American Civil War started in 1861 and ended in 1865. This was a war fought between the northern states and the southern states. During this war, the development of many new technologies took place in USA. This was because both sides in the war wanted better weapons, more effective communication systems and other technologies which could help them grow strong.
Some of these technologies were entirely new and laid the foundation for modern warfare and modern system of communications. Others were being used in a war for the first time and proved very useful. Following are some of the most important technologies and inventions used during the American Civil War.
Until the American Civil War, naval battles were mostly fought using conventional wooden ships with cannons aboard. But during the Civil War, the use of ironclads became a part of naval fighting. Ironclads were ships fitted with iron or steel Armour so that cannons fired by an enemy ship could not pierce them.
The American Civil War was the first time Ironclads were used in naval battles and they permanently changed the nature of naval combat.
During the American Civil War, the need for faster communications was directly felt. A faster method of communication could allow one Union army to communicate details about the Confederate armies to other Union armies. It could also allow the main Union command at Abraham Lincoln’s office to quickly dispatch orders to the army commanders.
All of this was actually made possible with the use of telegraph. The northern states had a proper infrastructure and could send telegraphs from one state to another. The southern states didn’t have such a good infrastructure, so they were at a disadvantage when it came to quick communication.
When the American Civil War started, most of the soldiers on both sides used muskets. Muskets took a long time to reload and although they were effective in short range, they weren’t very accurate on a distance of 40 yards or more.
This quickly led to the invention and use of rifles. Rifles were able to shoot into far more distance than muskets and were more accurate. They also didn’t need to be reloaded so often and took a little time to reload.
Hot air balloons had been invented well before the American Civil War but they were used for military reconnaissance for the first time during the Civil War. The Union and Confederate armies would fly a hot air balloon over the enemy territory in order to get an estimate of the enemy’s total strength and position. President Abraham Lincoln even created a U.S. Army Civilian Balloon Corps.
Railroads were already being laid in different parts of USA before the Civil War. However, most of the railroad network was concentrated in the northern states. This gave the Union a great advantage because it enabled the Union armies to move quickly from one place to another. The South, on the other hand, didn’t have such extensive railroad networks and it took Confederate armies longer to move from one place to another.
Learn More about Iron Clad Warships in the American Civil War at Wikipedia