Technology+and+the+Civil+War


= = = **Technology**=

Page Editor: Mrs. Z Page Updated: April 16, 2008
 * Page Authors:** Robert, Brian, Matt C and Emma

Page Contents:
====Photography / Telegraph / Railroads / Weapons / Military Intelligence and Espionage / Weapons / Newspapers====

There were many technological developments during the war.

=Photography=

[|Photography]in the United States was fairly new, only 21 years old, at the beginning of the Civil War. Photographs were less expensive than paintings. The Civil War was the first extensive use of photography. It was used to make a public record. Photography was used to show how the war was going but action shots were impossible to take because photographs could not capture movement. All of the pictures were in black and white and there weren't any photographs while the soldiers were in battle. Normally, photographs were taken after the battle with the bodies still on the ground to add emotion. None of the pictures taken at the battle actually happened.

Some photographers [|arranged the dead soldiers] to make their pictures look more emotional. Photographer Andrew Gardner frequently [|posed] the bodies of dead soldiers. One of the most popular Civil War photographer was [|Matthew Brady].He was very successful during the war. He had many people working for him. In 1875, Congress paid Brady $27,840 for the rights to his photographs but he died poor in 1895.

Being a photographer was a very dangerous job because if you wanted to take a picture of the soldiers in battle you had a chance of being killed. But because there weren't photos of soldiers in battle it made war seem different then it really was. Photographers didn't only take pictures of the healthy or fighting soldiers but the ones wounded and hurt from battle.

Many soldiers had their pictures taken before they left for war, but it took a while to take photos because you had to stand still for 5 to 10 minutes. It was great because people back home could see pictures of their loved ones but soldiers got very annoyed by this because if they didn't stand still they would need to take another.

[|To make a photograph], and ambrotype was made on metal or glass. The wet-plate negative was the most common form used to capture images. Photographic equipment was delicate and bulky.

=The Telegraph=

[|The Telegraph]was a popular way for commanders during the Civil War to communicate with their troops that were far away. For the first time in history, field forces were able to talk with their superiors, and fellow officers almost instantly. The telegraph was also designed for developing tactics, requesting reinforcements, coordinating attacks, and keeping everyone up to date with their progress. The telegraph uses Morse Code, a series of electronic dashes and dots that are sent over telegraph wires. Both the Union and the Confederates used the telegraph. One problem is that telegraph wires were easily cut by the enemy and men who would send the telegraphs were often in great danger. Many telegraph operators were underpaid employees of the telegraph company. They were not soldiers. The telegraph system in the North was much more advanced than the telegraph system in the South. Many historians consider the Civil War the first modern war because of advances in communication. President Lincoln was known to have spent much time in the telegraph office during major battles. In 1844, [|Samual Morse,] created the first reliable telegraph. He also invented a code using a series of dots and dashes, which we know as the Morse Code. The best way to learn morse code is to memorize the sounds each letter makes. Dots sound like "dit" and dashes sound like"dah." Usually they would use signs like "SOS.' The famous plea "to save our ship."

After the war, the telegraph was used by big businesses because it was very expensive. Many people helped to develop the telegraph, but Samuel B. Morse receives the credit for the invention because he did the most to publicize it. Samuel B. Morse was a Nativist.

 =Railroads=

[|Railroads] were a major part of the Civil War. In 1860 there were 30,000 miles of railroads in the United States. There were 10,000 miles of rails in the South and 20,000 miles in the North, so there was a huge advantage to the North because they could transport and receive materials than the South. Both armies used railroads to transport food, supplies, weapons and soldiers from one place to another.

Railroads changed the strategy of the war by allowing troops to be moved rapidly. At Manassas (Bull Run), railroads were used to bring additional troops to the battlefield quickly, which helped the Confederates to defeat the Union.

At the end of the war, Lee retreated along a railroad line, hoping to receive supplies that would keep the army alive but Gen. Sheridan cut the rail lines and Lee had to surrender.

=Weapons=

There were many different types of [|weapons] and [|firearms] used in the Civil War. Soldiers carried handguns, pistols, revolvers, and shoulder arms, or muskets. Officers also carried swords or sabers. Muskets are long-barreled shoulder arms and muskets were [|loaded] at the top of the barrel of the gun. This is called a muzzleloader. The musket barrels were rifled. A rifled musket has spiral grooves cut in to the inner surface of the barrel. Rifling improved the accuracy of the shot, both in distance and in aim. Rifles were the most commonly used weapon in the Infantry. They took half the time to load as the smoothbore muskets and was the most impressive gun in the army. It fired a .58 caliber Minie ball.

