Military Tactics During The Civil War Essay

Wayne Wei-Siang Hsieh is a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, his work, West Pointers and the Civil War, attempts to explain the development of both Union and Confederate armies during the American Civil War. He begins with examining the development of the U.S. Army between the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Citing the need and development of a, albeit small, professional Army following the tactical embarrassments of the war with Britain. Hsieh explains how, after the reforms that followed the War of 1812, the U.S. Army was able to attain a decisive victory against Mexico in 1846. In the post Mexican War there were changes, if not straight creation, of infantry, artillery, and cavalry doctrine. This doctrine developed

The Civil War was a tragic reality check for the people of America. Thus Military advances played a drastic role in the war,allowing the North to hit enemies from longer range and fires its guns faster. Economics also played a radical role in the war. It gave the north an advantage allowing it to fund the military and purchase all the weapons needed. While military advances impacted the war, however the economics affected the war the most.

The Civil War, also called The War Between the States, was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. What made the Civil War such a massacre? The Civil War was such a bloodbath because the technological advances were so far superior to the tactics of the infantry, that the weapons virtually obliterated the soldiers. Soldiers would form lines known as a battalions. In these battalions, soldiers would basically march to their deaths. In addition to weapons doing so much damage, fortification on the battlefield was far more advanced than had ever been before. The Cheveau-de-frise was the main focus of armored fortification in the Civil War. This fortification consisted of 10 to 12 foot

Guerrilla-style hit and run tactics were further refined with the use of cavalry units during the Civil War. Men on horseback with revolvers and repeating rifles could surprise and outgun much larger infantry forces that were mostly armed with muskets. Then they could withdraw quickly and disappear into the wilderness

Tactics in the Civil War were influenced by a few factors. Most notably is the contribution made by the spy network. They helped the northern generals formulate tactics to counter the south, prevented the south from making counterattacks, and also changed the progression of the war.

The weapons, machinery, and communication changed the future of the North and the South. The biggest invention was the telegraph. The telegraph used a secret code called Morse Code that was created by Samuel Morse. Morse code was used to send letters secretly using combinations of long and short signals of light or sound. The telegraph was a way to send coded messages from one place to another in limited time. Generals used it to send messages about plans of attack and battle information. Even President Abraham Lincoln used the telegraph. President Abraham Lincoln had a special room made that was hidden from the rest of his people, where he would go to send messages to generals to give information and commands. Other Technological Advances were bullets. One bullet used in the Civil War was called the Minie Bullet. The Minie Ball was a shaped large bullet that went through enemies killing them instantly. Over ninety percent of all casualties in the Civil War were caused by the Minie Ball. Another large advance was transportation. Railroads were created to move supplies from one place to another in short time. Railroads were made from state to state to move supplies to battle

The Civil War took place from April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865. The war started over slavery, however it didn't end with slavery. New inventions and ways to mass manufacturing really started occurring at the period. Many inventions were created like the gatling gun, submarines, repeaters, and hydrogen filled ballon which served as spy gear. Technological advantages the North had played a pivotal role in the Civil War which helped the North win.

Calcium floodlights were mainly used by the Union soldiers as made it easy to see and they soldiers were able to blind Confederate soldiers (8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). One of the more creative weapons was a blanket used by Confederate soldiers (8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). As strange as this sounds, the Confederate soldiers used the blanket to catch explosives and throw it back in the enemy's direction. My personal favorite weapon used was a hot air balloon. It was shocking when it say that hot air balloons were used to give a large view of the battlefield. (Appendix A) This was more commonly a Union weapon as the Confederacy lacked good, quality materials to build a durable balloon (“8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). Like the machine guns and swords, rockets were actually used in the Civil War (“8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). Although there were very few appearances from rockets, they still did help play a part by doing their job! The Confederacy used Congreve rockets as well (“Weapons”). They were around three feet and two inches long and filled with gunpowder. Although they could be powerful, they missed quite often and were pretty useless (“Weapons”). Used by both the Confederacy and the Union, underwater mines were useful to blow up the opponent's ship. Although the Union tried the underwater mines, the Confederacy had more success as they blew up dozens of the Union’s ships while the Union blew up only six Confederate ships (“8 Unusual Civil War

The civil war had many new technologies arise that made it unique compared to the wars of the past. One of these technological improvements was the introduction of the Ironclad warship. This technology was introduced during the showdown between the Monitor and the Merrimac . These two Ironclad warships fought to a stalemate , but this struggle forever changed how ships would be designed. Another technology that had not existed in previous wars in american history was the reconnaissance balloon it allowed the union to gather information and send it through telegraph to the various commanders. The civil war brought the first submarine, The CSS Hunley. The Hunley successfully sank the Union ship Housatonic, but unfortunately the Hunley itself was damaged. The submarine would eventually prove to be important for all armies in the wars to come.

The Civil War is an important war for many reasons. One reason is the weapons they used in the Civil War. Today I will be telling you about weapons used in the Civil War. The advances in technology changed the outcome of the Civil War.

The next instance where the Civil War is considered modern over the Napoleonic wars is in the area of weaponry. The mass production of improved weaponry and ammunition were technological advancements that meant the days of successful line assaults by infantry with bayonets and mounted cavalry were definitely over. The departure from line assaults, regardless of Napoleon’s signature turning movement, make a strong case for the move towards modern

The American Civil War was one of the deadliest wars in American history, resulting in 620,000 casualties of soldiers and undetermined number of civilian casualties. Southern slave states declared their withdrawal from United States and formed the Confederate States of America; also know as “The Confederacy.” Northern twenty states free of slavery and five slave states in north came to knows as the Union. Many strategy and tactics were used during the American Civil War. In order to understand the military strategy and tactics of Union and the Confederacy, one must understand the manpower each side had, previous war experience of the commanding officers on both side, and using rivers and railroad to their advantages.

The Civil War was an important event not only in America's history but also for the World. At the time, America was the foremost runner in the industrialization and one of the biggest providers for raw resources such as cotton from the South; who provided 1/4 of the world's' cotton at the time. Even though the Civil War is the bloodiest war in America's history with 750,000 casualties; it was also a huge catalyst that pushed technology faster and further than ever before. The Civil War gave birth to inventions such as the Ironclad ships, submarines and repeating rifles, that changed military tactics and strategies. But it also gave way to technology like the telegraph and photography, which later on help connect people together in a way like

Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]

Technology has not only significantly improved daily life, but it has also changed warfare. In the 1860’s, controversies of the practice of slavery, westward expansion, and political authorities caused high tensions between the Northern Union and the Southern Confederacy. As the tensions built up, the Civil War began on April 12th, 1861 after the secession of the Southern states. Determining the independence of the Confederacy and the fate of the Union, the Civil War was a period of major technological transformation. In 1865, the Union officially won the Civil War with advantages such as industrialization, a larger population, and most importantly, technological innovations. Advancement in technology, such as the telegraph, railroads, and rifles, effectively changed the Northern military strategies by establishing a rapid network of communication, providing an efficient and safe system of transportation, and improving the performance of the weapons.