Page:Facts About the Civil War (1955).djvu/5



The American Civil War was the FIRST war in which
 * Railroads were extensively used for the rapid movement of military supplies and of large bodies of troops from one theatre of operation to another.
 * Aerial reconnaissance was first effectively used from anchored balloons in military operations.
 * The electric telegraph was used in the strategic control of military operations in widely separated theatres and in the tactical direction of troops in battle.
 * A multi-manned submarine sank a surface vessel.
 * Opposing ironclads engaged in naval battle.
 * Naval “torpedoes” (mines) were widely used.
 * Medical care of the wounded was systematically organized.
 * Participants, sites and equipment were photographed on a large scale.
 * Nationwide conscription was used to raise armies in North America.
 * A practical machine gun was developed.
 * Voting by soldiers and sailors in service was provided for by national laws.
 * Rifled artillery came into general use.
 * Mobile railroad artillery was used.
 * Large-scale coverage was carried on by recognized news correspondents at the front.
 * The repeating rifle was used by large troop units.
 * Wire entanglements in field fortifications were used.
 * The Medal of Honor was awarded.