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The Effects of Technology and Industrial Development On the American Civil War

“This was the first modern war...after the Industrial Revolution.” 1

- James Meigs (America the Story of Us)

Have you ever wondered which direction the American Civil War would have followed, if it occurred at all, without the Industrial Revolution and its remnants? Had the Industrial Revolution not occurred, many of the differences that existed between North and South at the time of the war may have very well not existed. In this way, the Industrial Revolution and its remnants had affected the battles of the American Civil War and its outcome. Innovations, such as railroad networks, which carried resources to the battlefield, and the telegraph, which relayed information to and fro between commanding generals and their heads of state, facilitated not only the entry of troops into enemy territory but were also vital to the survival of both Union and Confederate troops. So how did the inventions of American Civil War affect it? What role did the Industrial revolution inventions and innovations play in the American Civil War? How would the American Civil War have played out had there not been an Industrial Revolution? It can be said with utmost certainty that the Industrial Revolution, a momentous change unlike any other before it, was not just set in stone upon the tablet of America's historical progress, but also of its civil strife and battles thereof.

The Industrial Revolution brought about many key inventions and innovations that were not only heavily utilized but also relied on for the carrying out and the victories on both sides of the war. The first of these inventions was the concept of interchangeable parts that revolutionized the munitions industry. Previously, guns were all completely different and only came in a single piece, so if there was even minor damage it would eventually lead to the replacement of the entire gun. With the idea of interchangeable parts, one could crack his stock or barrel and get it replaced without having to remanufacture the entire gun. In fact this idea was so successful that by the time of the American Civil War “...the new arms industry would produce hundreds of thousands of rifles for American Civil War soldiers, all from interchangeable parts.” 2 This shows that the invention or creation of the concept of interchangeable parts had a major impact on the American Civil War, since without it the arms would be much weaker and less effective. An invention of similar importance to the American Civil War was the railroad. During the Industrial Revolution a man named George Stephenson, created the first locomotive steam engine and tested it with some success.3 Despite the fact that it was not as fast as the modern train for those contemporary standards the speed was quite an achievement. This invention grew and became standardized over time until the entire nation was crisscrossed by railroads. However one thing was clear once the South (Confederate) seceded, and that was that technologically the North (Union) had the advantage and in this way they used this to achieve many of their victories.

In fact there were several American Civil War inventions that heavily impacted the outcome of the war. Of these were the use of hot air balloons for reconnaissance, the use of a grooved rifle and minie ball for longer range, better accuracy, and higher damage, and the use of submarines and ironclads for the victories in the war.4 The Frenchman Marie Davey had earlier built a simple, fixed naval periscope using mirrors in 1854. The schematics for the periscope were later adopted by Thomas H. Doughty of the US Navy. Further down America's history, Doughty's prismatic version of the periscope was utilized by Northern and Southern submarines in battle during the Civil War. However, there were many inventions that were not directly war related that also affected the war. Such inventions were the telegram, and even the rotary press which resulted in the mass communication of the events of the American Civil War throughout the country, even though it was the Confederate South had much fewer newspapers in circulation, this was present on both sides, resulting in a rallying of the people of each side to its cause.5 There was also an increase in production and innovation in the field of prosthetic limbs, resulting from the thousands of amputations that were occurring during the war. In this time alone 133 patents were granted by the Patent Office between 1861 and 1873 for prosthetic limbs and other prosthetic devices.6 The American Civil War was, in this way, not only affected by the Industrial Revolution but also spurring a smaller version of such a revolution as well.

The impacts of the Industrial Revolution and the ways in which it drove, influenced and even won the Civil War can be seen in the industrial prowess and tactics used by the Union forces. Specifically, among others, the Vicksburg Campaign serves as an excellent example of the ways in with the Industrial Revolution influenced and impacted the Civil War. In 1862, a brigade general, Thomas Williams, began work on a canal to bypass the Vicksburg defenses, and win the city with little to no bloodshed.7 As he and his forces worked on the canal, disease struck and eventually, within a few months, Williams and his forces stopped work on the canal and moved to safer waters, essentially giving up on the prospect.8 However, in January of 1863 Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant seeing a possible advantage in this venture, decided to continue work on the canal, seeing this as not only an opportunity to train his soldiers for the spring campaign but also as a way of keeping up the spirit of the offensive.9 Despite, great efforts to finish this canal, eventually, due to a rise in the river, efforts were given up and Grant’s Canal was abandoned.10 Along with this, using the Union’s industrial knowledge, Grant had attempted to bypass or infiltrate the city six other times.11 However when these failed, he decided to make a drastic change in plans.12 In April, using the Union gunboats led by Admiral David Porter he would, after meeting with them south of Vicksburg on the western shore, have the gunboats ferry his troops to the eastern shore from where they would commence their attack.13 While this worked with little damage, Vicksburg’s defenses were still too strong. So rather than attacking Vicksburg he went north to decimate Jackson’s (the state capital) rail yards.14 As the Confederates settled in behind the city’s defenses, he, using synchronized watches (yet another industrial product), launched a full artillery (Union army and Navy guns), and infantry assault.15 Though this was a highly innovative and intelligent tactic, Vicksburg still stood due to its defenses.16 Finally Grant turned to siege and in July17, he won Vicksburg, thereby changing the course of the Civil War. And as the war continued, the Union continued to display its industrial prowess churning out manufactured goods, guns, railroads, telegraph wires and quite literally fighting the war on all fronts. In this way, these products of the Industrial Revolution may have been the determinants in the outcome of the Civil War.

