As a rule, Civil War soldiers were more religious than Americans ... awake all night with weapons at the ready. A veteran who narrowly survived an artillery barrage would shout at his wife ...

Reliability and accuracy made the Colt a favorite of soldiers and frontiersmen ... Introduced at the start of the Civil War, Spencer repeating guns were technically advanced, used cartridges ...

In dramatic scenes that appear to mark a turning point in nearly two years of civil war ... One soldier kicked the men on the ground. Yard away, other soldiers fired their weapons as they tried ...