This was never truer than in the post Mexican American War (1846-1848 ... to have dependable muzzleloading rifles fire as fast as the smoothbore muskets. The combination of these advancements ...

Photograph showing Union soldiers with rifles at attention in front of the Capitol. May 13, 1861. Courtesy: Library of Congress Whitman was forty-two years old when the Civil War started.

In the volume under review, noted historian of the American Civil ... of rifles shaped the tactics of infantry combat. The dominant opinion is that the longer range of rifles (500 yards) compared to ...