Handguns Pistol training for cavalrymen?

[Old Soldier]

The reality of the American Civil War was quite different than the fighting on the continent. From the terrain, to the preparation of armies America was different.

But the peacetime US Army was modelled on the French Army, no matter how 'different' the terrain (that too is debatable), and the preparation of armies was also similar. The major campaign armies were still modelled on European practice from equipment to tactics.

However, as you said, outside those main armies, and in the main armies independent units, there was a lot of improvisation, mainly due to numbers, weapons availability and the ingenuity of the commanders of getting around those problems. Some worked well, others did not. That is not unique to the USA either.

This was the first big war for the USA for 10 years and the first on US soil for 45 years and there had been a lot of advances in weapons and technology. This caused many problems, as discussed on this site before. The USA does not seem to take on the lessons of the Crimean War (the first big war for 40 years) as France and the rest of Europe did. The European armies were learning hard lessons too, particularly from Prussia, and the Civil War was studied carefully from afar. The period from 1855 to 1870 was a series of lessons hard learned by all sides.