The American Civil War (1861‑1865) unfolded amid the Industrial Revolution, a time when inventors dreamed up some truly strange civil weaponry. Below we dive into ten oddball arms that actually saw service or at least a demo for Union or Confederate troops.
Strange Civil Innovations
1 Centrifugal Gun
Allegedly capable of hurling 300 rounds per minute from a steam‑powered revolving drum out to 100 yards, the massive 5‑ton centrifugal gun first showed up during the 1861 Baltimore riots. Though often linked to industrialist Ross Winans, it was actually the brainchild of Charles S. Dickenson, who demonstrated the prototype to the Baltimore City Council. When secessionist riots erupted, the police seized the gun for defense. After the unrest, Dickenson tried to smuggle it out, but federal troops captured it and eventually displayed it as a war prize in Massachusetts. A modern MythBusters test of a similar steam‑machine gun has even been filmed.
2 Harmonica Gun
The harmonica gun attempted to turn a pistol into a multi‑shot weapon by adding a horizontal magazine that could hold up to ten percussion caps or pinfire cartridges. Patented by French inventor J. Jarre between 1859 and 1862, the design resembled a musical instrument only in name. Early American production was handled by Jonathan Browning, father of famed gun designer John Moses Browning. Though it looked like something straight out of a steampunk adventure, the weapon proved impractical: the shooter had to manually slide the magazine to align each cartridge under the hammer for every shot, making it far slower than a revolver. Even a percussion rifle using the same slide mechanism owned by Texas Senator Sam Houston ended up in the National Museum of American History.
3 Coffee Mill Gun
Better known as the “devil’s coffee mill,” this hand‑cranked Gatling‑style gun fired .58‑caliber rounds at roughly 120 shots per minute. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly admired the weapon after seeing it demonstrated in 1861, prompting the War Department to purchase 60 of them. However, commanders soon complained that the single barrel overheated quickly and the hopper‑fed ammunition frequently jammed, wasting precious rounds. Consequently, the guns saw limited action, mostly guarding bridges and other vulnerable points.
4 Double‑Barrel Cannon
In 1862 a Georgia designer combined two 6‑pounder cannon barrels, hoping to fire a pair of cannonballs linked by a chain—known as chain‑shot—simultaneously. The concept was that the two barrels would launch the linked projectiles together, tearing through enemy formations. Unfortunately, field tests showed the barrels didn’t fire in perfect sync, causing the chain‑shot to veer wildly or the chain to snap. Although the city of Athens, Georgia kept the gun for defensive use, it never saw combat. The idea echoed earlier experiments, such as the 17th‑century English “Elizabeth‑Henry” double‑barrel cannon.
5 Confederate Pike
While firearms dominated the battlefield, the Confederacy, struggling to produce enough rifles, resorted to issuing traditional pikes—long wooden shafts topped with steel points. In 1862, Georgia Governor Joseph Brown ordered 10,000 pikes, some featuring a three‑blade cloverleaf head or a retractable spring‑loaded blade. These weapons, though cheap and easy to manufacture, were unpopular among soldiers who faced Union troops armed with modern rifles.
6 Armored Railroad Car
To protect railway bridges from Confederate sabotage, the Union built experimental armored rail cars—essentially boxcars sheathed in thick iron plates and sandwiched between locomotives. The cars featured portholes for a crew of fifty to fire small cannons or rifles. Several variants were produced, including a flatcar topped with an iron shell. In 1864 a Confederate cannon blast destroyed one such car, and another was hit in 1865, injuring its occupants. Some of these ironclads were captured by Confederate forces.
7 Coal Torpedo
During the war, “torpedo” referred to any bomb, and the Confederate Secret Service Corps devised the coal torpedo—a gunpowder bomb cleverly disguised as a lump of anthracite coal. Invented by Thomas Courtenay in 1864, these devices were slipped into Union coal supplies. When stoked in a ship’s furnace, the bomb would explode. Two Union vessels are recorded as having been damaged by such blasts, and a plot to sabotage the Springfield Armory with a timed coal torpedo was foiled. After the war, the concept was repurposed for insurance fraud and later adapted with plastic explosives in World War II.
8 Greek Fire Rocket
Reviving the legendary incendiary mixture of ancient Greece, inventor Levi Short demonstrated a solidified “Greek fire” rocket to President Lincoln, who was unimpressed. Nevertheless, Rear Admiral David Porter ordered ten gross of the rockets for use on Mississippi River vessels during the Vicksburg campaign. The rockets ignited parts of the city, but the flames burned for only about seven minutes—far too brief to cause serious damage—leading Porter to label the invention a “humbug.”
9 Turret Rifle
In the 1850s, T. P. Porter tried to improve the single‑shot rifle with a many‑chambered cylinder. His “turret rifle” housed nine .48‑caliber rounds in a rotating wheel‑shaped magazine; each shot rotated the wheel to align the next cartridge. The design’s flaw was that while one round faced forward, another pointed backward toward the shooter, making it a nerve‑wracking experience. Variants with a 30‑slot magazine holding powder, balls, and caps existed, but a stray spark could cause the entire magazine to explode in the user’s hand, preventing widespread adoption.
10 USS Alligator Submarine
The Union’s first true submarine, the 47‑foot USS Alligator, was launched in 1862 and designed by French inventor Brutus de Villeroi. It featured an air‑purifying system and a lockout chamber for divers to exit while submerged—cutting‑edge technology for its era. Intended to counter Confederate ironclads, the Alligator’s maiden voyage on the Appomattox River failed due to insufficient water depth. After being refitted with a screw propeller, the vessel was being towed to Charleston when a storm forced the tow line to be cut, and the Alligator sank off Cape Hatteras, joining the “Graveyard of Ships.”
These ten oddball creations showcase the wild imagination that flourished amid the turmoil of the Civil War, proving that even in the darkest times, inventors will dream up the most bizarre ways to win a fight.