The success of the first armored ships instantly created a need for more of them. This machine at the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, helped to shape thick armor plates.

IRONCLAD PIONEER:

The Merrimac (also called the CSS Virginia depending on who you ask) fought the USS Monitor in the first naval battle between armored warships in March 1862....[More]

IRONCLAD PIONEER:

The Merrimac (also called the CSS Virginia depending on who you ask) fought the USS Monitor in the first naval battle between armored warships in March 1862. The image was drawn from descriptions of the ship, so there are some inaccuracies.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

"MERRIMAC PATENT":

Our editors back in 1862, rooting around in the U.S. Patent Office, found a patent from 1814 for a steam-driven armored ship that looks, by coincidence, like the Confederate ship Merrimac (CSS Virginia )....[More]

"MERRIMAC PATENT":

Our editors back in 1862, rooting around in the U.S. Patent Office, found a patent from 1814 for a steam-driven armored ship that looks, by coincidence, like the Confederate ship Merrimac (CSS Virginia).  [Less] [Link to this slide]

ARMORED WARSHIP:

The USS Monitor was small but powerful enough to battle the Merrimac (CSS Virginia ) to a draw during the first duel between iron warships, thereby conclusively proving the usefulness of armored naval ships....[More]

ARMORED WARSHIP:

The USS Monitor was small but powerful enough to battle the Merrimac (CSS Virginia) to a draw during the first duel between iron warships, thereby conclusively proving the usefulness of armored naval ships.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

DOUBLE MONITOR:

A supposed improvement over the USS Monitor . Four guns were to be mounted in a rotating inner turret, firing through loopholes in an outer turret that was fixed in place, which negates the purpose of a rotating turret to begin with....[More]

DOUBLE MONITOR:

A supposed improvement over the USS Monitor. Four guns were to be mounted in a rotating inner turret, firing through loopholes in an outer turret that was fixed in place, which negates the purpose of a rotating turret to begin with.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

ARMOR-PIERCING:

The success of the naval ironclad spurred countermeasures to defeat armor. This patent from August 1862 for a projectile has some of the hallmarks of today’s armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot, kinetic-energy, anti-tank rounds....[More]

ARMOR-PIERCING:

The success of the naval ironclad spurred countermeasures to defeat armor. This patent from August 1862 for a projectile has some of the hallmarks of today’s armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot, kinetic-energy, anti-tank rounds.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

PRACTICE BAYONET:

The bayonet was much favored in military theory. Yet by the time of the Civil War it was rarely of any use in battle. (Although teaching soldiers to “close with the bayonet” was—and is—thought to inculcate a martial spirit.) ...[More]

PRACTICE BAYONET:

The bayonet was much favored in military theory. Yet by the time of the Civil War it was rarely of any use in battle. (Although teaching soldiers to “close with the bayonet” was—and is—thought to inculcate a martial spirit.)  [Less] [Link to this slide]

UNDERWATER MINE:

A “torpedo” or “infernal machine.” The clawed arm on top is a trigger. Eight were planted by Confederate soldiers (or “secessionist desperadoes” as we called them back then) guarding Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, but all became waterlogged....[More]

UNDERWATER MINE:

A “torpedo” or “infernal machine.” The clawed arm on top is a trigger. Eight were planted by Confederate soldiers (or “secessionist desperadoes” as we called them back then) guarding Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, but all became waterlogged.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

DOUBLE GUN:

Charming illustration, useless design. It is, however, worth pointing out that the multi-barrel gatling-type cannons of today share the general idea that while one barrel fires, another loads....[More]

DOUBLE GUN:

Charming illustration, useless design. It is, however, worth pointing out that the multi-barrel gatling-type cannons of today share the general idea that while one barrel fires, another loads.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

BREECH-LOADING GUN:

Civil War artillery increasingly used guns loaded at the breech, firing conical shells through rifled barrels. Yet even the best designs (this wasn’t one of them) had manufacturing, maintenance and safety problems....[More]

BREECH-LOADING GUN:

Civil War artillery increasingly used guns loaded at the breech, firing conical shells through rifled barrels. Yet even the best designs (this wasn’t one of them) had manufacturing, maintenance and safety problems.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

SUN SHADES:

During the Civil War, shades called Havelocks were attached to hats and caps. This patented version folds up and away, and would have been considered just as useless as the regular version....[More]

SUN SHADES:

During the Civil War, shades called Havelocks were attached to hats and caps. This patented version folds up and away, and would have been considered just as useless as the regular version. (They were found to keep the heat in rather than out.)  [Less] [Link to this slide]

LOSS OF LIMBS:

War was dangerous, lack of medical progress was more dangerous. Many limbs were cut off by military surgeons to stem infection. Designs for artificial limbs were, sadly, plentiful during this era....[More]

LOSS OF LIMBS:

War was dangerous, lack of medical progress was more dangerous. Many limbs were cut off by military surgeons to stem infection. Designs for artificial limbs were, sadly, plentiful during this era.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

A patent tent for keeping cots and their sleeping soldiers off the damp ground. Unfortunately for this inventor, the Union army bought 44,000 tents covered by another patent (Sibley’s).

A moderately successful single-shot design often used by Union cavalry in the Civil War. The tapering cartridge (“Fig. 3”) was loaded base-first into the swiveling chamber.

SPENCER RIFLE:

200,000 of these repeating rifles were made during the Civil War. The copper cartridges (“Fig. 4”) are loaded through the stock. The conical bullet (as opposed to spherical) and high rate of fire made such rifles much more lethal than their predecessors....[More]

SPENCER RIFLE:

200,000 of these repeating rifles were made during the Civil War. The copper cartridges (“Fig. 4”) are loaded through the stock. The conical bullet (as opposed to spherical) and high rate of fire made such rifles much more lethal than their predecessors.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

THE COMFY SOLDIER:

No aspect of the Civil War was left untouched by the inventor's ingenuity. A good soldier deserves a rest after a hard day's carnage, and why not repose in this thoughtfully designed—and patented—folding camp chair?...[More]

THE COMFY SOLDIER:

No aspect of the Civil War was left untouched by the inventor's ingenuity. A good soldier deserves a rest after a hard day's carnage, and why not repose in this thoughtfully designed—and patented—folding camp chair?  [Less] [Link to this slide]