskets were 75 called and rifles were 58. Smaller calber's made the guns weigh much less. This made it easier for the soldiers to carry them. This played a very important part in how far they could march since their equipment weighed much less and didnt make them as tired. Another difference was in the Because of the riffling in the gun there was a difference in the bullets used. The musket used a lead ball.

This was very inaccurate, it would shoot out of the gun in any direction. On the other hand the rifle used a cylinder shape with a point on the end. The riffling in the gun would put a spin on the bullet. The spin imparted to the projectile by forcing it into spiral grooves in the bore of the gun made it fly straighter, farther, and with more power on impact. The ability to have a farther more accurate shot with much more power made it possible to kill more soldiers, and it did. Another major difference in the guns was the firing system.

The firing system was a big difference in the rifle and the musket. The musket took a long time to load and fire. It had a hammer lock firing system. This ment that the soldiers would have to load the musket with new gun powder and flint every time. They would drop the bullet down the barrel with gun powder and pound it down. Then they would put the flint in the hammer lock.

Now when they where to pull the trigger it would send a spark through a small hole and send out the bullet. The rifle had a little more technology to it. It had a percussion type firing system. This was a lot easier and faster to load. Instead of putting new gun powder in every time there was a roll of compressed gun powder like in a cap gun. There also was a top hat shaped piece that was installed on a nipple to create the spark.

Fulminate mercury was also used to fire the guns in the Civil War. This made loading the gun much faster. The faster the loading and firing ment more fire power. This ment possibility for more deaths. Faster firing was very important. Pistols were short range guns but were also rapid fire.

The pistol was very popular in the Civil War and almost unheard of in the Revolution. This was due its firing power. The short range of the pistol made it very useless with only one shoot. But when they made it possible to have numerous shoots in a row with out reloading it was a very common weapon. The rapid fire made hand to hand combat very different. The use of pistols in the Civil war accounted for many The Civil War and the Revolution were both very great wars.

That used very similar weapons with only small differences from the advances in technology. But these small differences are what made the wars different. The ability to have more power and more accurate guns made it possible for more deaths. The major differences in the wars was the technology. In the Civil War they were fighting a 19 th century war in a 18 th century style with 19 century technology which was the cause for the numerous amounts of deaths. Bibliography:

Research essay sample on Hand To Hand Combat Played A Major