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Railroads
After the war of 1812 the US was in a state of decline with the White House
getting burned. However, due to the efforts of Congress to implement the American system in
place to fix the US economy. This would mean connecting the Western rural farms to the East
manufacturing factories using water canals and railroads. The railroads would lead to the
swift development of cities in the west such as Chicago and Detroit. The transportation of
supplies using railroads would continue all the way through the Civil War. In the Civil War
the use of railroads would help the war effort of the Union by allowing them to supply their
troops with clean uniforms, weapons, and sustenance; railroads would provide a way for
troops getting transported to the front lines at fast time with armored trains but would become
The railroads allowed for the transportation of various amounts of supplies to the front
war battles. Through the transcript of the Pacific Railway Act the Union had passed a law that
allowed the government to take possession of any telegraph or railroad line in the United States.
This allowed for the Union government to transport many supplies to key areas of conflicts in the
east with speed while the South was unable to do this due to their weak government and being
unable to apprehend the southern railroads for that would be a violation of their citizen’s rights
and that their railroads were in poor condition. Battles such as Antietam had as many as 23,000
casualties and an estimated 3,650 dead according to History. This battle would require the need
of new supplies such as medical equipment and sustenance for these wounded soldiers.
According to MDDI saws, prosthetics, and probes were used by medics to treat the wounded.
These instruments of healing were manufactured in the northern factories and when equipment
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was needed, they would be transported via railroad to these medics that were applying
amputations. Admittedly, they would reuse the same tools over all the patients but these railroads
allowing for the transportation of supplies after the battle greatly improved the morale and troops
after battle. These medics would be most useful in the Battle of Gettysburg, America’s bloodiest
battle. After the battle regiments would go around writing down the names of their fallen
comrades in battle. An example of this would be the manuscript document Unknown List of
killed and wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. The casualty rates for the Union would be 3,155
and there was a total of 14,529 union wounded. To treat the great amount of wounded many
medics came to the aid of these soldiers via railroads. The railroads would serve in keeping these
wounded veterans alive and make the war less damaging to the morale of the Union’s citizens.
Another supply that the railroads would provide to the front lines was weapons.
According to Digital History there were over 1.3 million workers in the manufacturing field in
the Union. These factories produced the number one product needed in the war, guns. According
to historynet the Union had a total of 2 million soldiers and so at the bare minimum 2 million
guns, but it was most likely that spares were built so the total amount was most likely triple of
that number. These guns had to be transported from northern factories to the soldiers in the front
line, so the use of railroads was vital. In the Railroad depot, Nashville 9 railroad engines with
various other cars are seen having carts filled with supplies. Soldiers would typically unload the
supplies and resupply the troops with fresh new guns and give back the old broken ones that
could have malfunctioned in previous combats. These supplies could have been used in the
Battle of Nashville. In this battle the Confederates had launched the offensive onto the Union and
laid siege. The Union had an army of 55,000 troops already stationed there and with supply
routes established by the railroads giving them supplies they were able to repel the enemy and
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win a victory for the Union. These daily supplies were guns and artillery with superior numbers
were all advantages the Union had when it came to win the battle.
The Union would have to feed their troops to keep them fighting in the civil war. Most
of the agricultural production for the Union was found in the Western States but most of the
brutal battles were fought in the East so they had to find a way to feed the thousands of soldiers
in the East and various other areas around the country. They connected the production of crops
and the locations these soldiers through railroads. A great need of logistics would be required to
feed and ration out enough food for the duration of the war. In the early stages of the war the
soldiers were fed beans, rice, sugar, salt, and vinegar in a certain amount across many rations.
