History

The Napoleonic era, a formidable and dominant time in military history, influenced modern warfare more in a doctrinal and managerial since than it did with advancements in technology. However, emerging technology from the industrial revolution would changed the scope of warfare for years to come.   These changes provided an incredible impact on the conduct of war between the end of the French Revolution and the beginning of the American Civil War.   In terms of technology, the rise of rifled infantry weapons capable of high rates of fire as well as high-velocity artillery, changed doctrinal approaches to troop employment and how armies trained Soldiers for war.   Additional inventions in areas such as transportation, long distance communications, and the perception of the just war theory not only impacted armies but also the linkage non-combatants have with warfare.
  Weaponry formed many changes in tactical doctrine, training, and troop employment.   Improvements in rifled weapons and artillery transformed the frontal assault as the ideological tactic for success in an attacking force and shifted the decisive advantage to the defending force. Rifled weapons added an advantage to Armies regardless of tactical approach, in that this new technology increased battlefield casualty rates impacting a commander’s decision on how to employ his units or defend from an attack. Rifled technology gave Soldiers the ability to target an enemy combatant with precision, rather than have large numbers of Soldiers firing in a general direction. It effectively changed the size of the maneuver elements transforming offensive operations to be conducted by smaller more maneuverable units.1 Because of the higher casualty rates there were less Soldiers to fight, battles became more decisive quickly and rifled weaponry was a predominant reason.   Yet another impact to tactical doctrine due to advancements in weapon technology were seen in field artillery. Early artillery pieces were enormous...