Original Items: Only One Set Available. During the U.S. Civil War, there were a multitude of different arms in service, as both sides rushed to fill the need for small arms. This was a logistical nightmare, as all of these different types of ammunition needed to be sourced, however this also ended up being a dream for collectors digging around old battlefields, as the possibilities for research were great.

This is a great lot of two scarce Civil War cartridges including a standard .58 Caliber paper cartridge and a very scarce .69 Caliber “Buck & Ball” cartridge. This desirable artifact was the most common type of ammunition used with smoothbore muzzleloaders during the Civil War. The .69 caliber round ball and its accompanying powder charge was mated with three (3) .22 caliber ‘buckshot’ hence the name ‘buck and ball. When the round was fired, the buckshot would spread out from the .69 lead round ball and increase the chances of hitting the intended target. ‘Buck and ball’ was very effective at close range, but lost any effectiveness at long range.

During the American Civil War, an assortment of small arms found their way onto the battlefield. Though the muzzleloader percussion cap rifled musket was the most numerous weapon, being standard issue for the Union and Confederate armies, many other firearms, ranging from the single-shot breech-loading Sharps and Burnside rifles to the Spencer and the Henry rifles - two of the world's first repeating rifles - were issued by the hundreds of thousands, mostly by the Union. The Civil War brought many advances in firearms technology, most notably the widespread use of rifled barrels.

The impact that rifles had on combat in the Civil War is a subject of debate among historians. According to the traditional interpretation, the widespread employment of rifled firearms had a transformative effect which commanders failed to consider, resulting in terrible casualties from the continued use of outdated tactics. More recent scholarship has questioned this interpretation, arguing the impact was minimal and required no radical change in how armies fought. This debate is part of a larger discussion on whether the American Civil War is an early example of modern warfare or has more in common with Napoleonic warfare.

This is a fantastic lot of two scarce Civil War paper cartridges, ready for further research and display.