The First Modern War
Samuel Santiuste
Ms. Engelken
US History I Honors
May 13, 2011
The First Modern War
While reading history, we typically see that wars were typically fought with soldiers in close- order formations with a musket that would be fired in unison on command. Everything changed after the American Civil War, a conflict to determine the fate of slaves in the Union, erupted. Today many historians consider the Civil War as the first modern war because it depended on: heavy industry, fast communication and transportation. But this time all of these new technologies were used to its full potential. As a result new weapon technology was mass produced which inflicted heavy losses on both the Union and the Confederate sides and resulted in improved battlefield medicine.
Years before the Civil War, soldiers would normally carry muskets that had a fire range of about 250 yards. But although this weapon had an amazing range, the musket only held and fired one bullet at a time and it hit random targets. The accuracy of the musket was from about 80 yards and this caused many of the battles to be fought at a close range. Then, in 1848 the French officer named Claude-Etienne Minié took the design of a bullet that expanded upon fired and “simplified and improved on earlier designs--including those developed by Britain 's Captain John Norton (1818) and William Greener (1836)” to make the bullet that bears its name: the Minié ball (Minié Ball). This new bullet combined with the rifle made a terrific duo because the range of the weapon was from 200-250 yards with a terrific accuracy. To show the bullet’s power alone, during the Crimean War of 1853-56 “the bullet so improved the effectiveness of infantry troops that 150 soldiers using the Minié ball could equal the firing power of more than 500 with a traditional musket and ammunition” (Minié Ball). When this weapon was introduced to the Civil War, the old model of warfare became obsolete right away because the infantry along
Ms. Engelken
US History I Honors
May 13, 2011
The First Modern War
While reading history, we typically see that wars were typically fought with soldiers in close- order formations with a musket that would be fired in unison on command. Everything changed after the American Civil War, a conflict to determine the fate of slaves in the Union, erupted. Today many historians consider the Civil War as the first modern war because it depended on: heavy industry, fast communication and transportation. But this time all of these new technologies were used to its full potential. As a result new weapon technology was mass produced which inflicted heavy losses on both the Union and the Confederate sides and resulted in improved battlefield medicine.
Years before the Civil War, soldiers would normally carry muskets that had a fire range of about 250 yards. But although this weapon had an amazing range, the musket only held and fired one bullet at a time and it hit random targets. The accuracy of the musket was from about 80 yards and this caused many of the battles to be fought at a close range. Then, in 1848 the French officer named Claude-Etienne Minié took the design of a bullet that expanded upon fired and “simplified and improved on earlier designs--including those developed by Britain 's Captain John Norton (1818) and William Greener (1836)” to make the bullet that bears its name: the Minié ball (Minié Ball). This new bullet combined with the rifle made a terrific duo because the range of the weapon was from 200-250 yards with a terrific accuracy. To show the bullet’s power alone, during the Crimean War of 1853-56 “the bullet so improved the effectiveness of infantry troops that 150 soldiers using the Minié ball could equal the firing power of more than 500 with a traditional musket and ammunition” (Minié Ball). When this weapon was introduced to the Civil War, the old model of warfare became obsolete right away because the infantry along
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