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Useless Weapons

Later reports pro and con confused the issue in retrospect, but the merits of different arms was questioned by many soldiers at the time.
As Carlton McCarthy of the Richmond Howitzers, Army of Northern Virginia, wrote later in the Southern Historical Society Papers:

Revolvers were found to be about as useless and heavy lumber as a private soldier could carry, and early in the War were sent home to be used by the women and children in protecting themselves from insult and violence at the hands of ruffians who prowled about the country shirking duty.
The infantry found out that bayonets were not of much use, and did not hesitate to throw them, with the scabbard, away.
The artillerymen, who started out with heavy sabers hanging to their belts, stuck them up in the mud as they marched, and left them for the ordinance (sic) officers to pick up and turn over to the cavalry.
The cavalrymen found sabers very tiresome when swung to the belt, and adopted the plan of fastening them to the saddle on the left side, with the hilt in front and in reach of the hand. Finally, sabers got very scarce even among cavalrymen, who relied more and more on their short rifles.
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