Sabers themselves were used as thrusting weapons with the only sharp section being the tapered tip. The initial sabers were Dragoon style meaning they were heavy cavalry sabers which could be awkwardly weighted and extremely long, with some possessing blades up to a yard in length. A large part of the soldier ideal of the time included an edged weapon of some sort, usually a saber. The Civil War was initially romanticized by many young men. During the Civil War, North Carolina from Fort Fisher and Bentonville all the way to Bennett Place saw and experienced the impact of changing weapons technology. The changes in military tactics, however, were not confined to land: new steam powered ships and submarines challenged the age old conventions of masted naval warfare (sailing ships). Due to new artillery and small arms weapons, the phalanx style of fighting (troops staying and moving together in formation) familiar in the Revolutionary War and the early part of the Civil War gradually gave way to the trench style warfare common in WWI. War is a driving force behind innovation and invention, and every change or advancement in weapons technology impacts the tactics and the style of warfare utilized at the time.

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