Civil War: First Modern War?

This was an essay question taken from my American Civ class. What made the Civil War the first modern war?

Reason 1: The vast amount of people that fought in the war. There were 22 million people to use in fighting for the North, whereas the South only had 9 million people. Within that 9 million deep pool, 3.3 million were slaves. This allowed for Generals Grant and Lee to use each other's ecomonies and population as strategies. Grant would exhaust the South...physically and morally...because he had the greater amount of men to use. It would be like an never-ending wave after wave of men. Lee would use the North's industrious economy mindset to his advantage...wishing to exhaust all efforts to supply, feed, and finance the North army.

Reason 2: The Civil War was one of the first wars to of modern weapons. The Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, etc. used muskets. Stuff the bullet which was quite a large ball of metal, stuff it down with some powder and ignite so the bullet can fly. The musket was revolutionized during the Civil War Era by the concept of the rifle. The rifle allowed accuracy on moving targets. A ridge within the barrel helped the bullet maintain its path, so the shooter could hit a moving target better than a musket. Whereas with a musket you would shoot straight ahead and pray you hit something, the rifle was deadlier. Running soliders had more of a chance of being hit than ever before.


Reason 3: The Civil War was bloody on the field and in the operating room. Medical treatments resulted heavily on amputation. This is where we see amputation sky rocket as an effort to save soldiers's lives.

Reason 4: Photography. This is the biggest reason of all. Photography brought the war home to common people. Corpses and units were the most common object to be photographed. It is the first use of visual media in wartime.


All of a sudden, the thought of war is not so far away because you are able to see it on paper. No one, solider or civilian, can escape the "Horrors" of war. We see this practice all the way through Viet Nam, and soon after censorship is placed on media in wars.