Book ID: CBB912287426

Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War (2016)

unapi

Army, Thomas F., Jr. (Author)


The Johns Hopkins University Press


Publication Date: 2016
Edition Details: Book Series: Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology
Physical Details: xiv + 369 pp., illustrations, maps, bib., index
Language: English

Engineering Victory brings a fresh approach to the question of why the North prevailed in the Civil War. Historian Thomas F. Army, Jr., identifies strength in engineering--not superior military strategy or industrial advantage--as the critical determining factor in the war's outcome. Army finds that Union soldiers were able to apply scientific ingenuity and innovation to complex problems in a way that Confederate soldiers simply could not match. Skilled Free State engineers who were trained during the antebellum period benefited from basic educational reforms, the spread of informal educational practices, and a culture that encouraged learning and innovation. During the war, their rapid construction and repair of roads, railways, and bridges allowed Northern troops to pass quickly through the forbidding terrain of the South as retreating and maneuvering Confederates struggles to cut supply lines and stop the Yankees from pressing any advantage. By presenting detailed case studies from both theaters of the war, Army clearly demonstrates how the soldiers' education, training, and talents spelled the difference between success and failure, victory and defeat. He also reveals a massive logistical operation as critical in determining the war's outcome. (Publisher)

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Reviewed By

Review Robert G. Angevine (2018) Review of "Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War". American Historical Review (pp. 955-956). unapi

Review Steven G. Collins (2017) Review of "Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War". Journal of Southern History (pp. 703-704). unapi

Review H. Jackson Knight (October 2018) Review of "Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War". Technology and Culture (pp. 970-972). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB912287426/

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Authors & Contributors
Pfeiffer, David A.
Cashin, Joan E.
Michael S. Frawley
Wheeler, Tom
Bulliet, William M.
Stuppard, Charles L.
Concepts
Technology and war; technology and the military
Technology
Railroads
Railroads, Military
Engineers
Land transportation
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
18th century
17th century
Places
United States
Southern states (U.S.)
Europe
Georgia (U.S.)
Virginia (U.S.)
Portugal
Institutions
Confederate States of America. Patent Office
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