The American civil war. Arms and Equipment of the Civil War - Essay Example

?CHARACTERISTIC OF THE WESTERN WAY OF WAR THAT BEST EXEMPLIFY WARFARE IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Module INTRODUCTION The American civil war was more deadly than previous wars such as the Revolutionary war. There were far more casualties because the nation’s military made use of modern types of weapons to annihilate their fellow countrymen. The war would last from 1861 to April 9th 1865 when, at the Appomattox Court House, Robert E. Lee who served as the confederate commander surrendered. In western civilizations, wars, such as the American Civil War, are usually characterized by five essential features. These include: Technology The Armed Forces of the West have always relied on superior technology, usually to compensate for inferior numbers. In the American Civil war, there were technologies that made this conflict more lethal than other past wars that had been conducted in the United States. This was the last war in which ancient artifacts such as wooden ships were used during hostilities. It also saw the introduction of weapons such as torpedoes, Gatling Guns, ironclads, and submarines, into modern warfare. When the war first broke out, the soldiers from both the Union and Confederate sides used old smoothbore muskets.1 These weapons allowed only for slow reloading and had a firing range of approximately eighty yards. Soon the Union soldiers were outfitted with rifles, which allowed for quick reloading of bullets and had better accuracy and a wider firing range. The Confederate army would also start utilizing these types of rifles for more effectiveness. Both armies also began to make use of a new bullet known as the ‘Minnie ball’. The Minnie ball was much easier to reload than the older bullets. While these new types of weapons were more efficient, they also caused many more casualties within a shorter time period. Minnie balls resulted in many soldiers who were not effectively killed by this contraption sustaining deep tissue damage. Unfortunately, the surgeons did not know how to effectively combat such wounds and would often cut off limbs of the affected patient in order to save his life. Another weapon that gained widespread use during the civil war is the Gatling gun- which was essentially a machine gun that was positioned on wheels. This weapon could kills tens of men while being fired and rotated to cover all sides. Discipline More in the Western civilization relied heavily on discipline, Western military practice has always exulted discipline, rather than kinship, religion or patriotism as the primary instrument that turns bands of men as individuals into soldiers fighting as part of an organized unit.2 In the American civil war, the soldiers had to live in a structured society which had privates at the lowest rank, followed by corporals and then sergeants, second lieutenants, lieutenants, captains, majors, lieutenant colonels, and finally colonels. To keep the men in top fighting condition, there was strict discipline. Offenses as minor as disregarding camp duty and not taking good care of one’s rifle was punished by hard labor such as digging latrines and uprooting large trees. More serious offenses such as theft, insubordination, or even cowardice in the time of action were punished by forcing the errant soldier to perform activities that would humiliate them before their colleagues. For instance, men were forced to carry logs, or wear signs that proclaimed their mistakes to all. There were also offenses such as performing acts of treason, murder, and desertion for which the errant soldier would be killed by hanging or by a firing squad. These punishments would be administered by the army’s Provost Marshal. Aggressive Military Tradition Shared military theories and doctrines help soldiers to understand how to conduct major operations as well as campaigns while preparing them for service in the fields. In the American civil war, the armies utilized Jomini's war theories. Baron Jomini’s theory on war was based on major European wars such as took place in the time of the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic era.3 The Jomini model depended on using huge numbers of soldiers to cause the significant loss of life among in the enemy camp. One of Napoleon's uses of the Jomini model comprised of using several divisions to provide support for each other in engaging the enemy while employing the cavalry to outmaneuver the opposing army. This trait was copied in the American civil war when the Union’s troops, led by General Grant, functioned as the Navy’s back up division in order to accomplish similar objectives. Linear tactics, in which rows of enemy troops would face each other and then fire upon each other, were also used in the Civil war. They had also been used in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Innovation The fourth street is emphasis on innovation, normally military technology is the first to be borrowed by every society. In the American Civil War there were objects discovered to increase effectiveness in the battlefield but which would be adopted for use by the Civilian population. There was the discovery of artifacts such as cameras, the telegraph, and cans. While the use of improved rifles allowed for the troops to kill more effectively, the new technologies such as the use of the telegraph meant that men were transported faster to kill in different areas of the United States. The use of photography, for example, allowed for photographers to be able to record the Civil War for posterity using real-life images instead of drawings on a paper. Owing to the invention of different artifacts such as improved weapons, cans, the camera, and the telegraph, the American Civil War can be referred to as the first modern war. In the Civil War, troops also made use of specially commissioned locomotives that bore supplies and men to different stations. These locomotives were more efficient than the use of horses and buggies in transporting weapons and men on time to confront their enemies at different parts of the nation. The civil war also saw the first use of submarines. For the Confederates, the submarine of choice was a steam-powered machine identified as the ‘Davids’, after the biblical King of Israel.4 The South also employed the Hunley against the North. The Hunley was a machine that was controlled by a hand cranked propeller. The Union began to use a weapon known as the ‘Alligator’ owing to its color. This forty-seven foot machine was first operated by oars, and then by a screw propeller. War Finance Western civilizations often use different methods to mobilize money for war campaigns. In the case of the American Civil War, both the Confederate and Union armies did not expect a lengthy war; and so the war was first sustained by borrowed funds. However, as the war continued, the treasury secretary passed the Revenues Act in 1862 to fund it. The rest of the war would be funded by custom duties, the proceeds from trades and tariffs, and taxes. Bibliography Bilby, Joseph. Civil War Firearms: Their Historical Background and Tactical Use. California: Da Capo Press, 2005. Print. Coggins, Jack. Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. London: Dover Publications, 2004. Print. Pritchard, Russ. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. New York: The Lyons Press, 2003. Print. Smith, Graham. Civil War Weapons. London: Chartwell Books, 2011. Print. Read More