These foods were able to sustain the Union soldiers for prolonged battles. An example of a
prolonged engagement would be the Siege of Vicksburg. This siege would last from May 18-
July 4 and the Union General Grant would starve out the enemy by cutting them off from their
supply line. The union supply line was undisturbed allowing for massive amounts of rations for
all of the Union soldiers. The Confederates would be forced to surrender under Grant’s demands
and be under parole compared to unconditional surrender since he did not want to feed 30,000
soldiers.From the autograph letter signed Sayles, Sumner to Isora Sayles has the first hand
witness of the 30 to 40 thousands troops surrendering to Grant and his military practices. The use
of the railroads were able to give the Union an advantage in prolonged engagements and extend
The railroads had allowed for drafted soldiers to be transported to the front lines of battle
at a fast speed. The draft would be issued by the government called the Enrollment Act which
caused many men to participate in the Civil War. Across many states there would be call to bear
arms such as Call for troops from Ohio. Each state would be required to draft a certain amount of
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soldiers dependent on the population of the state. These newly recruited soldiers would undergo
drills and once they finished their training they would be sent to the main regiments. The soldiers
would travel to these armies via the railroad and most regular troops were in the box cars or
flatbed cars. A newly formed regiment fighting in the front lines would be the 54th regiment.
This army was comprised mostly of African American soldiers and would participate in many
battles in the front lines. The 54th regiment would fight courageously until their deaths at Fort
Wagner. The North had 71% of the United States population and this would allow them to refuel
the lost numbers of death they had when compared to the South. Combining the efforts of the
railroads and the recruitment of soldiers the Union was able to transport newly recruited soldiers
Railroads will not only be used for the transportation of guns or supplies but have trains
that would carry devastating weapons aboard them such as Gatling guns, motors, or cannons. An
armored would be made by having a locomotive and attaching rifle cars or monitors onto the
locomotive. They were usually built out of metal and would be able to deflect light artillery
projectiles and provide great support to the soldiers nearby. An example of this would be the
only armored train tasked with defending the railroads against confederate forces attempting to
sabotage the Union’s supply line. The armored train had a howitzer and 50 opened slots designed
for protecting the Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wilmington Railroads. Admittedly these armored
cars weakness was artillery which made them easy targets to blow up and destroy. Cheaper
versions of the armored train were the Railroad battery before Petersburg. The battery had
cannons attached to it and made it light and time efficient way of transporting the cannons across
the battlefields when compared to horses. They could also in case of an emergency fire from the
battery to oncoming enemies. The railroads became a much more complicated tool in the civil
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war due to it not just transporting supplies and soldiers across the battlefield but now having
devastating machines of power going down them filled with man killing machines.
The railroads were so important to the Union’s success that they would focus on
protecting their supply lines but also sabotage the enemy’s railroads. In Four soldiers on
railroad tracks would have Union soldiers taking attentive care of the railroads. The railroads
was an important factor of the war for they would have soldiers keeping eye out for enemy
saboteurs. Due to the South attempting to cripple the Union’s supply line the Union decided to
give some payback to the Confederates. The Union soldiers would pull up the enemy rails,
heating them until they bent, or tying tree trunks around them. These actions would slow down
and damage the Confederates supply logistics and now time of supplies would be more difficult
for them. When the Union gained more land as they began to win the war they forced the
military soldiers to construct a military bridge for more supply line through the railroad. Such as
Military bridge across the Chickahominy, Virginia. Railroads became such a significant role in
the war that they resulted to sabotaging the process of the work.
In the Civil War the use of railroads aided in the victory of the Union by letting them
efficient supply lines and advanced technological vehicles. Uses of the trains in the Civil War for
transporting goods would continue throughout the Spanish American War. In the Spanish
American war, most factories were not in the West so they had to transport their weapons and
supplies to the west so ships could deliver them to where the battle was happening which was in
the Pacific.
Bibliography
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Primary Sources
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1862, www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=32&page=transcript.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” Historical Context: The Global Effect of World War I | Gilder
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battle-gettysburg-pa-july-2nd-3rd-63.
Lincoln, Abraham. “The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” Historical Context: The Global Effect of World
troops-ohio.
Sumner, Sayles. “The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” Historical Context: The Global Effect of World
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Russel, Andrew. “Armored Train Car.” American Civil War Forums, 8 July 2018,
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across-chickahominy-virginia .
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“Battle of Nashville Facts & Summary.” American Battlefield Trust, 13 Oct. 2018, www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-
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