Technology in the Civil War
Jocelyn Caudill
The telegraph was an important part of Civil War military and political history for two major reasons. The telegraph proved its value as a tactical, operational, and strategic communication medium.
The telegraph helped field commanders to direct real-time battlefield operations and permitted senior military officials to coordinate strategy across large distances.
Essential Civil War Curriculum
Telegraph
The Civil War is the first war in which railroads were a major factor. Wars have always been fought to control supply centers. and road junctions, but the confederate government was slow to recognize the importance of the railroads in the conflict. There was fierce competiotion between railroad owners who did not want their equipment to ever fall into the hands of their rivals. The lines of competing railroads rarely met, even if they ran through the same town. The railroads also lacked a standard gauge, so that trains of different companies ran on tracks anywhere from four feet to six feet wide.
American Battlefield Trust
Railroads
As the fighting continued, most of these clumsy and antiquated weapons were replaced by the rifle or rifle musket. The advent of repeater rifles promised to change all of that. Instead of manually loading each shot individually, this revolutionary new class of weapon made use of an automatic loading mechanism. The technology allowed a soldier to fire and then, with the quick pull of a lever, eject the spent casing, chamber a fresh round from an internal magazine and shoot again.
MHN
Repeating Rifle
Hunley, a confederate submarine that operated during the American Civil War and was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship. THe Hunley submarine was named for its financial backer, Horace L. Hunley. The submarine could hold up nine crewmen, most of whom propelled the vessel by hand cranking a single screw.
Britannica
Submarine