One of the main innovations in weapons was the development of rifling in guns. Rifling added grooves in the barrel of the gun that caused the bullet that was fired to spin while in flight. This stabilizes the bullet in flight, decreasing the effect of air resistance. Rifled muskets were widely used in the civil war, especially with the development of the Minnie Ball.
The Minie Ball was a new bullet that was widely used in the Civil War. Old bullets that were put into rifled guns were hard to load and made gunpowder build up in the grooves of the gun. The Minie Ball avoided this problem and could thus make advantage of the rifling. Furthermore, especially in the North, factories were utilized to mass produce Minie Balls and shipped to the front lines using railroads.
The increased speed of the Minie Ball along with the greater mass of the ball tended to penetrate bodies without bouncing around like previous bullets. They would then be lodged inside the body, making it hard to remove. Bones would be smashed and limbs would often be amputated. The American’s opted to fight as they did in the Revolutionary war, often standing in firing lines, shooting in turn and having to reload their muskets as they fired. However, the increased accuracy, range, and deadliness made this combination of war strategy and technology create many casualties.
The Union also started to use repeating firearms. Instead of firing 2 to 3 shots per minute, one could fire up to 20 to 30 shots per minute, foreshadowing the eventual machine guns of World War I It did not completely replace muskets, but was used in some battles effectively. The Confederacy was unable to produce these weapons due to their lack of resources.
Canned food had been developed around the 1810s, enabling the preservation of food and transportation over long distances. Due to the vast land size of America, canned food was necessary to supply soldiers for food and served as a source of greater variety for food.
In addition to infantry improvements, the navy saw improvements through the development of warships called ironclads. A modification of the original warship made out of wood, the ironclad used iron plates to armor wooden warships to mitigate explosive shells from completely decimating the ships.
Technology greatly shaped the battlefront and how the Civil War was fought. It serves as part of the explanation for the huge casualty toll it had on the U.S.
Sources:
https://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-technology
https://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-food
http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/ironclad-warship.html
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rifled-musket
I think this blog post is very interesting. I wanted to investigate another technology during the Civil War, specifically railroads. The Civil War was actually one of the first wars in which railroads played an integral part. Because they were fast, effective, and reliable, they were used frequently. They helped bring reinforcements and supplies to army camps, and helped transport armies. As a result, they were super important. The Union actually made sure to try to capture railroad junctions, which helped them a lot. The Union utilized railroads more, which is likely one key factor for their victories. Meanwhile, southern railroads were in bad condition, which led to slower trains and more accidents. One specific time when railroads contributed directly to success was during The First Battle of Bull Run, where General McDowell attacked a Confederate army, but the Confederate army was able to use the Manassas railroad to bring reinforcements to help, eventually leading to the Confederates being able to beat the Union due to this reinforcement help. Overall, railroads were another key technology that made an impact during the Civil War, for they were important for the success of the armies.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-technology
https://www.nps.gov/mana/learn/historyculture/first-manassas.htm
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/railroads-confederacy
This is very interesting and you gave many examples of how technology impacted the war. There is no doubt that new guns and bullets made the Civil War very deadly, especially because they were used on such a wide scale. Firing more shots each minute made it easier to kill lines of soldiers. Another important technological advancement in the Civil War was the use of the telegraph. Lincoln was able to communicate (from the White House) with generals on the battlefield. Communication happened in real-time with the telegraph, so discussions about strategy occurred and military orders were delivered with little delay. The North was at an advantage because they had more telegraphs, which facilitated communication throughout the region.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/civil-war-technology#section_4
I think this is a very intriguing topic and I like how you used many examples that explain how technology essentially altered the overall nature of war by making it much more destructive. It is also interesting how these technological developments not only contributed to giving the Union army a much stronger position over the Confederacy, but also contributed to the overall prosperity of the North through improving its economy by means of increasing factory production. Another important innovation made during the Civil War were naval mines and torpedoes, which were used by the Confederates in order to counteract Union attacks. These new weapons proved successful by sinking 40 Union ships and these success contributed to the increased use of grenades and land mines in later wars.
ReplyDeleteSo
Source: http://www.navalunderseamuseum.org/civilwarmines/
I found the impact that technology had on the Civil War very interesting. Aside from the battlefront, I found it interesting that technology also shaped the view of war for many civilians through the development of newspapers and cameras. The development of steam power, as well as integrated transit systems, allowed for more newspapers to be distributed at lower rates. Paired with new photo methods such as electrotyping, more legitimate photos of the war were accessible, which often demoralized and brought people towards a real understanding of war. Despite this, other people also decided to make prosthetics after seeing war casualties, which I thought was an interesting way to shape a negative image into something positive.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-technology-shaped-the-civil-war-classics/
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ReplyDeleteI would like to add on to further add to why minie balls created such huge casualties during the Civil War. As stated in the article, minie balls often pierced flesh as opposed to getting lodged inside the body. This meant that any bones in the way were often shattered. Often times, even a fragment of a bullet or shrapnel meant amputation due to infection or gangrene due to poor medical knowledge. Lister's germ theory and antiseptic surgery as well penicillin had not been invented yet leading to high rates of infection and death. In fact, such high demands of surgeons meant that most of them had never performed surgery and were poorly trained. Surgeons had no ideas of cleanliness. They used the same tools and clothing often washing their tools briefly in bloody water. Ultimately, for every soldier that died, two died from disease or. Thus, lack of sanitary practices claimed just as many lives as did actual guns or bullets during the Civil War.
ReplyDeletehttps://civilwarvt.wordpress.com/old-sawbones-surgeons-and-their-struggle/
https://ehistory.osu.edu/exhibitions/cwsurgeon/cwsurgeon/amputations
https://ehistory.osu.edu/exhibitions/cwsurgeon/cwsurgeon/introduction