all 1). The barrel of the Springfield musket sent this cone shaped bullet spinning when fired allowing for greater speed and accuracy (Sumrall 1). A normal soldier could easily hit a target from up to 250 yards away using this gun (Sumrall 1). In the Revolutionary War soldiers were considered safe at distances up to 150 yards away due to the great inaccuracies of the earlier muskets and musket ammunition (Sumrall 1). The Confederate Armies used something similar to the Springfield Rifle. Because the English government didn't want to side with any one side during the war, they sold their guns through private manufacturers (Sumrall 1). One British manufacturer in Enfield, England sold over 400,000 guns to each of the two sides (Sumrall 1). The Enfield rifles were very similar to Springfields in that they used a similar gun barrel design and also fired the minie ball as ammunition (Sumrall 1). These rifles were proven to be accurate up to 800 yards away (Sumrall 1).
             Another important military innovation of the time used in the war was the sniper rifle. Although primitive and not specifically designed for such a task, they were effective and did the job well. The Civil War was the first war in which such a rifle stood out. The most popular choice of Sniper rifles in the war the confederate Whitworth rifle created in Britain (Sumrall 1). It used a special hexagon bullet which was supposedly more accurate but not more significantly than others (Sumrall 1). The Whitworth rifle was by far the most accurate of the war (Sumrall 1). This rifle enabled soldiers to be able to hit targets from up to 1,800 yards away with decent accuracy (Sumrall 1). This was nearly unheard of until this point. In a rather ironic turn of events, a confederate soldier was responsible for the sharpshooting of Union general Sedgwick during the battle at Spotsylvania Court House just after he said to a frightened soldier that "Confederate sha...