Jasmine Stawarski Mrs. Trahan English 8 16 March 2017 Comparing and Contrasting Civil War Weapons, Strategies, and Advantages of the North and South The Civil War is one of the most remembered wars in United States history. This war did a lot to change our country. Weapons, strategies, and advantages were a large reason for the result of this war. Many advantages in the Civil War were on the Union’s side. The Union had the manufacturing advantages. Most of the factories were in the North. This helped the North to more easily produce supplies and weapons. When the war began, the factories helped to make bullets, boots, guns, cannons, uniforms, and any other supplies that were needed. (Davidson and Stoff 488). The North had more miles of …show more content…
There were guns, cannons, knives, landmines, and many other effective weapons. The most popular kind of gun was the repeating rifle. These were the first kinds of rifles that allowed you to fire more than one bullet without having to reload the gun. This was much safer and quicker than shooting one bullet then having to reload the gun. The most popular repeating rifle was the Spencer Carbine. The Spencer Carbine was only available to the Union troops. The South lacked the technological and industrial abilities to manufacture any of these guns. The Spencer Carbine could fire up to seven shots in thirty seconds. (“Civil War Technology”). The invention of a new kind of bullet, the Minie Ball, helped many soldiers in the war. The Minie ball was hollow-based and could easily be loaded into a gun. This bullet was used in both sides of the war. (“Weapons”). The Confederacy used landmines as a defense. These worked very well to the South’s advantage. The Union troops were outraged by these. They declared this as unethical fighting. The landmines killed many Union troops. The Confederacy suspended the use of landmines. The Confederacy also had great success with underwater land mines. Confederate torpedoes destroyed dozens of Union ships and did great damage to a couple of others. The Union had less success with underwater land mines, only sinking six Confederate ships. Calcium floodlights were another successful weapon for
In the article “All Things Vicksburg” by Allen Barra, he describes the scene at the battle of Vicksburg that gives the North the confidence to win the Civil War. The Union’s army gain the Mississippi River, and they also be able to split the Confederate army into two. The South has a major loss in men and territory. Their weapons were also lost that could be compared to the bloodiest battle of Gettysburg. Then, Barra introduces the readers into several accounts of people who were at the battle of Vicksburg or heard the story of the battle themselves.
The Civil War. Louis P. Masur’s book, The civil War: a Concise History, Is a book that gives an overview of the civil war from 18 to 1800, Providing multiple causes an consequences that emerged from the war. The book begins by reviewing the origins of the war. Chapter one covers the issues between northern and southern states and the tension over right and slave possession. The tension created a conflict that raised a number of political, social, and military events that then proceeded into a battle to abolish slavery from the colonies.
The south made the James river impossible to cross. Torpedoes and landmines effected the Union throughout the civil war. (history.com) Cannons were one of the most used weapons in the civil war. A cannon was a large heavy long barrel that was made of metal. It was packed with a large amount of gunpowder and a ball with a fuse hanging out to ignite.
The U.S. Civil War brought about the phasing out of older weapon systems and the introduction of many newer weapons systems in addition techniques. Because of this reason, the U.S. Civil War is "The Last Ancient War and The First Modern War". When individuals picture of the U.S. Civil War, most envision a battlefield that is full of cannons and howitzers. The main reason for this the short time period leading up to and during the U.S. Civil War, there where tremendous advancements in the weapons, ammunitions and techniques the Armies of the Civil War used. During the next few paragraphs, I highlight key advancements and differences in these technologies and techniques used in the Civil War. Prior to the Civil War cannons and howitzers,
I. Introduction a. Attention Step – The American Civil War became the bloodiest conflict the Nation had ever seen due to the advances in the Western way of war. b. Thesis – Financing is the most predominant characteristic of the Western way of war which best exemplified the American Civil War. War financing for both the Union and Confederate States was pivotal in providing new technology and changing the direction of the war. II.
Jared Diamond in his book titled Guns, Germs, and Steel tells about certain places in the world having more geographic luck than others and thus causing them to prosper. During the Civil War the North and the South were warring over state rights and slavery issues. While the industrial revolution fueled the creation of new inventions such as the steam engine, the south refused capitalize upon these new creations. When the North grew and continued to grow in its industrial strength, they began to make themselves a world power, causing the South to continue to mostly produce cotton and several other agricultural crops. The South didn’t provide many new technologies which limited there economic effect on trade and production.
The Gatling gun played a significant role after the Civil War. This gun gave small numbers of U.S. troops enormous advantages in firepower over the western
Historian, George Frederickson addresses the blue over the gray and sources of success and failure in the Civil War. He emphasizes the North’s advantages providing many plausible explanations of why the North won. He mentions the North’s advantages in manpower, resources, and industrial capacity. The North had an excess of three to one readily available manpower. For every southern industrial worker, the North had a factory or workshop.
The Confederacy city of Vicksburg, was a major position on the Mississippi River. If it could be captured, the Confederacy would be split into east and west. But, Vicksburg was protected by the Mississippi and its steep bluffs. The Union’s commander General Grant came up with a plan, he prepared to sweep south and then cross the Mississippi to attack the city from the rear. This plan was dangerous but it was a huge benefit to the Union cause.
During the civil war there were many technological advances, many of which were on the Union’s behalf. The telegraph, was one of the best technological advances since it helped increase the North's power of communication. By 1862 the US military 1000000 messages sent by way of telegram. At the end of 1865 the union army had 6000 miles of insulated copper wire. The South lacked telegraphs and lacked advanced communication.
The Effect of New Weaponry during the Civil War on Wounds In the four relatively short but bloody years of the Civil War, an estimated 110,070 Americans died in battle or later died due to wounds inflicted to them. (White) This number is higher than any other war of American time. Furthermore, the technologies of our country are constantly changing and weapons are becoming more effective.
Throughout much of the battle, General Lee and his aggressiveness served him well, but as the battle came to a close, that aggressiveness led to disaster. Lee instructed his almost 15,000 soldiers to attack the center of the Union force, but the Union side was ready with reinforcements on top of the 6,500 soldiers already waiting. With their force spread about two miles wide, they fired their artillery to the sky hoping that some of their bullets would find their mark, and many did. The Union guns were quick to reply and the guns raged on for more than an hour, the heaviest combat of the Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers made the trek through “no-man’s land,” Union artillery hurt their lines a lot.
What do you think would happen if Lee used the unions weapons and secret weapons and the union used the confederates weapons, would the result of the war be different? Yes because the union had the telegraph and train systems that allowed quick supply to the forces while the confederates were basically poor of secret weapons and didn’t have superior secret weapons like the unions. The war could have changed but it didn’t and the union won no one can change
As a result, they were always unequipped and could not keep up. The North therefore used more efficient weapons while the South used ancient weapons. Furthermore, the North was more populated than the thus those wounded in war were easily replaced by the North as opposed to the South. The Civil War lasted longer than it was anticipated. The American Civil War lasted longer than it was inescapable because of the considerable crevice between the warring parties socially, economically and politically.
The North had many advantages over the South the helped them win the civil war. These reasons included a central leadership, more resources, and recruiting black men for their armies. These reasons helped the North win the civil war and play a big part in how successful they would be. With having advantages, better tactics when fighting, and also a higher population, the North would use strategic planning to fight the South and ultimately win the civil war.