So, until now we have discussed how the Industrial Revolution, its remnants, and technology affected the American Civil War and its outcome. We have seen that the Union may very well have gained its victory over the Confederacy because of its technological prowess. However, what if such technological prowess was absent? Or heavily limited? What if the Industrial Revolution did not come about until much later? While these questions may remain largely unanswered, some answers can be found in the failure of the Confederacy. The Confederate loss was largely in part due to a clear lack of technology and innovation in comparison to the Union. During the Industrial Revolution the South was resistant to the changes it brought about and the influx of technological advances therein. So by the time of the American Civil War, while it did have some amounts of industry, it was much less than the North. This can best be seen in the retreat of Robert E. Lee in an effort to feed his troops.18 While this is not a perfect example of the absence of industry, we can see the effects of the lack thereof and easily estimate what would happen in a complete absence. The Confederacy as mentioned had few railroads, therefore when General Lee wished to recuperate his troops and provide them with some rations; he had to travel a long ways to the industrial towns.19 But partly due to the disorganization in government and the lack of technology such as the telegraph as well, General Lee arrived only to find a train full not of rations but of munitions.20 Angry, he retreated farther to a different town only to encounter a similar problem.21 With starving and tired troops Lee was lost on what to do.22 From this it can be seen that just some absence of industry and technology nearly cost the army their lives, so one can only imagine what would happen in a complete absence of technology and industry. The war would most likely be much longer, whether the death toll would be as great is debatable since without more advanced weaponry bloodshed may be lessened but the war would be much more taxing and brutal to both sides. So, in this manner, the Industrial Revolution may very well have had the biggest impact on the American Civil War and its outcome.

Many may even say that the Industrial Revolution was at the root of the divisions between the North and South. Since industrialization began, the North wanted to protect its infant industries from foreign competition, and promote industrial growth through protective tariffs, internal improvements bills, a national banking system, and other public encouragements while the South rallied against it, blocking the federal government from passing such legislature on the grounds of the infringement of states’ rights and because the costs would become much higher for the farmers of the South.23 This along with the issue of slavery heightened the conflict between the two sides. Their economic differences, efforts to control the federal government, and the disagreements on the issue of slavery all made pitched conflict between the regions inevitable.24 The North had in fact always seen the South as, for lack of a better word, deadweight. They only hindered the progress of the nation and caused a virtual impasse where neither side could pass its supported legislation due to the other.25 Once the South seceded, the North(now the Union) could pass as much industrialization aiding legislature as it pleased. And it did. In this way the Industrial Revolution, though indirectly, did cause a schism, and a greater divide between the North and South, for it created yet another difference, and yet another reason for war, conflict, and antagonistic sentiments between the two.

As much as the North used and relied on its industrial facilities from its thousands of miles of telegraph lines to its thousands of miles tracks, the South was just as disorganized and unwary of its industrial capabilities.26 While the South was affected on a much smaller scale by the Industrial Revolution, industry was still present. It had railroads and telegraph lines as well, but Jefferson Davis was not like Abraham Lincoln on that he did not take charge and spread out the war effort into all sectors of the nation. Davis fought solely with the military, and that is what brought about the Confederacy eventual defeat. However, the victories that were achieved by Davis’s commander were in a large part due to the use of technology, and technological innovations from the Industrial Revolution and its remnants. This among other things can be seen in the victory of the Hunley over the USS Housatonic in 1864.27 The Hunley was a 40-foot submarines designed and built by the Confederate navy among many other smaller submarines called Davids after the legend of the child that defeated the giant Goliath.28 These submarines would carry torpedoes that would later grow to become self-propelled and as a ship would pass or get near the crew would release the torpedo and move away.29 The Hunley was propelled by eight men who manned a propeller, sadly the Hunley sank soon after as the crew was unable to make it back to shore.30 Surprisingly, the Union navy also attempted to build submarines but was much less successful. This was because their submarines were powered by oars but, since this proved unwieldy, this was soon changed into a screw propeller but to no avail. The Union’s most famous, the Alligator, proved a failure when it sank in 1863.31 Unsuccessful in the field of submarines, the Confederacy then attempted a charge into the field of ironclads churning out twenty or so ships.32 These were built from salvaged and surplus parts from other seafaring vessels as well as other scrounged materials.33 Despite their many mechanical weaknesses, they had a unparalleled firepower and defensive prowess which was seen in the many confrontations between Union blockade ships and Confederate iron-clads.34 This is best seen in the last such confrontation on August 5, 1864, when the poorly built C.S.S. Tennessee sailed out into Mobile Bay, Alabama with three unarmored gunboats, facing a Union flotilla of multiple wooden ships and four iron-clads.35 As the gunboats fled from battle, the C.S.S. Tennessee remained and bravely fended off the Union ships and finally succumbed as its engine and steering capabilities were knocked out.36 Though in the end, the Confederacy lost, these industrial attempts represented a potential to have equaled the Union, had the South embraced industrialization as the North had done.

The Industrial Revolution may have occurred long before the start of the Civil War, however the legacy, attitudes, and technologies it left behind were the driving forces, and the eventual deciders of the outcome of the war. This is seen not only in the large number of technological innovations after the Revolution, but also in the ways in which both the Union and the Confederacy utilized the remnants of the Industrial Revolution to their advantage, despite the fact that the Union did so much more effectively. Had the revolution occurred during, or even after the war, chances are that the war would have taken on a much different face and followed a much different path, possibly resulting in a much longer, bloodier war.