With so many weapons evolving and being produced during the Civil War. We thought we'd share some insights on a few of them.
LeMat Revolver
One of the most well know revolvers of the Civil War is the Le Mat Revolver. A deadly idea for a weapon, it had two barrels of varying size. The top barrel could fire .42 caliber balls while the bottom could fire a 20 gauge shot shell. The creator, a French doctor living in New Orleans, Jean Alexandre LeMat, moved back to France to create more revolvers for the Confederacy. The French-made revolvers, however, proved unreliable and difficult to manufacture. It was unwieldy, with the two firing mechanisms making it unusually weighty for a handgun. Although the added weight of the cylinder made it rear-heavy, which likely helped aiming. An unusual pistol design, the LeMat saw action with the Confederate Army and Navy, and was theoretically the most lethal handgun of the American Civil War.