![]() Artist Xanthus Smith and the northern press, however, rejected that name in favor of the alliteration of Monitor and Merrimack. A Union sailor from Staunton remarked that "John Bull will have to build a new navy." Within weeks, Great Britain-the world’s leading naval power-canceled construction of wooden ships.Ĭonstructed on the salvaged hull of the captured USS Merrimack, the first Confederate ironclad was rechristened the CSS Virginia. The next day the Union’s first ironclad-the USS Monitor-arrived and fought the Virginia to a draw, ensuring the safety of the Union blockade fleet. A Virginia-born sailor on the USS Cumberland observed, "None of our shots did appear to have an effect on her." This battle revolutionized naval warfare by proving that wooden vessels were obsolete against ironclads. On March 8, 1862, the world's first ironclad ship, CSS Virginia, destroyed two wooden-hulled U.S. From this, the draughtsman can make the maps and plans which they are waiting for." Revolution at Sea They could see, of course, the inside of the enemy's works, sketch the outlines of parapets, and count the guns already mounted, and note their bearings. Robert Knox Sneden of the 40th New York Infantry wrote that " balloon went up for the first time this forenoon. The Confederates developed a balloon corps that made its Virginia debut at Yorktown in April 1862 but soon disbanded when its only balloon was captured. ![]() The Union balloon corps was plagued by financial and personnel problems and disbanded in August 1863. ![]() The earliest flights occurred near Washington, D.C., where, for the first time in military history, airborne observers accurately directed artillery fire. Their presence forced enemy commanders continually to conceal the placement and movement of their armies.įollowing a demonstration for President Lincoln in July 1861, Professor Thaddeus Lowe was granted permission to construct and operate balloons for the Union army. Military BalloonsĪlthough European armies experimented with aerial balloons as early as 1783, it was not until the Civil War that they were used in America. With this expanding media coverage, the military took on the added responsibility of managing information as well as their armies. ![]() Not only did this allow distant military commanders to communicate and coordinate more effectively, but newspaper reporters could send news to the home front instantaneously as well. Electromagnetic relays, like this one, were used to extend the useful range of the telegraph. Using electrical signals transmitted by wire, the telegraph allowed instantaneous communication by using combinations of dots and dashes to represent letters. Developed in the 1830s, the electric telegraph inaugurated the first communication revolution. Text Messagingįor most of human history, the speed of communication was limited by the swiftness of the animal carrying the messenger. As reconnaissance balloons took war to the skies, many of the essential elements of modern warfare were in place by 1865. Railroads moved armies faster than before, and iron ships, land mines, hand grenades, and torpedoes made their debut. Muzzle-loading firearms and communication by drum, flag, and bugle were holdovers from the past, but rifled weapons increased the range of firearms, and telegraphy allowed distant armies to communicate and coordinate. The technology of the industrial revolution applied to the science of killing made the Civil War a turning point between the limited combat of professional armies of the 1700s and the "total" mobilization of World Wars I and II.
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