Post #4 - A Modern War

In studies, we learned that the Civil war was the first modern war, as it was during the mechanization age. Due to technological advances, such as precision manufacturing and rifling, I understand this. However, the other parts that were new to the Civil war do not make as much sense to me. For example, the part where towns and cities were now more likely battle places and that citizen were caught in the conflict does not seem new. In the John Adams documentary, we saw that the city of Boston was caught in the crossfire and bombed by ships for days. So, by that standard, civilians had been parts of conflicts before. This also raises the question; were civilians and towns the target in the Civil war, or were they simply in the way of a more important resource? Additionally, when it is said that transportation and communication were improved, was it referring to organization as well? My first thought is no, as the Battle of Bull Run, which I learned about previously, contained a lot of confusion including uniforms, odd retreats, and people coming to watch the battle. In this sense, organization does not seem like a factor here, but it is important to remember that this example occurred early in the war, and may not be the best example of organization.

-Chavez Rodriguez