View Springfield Model 1861 Rifle Civil War Background. It was not until the north adopted the.58 caliber springfield. In the 1863 and 1864 variations of the 1861 model slight improvements were made, but the model 1861 rifle musket remained, practically unchanged, the basic infantry weapon of the war.
The standard rifle of civil war, the model 1861 springfield gained its name from the fact that it was originally produced at the springfield armory in massachusetts. Government contracted with twenty private firms to meet the war time. A soldier attached an infantry cap badge to the stock of this particular rifle.
At the beginning of the american civil war, both the north and the south relied heavily on imported enfield rifles from britain.
The standard rifle of civil war, the model 1861 springfield gained its name from the fact that it was originally produced at the springfield armory in massachusetts. The springfield model 1861 was the standard rifle used by union infantry during the civil war. This rifle was useful in the war by taking targets in long distances. The rifle was produced in springfield massachusetts, which is where it got its name.