| At the beginning of the Civil War, firearms of all | | | | copies were produced. |
| types were in short supply. Many early volunteers | | | | A close competitor to the Springfield, and the |
| were issued antiquated, imported, and nearly | | | | best of the foreign-made weapons, was the |
| obsolete weapons as both sides strained to meet | | | | British Enfield. These were imported by both |
| the demand for arms. Eventually, however, a few | | | | North and South in numbers exceeding 800,000. |
| quality types were obtained in large numbers and | | | | The Enfield fired bullets of .577 caliber the same |
| became standard issue to the soldiers of both | | | | distance as a Springfield, and the ammunition was |
| armies. | | | | interchangeable between the two. Externally, |
| INFANTRY | | | | there were few differences. |
| The basic weapon of an infantry soldier was the | | | | Nevertheless, some officers felt a decided bias |
| single-shot, muzzle-loading percussion musket. | | | | against the Enfield. "They are rough, and tear the |
| Foremost among these was the Springfield, | | | | men's hands to pieces when going through the |
| manufactured at the U.S. Armory in Springfield, | | | | manual (of arms)" one officer complained. |
| Massachusetts, and at other locations. All were | | | | Ordnance officers noted that the hand-finished |
| generically referred to as "Springfields" by the | | | | parts of an Enfield did not interchange, as did |
| troops. By the end of the war, total production | | | | those of a machine-made Springfield. Col. Joshua |
| approached 1.5 million weapons. The Springfield | | | | Chamberlain, commanding the 20th Maine |
| had a 39 inch long rifled barrel, and could fire a .58 | | | | regiment, noted the number of abandoned |
| caliber bullet effectively at targets 500 yards | | | | Springfields around his position on Little Round Top |
| distant. After the Confederate capture of the | | | | after the fighting there on 2 July, 1863, and |
| Federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (later | | | | instructed his men still using Enfields to exchange |
| West Virginia), more than 64,000 Confederate | | | | them for Springfields. |