The Civil War: Industrial Innovations

The Revolver Officer’s sidearm or a cavalry weapon; effective at short range.Officer’s sidearm or a cavalry weapon; effective at short range. This is a Colt Army revolver,.44 caliberThis is a Colt Army revolver,.44 caliber

Standard Springfield Infantry Rifle. 58 caliber—devastating at close range, effective at 600 yards Many firefights took place at 100 yards or closer

The improved rifle, combined with old-fashioned fighting techniques (tactics) generated terrible battlefield casualties, because commanders still trained their men to advance in masses, the way Napoleon had fought 50 years earlier

Near the end of the war… Generals began to use trench warfare—let the other side do the attacking With the new weapons, attacking troops could be slaughtered by troops who were relatively safe in fortified trenches

The Springfield’s conical bullet Note the grooves (rifling) that spun the bullet as it left the barrel and made it much more accurate— like a spiral football pass

In 1864, the first repeating rifles began to appear This is a Henry Rifle, which could fire 16 shots before the soldier had to reload

Artillery was also rifled This re-enactor stands with a Whitworth Rifle, which could fire a 12-pound explosive shell over a mile

The war introduced the first practical machine gun Gatling guns had 6-10 rotating barrels which could fire 200 shots per minute

Perhaps the greatest innovations were with the navy In March 1862, the first “ironclad” ships—the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia—fought to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia

Here’s the Monitor after the battle—check out the dents

The Monitor wasn’t very seaworthy She sank in a storm off North Carolina— here’s a photo of the same gun turret after it was raised in 2002

The most famous Civil War ship? The C.S.S. Hunley, which drowned two crews before successfully sinking a Union ship in Charleston Harbor.

Question: Why would the South be so intent on sinking Union ships blockading their harbors?

That problem would show itself at Gettysburg Up to one- third of Lee’s Confederate army fought barefoot

The Hunley’s crew turned the crankshaft by hand

The Hunley carried a “torpedo” mounted on a ship’s spar that would detonate on contact

It worked!!!

But the Hunley sank again… Ah, shoot!

In August, 2000, the Hunley and her crew were recovered…

Including the commander’s… …$20 “lucky” gold piece— which didn’t work too well that night

What the war ultimately proved… Is that modern warfare would be decided as much by industrial production as by generals. In that respect, the South never really had a chance…

The War would therefore create A “Second Industrial Revolution”—with the United States, not Britain, taking the lead, and with steel, not textiles, as the product that generated industrial expansion