Strategic Inventions of the Civil War

Byers, Ann. Strategic Inventions of the Civil War. Part of the Tech in the Trenches series. 2016. 978-1-5026-1030-0. Available at 973.7 BYE on the library shelves.

The greatest conflict to take place on American soil, the Civil War arose due to numerous issues, but centered on the role slavery played in the economy of the country. This was the first modern war to be fought, with machine guns, rifles that could fire at over 1,000 feet, trains that could deliver soldiers and supplies to battles several hundred miles apart in a manner of days, a telegraph system that could transmit information across the entire continent in under a day, and the creation of a steam-powered iron and steel navy.

These inventions, created by the first Industrial Revolution, powered the conflict and allowed neither side to gain the upper hand during the first two years of the conflict. The North’s overwhelming economic and industrial superiority finally began to make a difference in the later years of the war, forcing the South to be on the defensive and ultimately to surrender.

New advances in technology forced adaptation on the battlefield. The type of war familiar to veterans entering the Civil War no longer existed a year later. New rifles meant that lines of soldiers could be mowed down before they had time to set up and aim. Artillery became defensive in nature. More tracks were built to allow trains to travel faster and further. The naval battle between two ironclad ships instantly rendered wooden ships of the line obsolete. The telegraph allowed the Commander in Chief to direct the war effort and to provide political decisions to commanders in the field in a manner of hours. Submarines and underwater mines were built to overcome the Northern blockade.

Many of today’s weapons and infrastructure are directly descending from the inventions that saw their first industrial use in the Civil War. Fans of history and of the U.S. Civil War will enjoy reading about how life changed dramatically in a short span of four years.