Quote Originally Posted by DarkHalo003 View Post
Wat. Show me the sources on this one, I'm pretty damn sure that they were accurate up to 100 yards on a good day. On top of that, the reason why the Civil War was such a blood bath was because everyone was still using the same tactical formations used by the British, making anyone easier to hit since they're standing in a lines and rows. The muzzle-load rifles didn't have the rifling grooves on the inside of the barrel, which is what contributes to the higher accuracy of rifles thereafter, and thus the bullets would swirl even upon hitting a target thus tearing the shit out of any part of the body it hit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_1853_Enfield

That is one of the two primary three-banders of the war, the other being the Springfield 1861. It's a rifled musket, not a smoothbore musket. It's less accurate with ball for obvious reasons, but Minnié rounds were often issued.

Sources for both of those articles are at the bottom.