As the years passed, the Union’s
superiority became increasingly apparent
in developments such as the use of new
weapons and transportation systems.FASTER FIREPOWER
A key innovation was to arm Union cavalrymen
with breech-loading repeating rifles that
used metallic cartridges. The most famous of
these was the Spencer carbine 149–49 ❯❯.
Previous firearms required a complicated loading
process involving a paper cartridge, ramrod, and
percussion cap. With the new firearms, a soldier
simply pulled a lever to get rid of the spent
cartridge, allowing him to fire multiple shots.RAPID REPAIR
Transportation innovations included rapid
railroad repair and protection inside
Union territory, demonstrated by Sherman’s use
of a railroad for resupply during the Atlanta
campaign 292–93 ❯❯. Meigs also organized
seaborne resupply for Sherman after his March
to the Sea 296–97 ❯❯.West Point gun foundry
Artist John Ferguson Weir, son of a professor of drawing
at West Point Military Academy, started work on this
painting in 1864. It depicts the West Point Iron and
Cannon Foundry at Cold Spring, New York.AFTER
incorporate technological innovations,
such as the repeating rifle. In contrast,
the Confederacy’s supply situation
worsened as it lost territory and its
population became further exhausted.
An increasingly effective Union naval
blockade put an end to coastal shipping,
which placed even more pressure on
the South’s overstretched ground
transportation. The blockade also
prevented the Confederacy from
importing material from Europe. Not
being able to buy equipment fromabroad also affected the railroad network,
because repairs required machinery that
the Confederacy did not possess.
Yet, despite the growing industrial
inequality between the two sides, in the
final analysis the Confederacy lost the
war because of its inability to defeat
Union armies on the battlefield. Poorly
equipped though the Confederate
soldier was in comparison to his Union
counterpart, he usually had enough
arms and equipment to fight. As late as
the Appomattox campaign in 1865,
when Lee’s troops went hungry at
Amelia Court House, it was largely due
to the misdirection of some of their
rations. Poor Confederate staffwork, not
scarcity, had caused the supply problem.Tredegar Iron Works
One of the largest foundries in America, Tredegar
was a key asset for the Confederacy. It is believed
to have produced about half of the artillery pieces
manufactured for the South during the war.clothing the Southern armies had far
less success. Quartermaster General
Abraham Myers—eventually relieved
in August 1863—and Commissary
General Lucius B. Northrop never
really found ways to surmount the
Confederacy’s basic disadvantages,
which included its limited rail network.
The gulf widens
Over the course of the war, the Union
gained strength as its supply systems
became more efficient and it began to