[|Sharpshooters] were specially trained Infantry soldiers who used the same gun as regular soldiers, but they were trained to shoot accurately from a greater distance using a telescope. Sharpshooters were used to eliminate large threats such as enemy generals or the men operating the artillery.

The [|Minie] ball was created by French Army Captain Claude E. Minie in 1848. It was much more effective than a regular lead ball and the Minie ball was not [|shaped] like a ball. It was shaped like a modern day bullet. The Minie ball was easier for soldiers to load and offered greater accuracy at the desired targets. The Minie ball was a 1/2 inch lead rifle bullet, and was bullet shaped. The Minie ball was a smaller, hollow-based bullet that could easily and hastily be rammed into the bore of a gun. When the Minie ball was fired, the rifling action sent the bullet farther, up to a 1/2 mile. Minie balls were also less expensive than normal rifle ammunition. When the Minie ball entered the body, the lead flattened out to create more damage. The mini ball also would enter the skin and shatter so that it would cause more damage and be more severe.

The Cavalry used carbines, which are short-barreled rifles that are breechloading. They allowed for quicker reloading without standing and exposing oneself to enemy fire. Breechloading guns are loaded in the middle of the gun and use a metallic cartridge.

Soldiers who operated cannons were part of the [|Artillery]. Artillery was used to spread the enemy out in different directions or to destroy a section of the enemy lines.

Because of the accuracy of the rifled musket, bayonets become nearly obsolete. Military leaders with experience in the Mexican American War were unfamiliar with the new capabilities of rifled muskets. They did not realize that the capabilities of the new weapon required a different tactical use. Soldiers still used the mass frontal attack, even though the weapons were more accurate at a farther distance than the older smoothbore weapons. The increased firepower doomed the frontal assault and by the end of the war, ushered in the entrenched battlefield. The rifled musket was much more accurate than the smoothbore. It increased combat range and came with a sight for soldiers to use for aiming. The new percussion ignition was more reliable than the flintlock used on the smoothbore. It also accounted for 90% of the battlefield casualties because commanders did not realize It gave the infantryman a weapon with the same effective range as the largest and most powerful cannon.

The machine gun, or Gatling gun, was developed during the Civil War but had limited use.

Other technological developments included torpedoes, used by the navies, and minesweepers. A minesweeper, usually used by the Union Navy, was a ship specifically designed to detect and neutralize underwater mines.

=Newspapers=

Newspapers told people about very recent information on the war. It was one of the first wars to be covered in depth by the press. The newspapers told civilians how the battles were going. They covered the war in one of two ways: either in person or through editorials in the papers and magazines. Reporters risked their lives getting stories. C.C. Coffin and Samuel Wilkeson wrote the list of the dead and wounded. Wilkeson also wrote about his son's [|death] at Gettysburg. Wilkeson was covering the battle for The New York Times and his son was a soldier fighting for the Union Army. They also interviewed prisoners of war and drew sketches, since newspapers did not have photographs. [|Alfred Waud] was a well-known sketch artist. The sketch artists sketched the action as it happened. The sketches were redrawn on wood blocks and engraved. The engravings were printed in the newspapers. The Civil war had a huge impact on the publishing company and it changed the way people looked at newspapers. Newspapers were the best way to get caught up with the action. One of the most well-known newspapers was [|Harper's Weekly].

=Military Intelligence and Espionage=

The Union and the Confederate armies both used [|spies] to gather information about the other side. Many spies were women, both black and white. Some famous spies were Belle Boyd, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Rosie O'Neal Greenhow and Pauline Cushman. Women were able to travel as they liked and they were able to gather information and pass it along to the armies. Many people refused to believe that women could be good spies. Women who spied and who were caught were put in jail.They also served as couriers, carrying messages between the lines.Some were patriotic and others wanted the other side to win. Harriet Tubman also served as a spy in South Carolina.

Union Joseph Hooker established the use of organized military intelligence. He appointed Col. George Sharpe as the head of the [|Bureau of Military Intelligence]. Sharpe gathered information by interviewing people who crossed Confederate lines, such as merchants, deserters, or escaped slaves. Sharpe also provided military intelligence to Gen. Grant.

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