this was disappointingly content-light. I'm curious about the subject, but this was barely even an introduction.
Here’s an article I found with more info: https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1506&cont...
What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
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Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#12It would be interesting to know what Prussian officers thought of the battles as they soon after fought a few wars. But I can't read German.
They thought the Confederate and US commanders lacked training, while Stanning for Lee. And generally thought that there was not much to learn that was applicable to European wars.
https://gettysburgcompiler.org/2015/01/05/a-prussian-observe...
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#13After the war I'm sure they took note. The US Army of the North was then the largest army in the world. That had to be concerning.
Second place? The US Army of the South.
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#14I think the real answer and probably why the article is a bit light on actual anecdotes, is that Britain or its military at the time probably didn't think much of it all, especially from a military point of view. Plus they were super busy with imperial concerns, especially in the British Raj post-1857 rebellion. The U.S., although gaining steam economically (pun intended), was still a backwater, rural, nation isolate…
The US economy overtook the UK's right around the civil war. That's also around when the US population overtook the UK's.
They may have not thought much about the war, but it wouldn't be because the US had a small economy or population.
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#15Not enough, actually. The American Civil War was the first big war where railroads and telegraph lines allowed coordinated operations over a large area, and machine guns and repeating rifles allowed killing large numbers of advancing troops. Grant got this; he wrote "War is Progressive", meaning that there was progress through technology. This was a radical idea in military thinking at the time. Most European military leaders didn't get that until WWI. They were still trying mass charges. Which, against machine guns, absolutely does not work.
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#16After the war I'm sure they took note. The US Army of the North was then the largest army in the world. That had to be concerning. Second place? The US Army of the South.
Luckily the US Navy wasn't doing so hot, and so the only real places to get worried were Canada and Mexico, as neither army had worked out how to walk on water.
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#17Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#18I think the real answer and probably why the article is a bit light on actual anecdotes, is that Britain or its military at the time probably didn't think much of it all, especially from a military point of view. Plus they were super busy with imperial concerns, especially in the British Raj post-1857 rebellion. The U.S., although gaining steam economically (pun intended), was still a backwater, rural, nation isolate…
The US South provided 80% of British cotton, and the textile industry was the UK's largest employer and industry.[1].
[1] https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/liverpools-aberc...
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#19I think the real answer and probably why the article is a bit light on actual anecdotes, is that Britain or its military at the time probably didn't think much of it all, especially from a military point of view. Plus they were super busy with imperial concerns, especially in the British Raj post-1857 rebellion. The U.S., although gaining steam economically (pun intended), was still a backwater, rural, nation isolate…
The US South provided 80% of British cotton, and the textile industry was the UK's largest employer and industry.[1]. [1] https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/liverpools-aberc...
The US was economically beginning to be involved on the world level, but wasn't really a "power worth considering" until after WWI, partially just because of distance.
Re: What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?
#20I think the real answer and probably why the article is a bit light on actual anecdotes, is that Britain or its military at the time probably didn't think much of it all, especially from a military point of view. Plus they were super busy with imperial concerns, especially in the British Raj post-1857 rebellion. The U.S., although gaining steam economically (pun intended), was still a backwater, rural, nation isolate…
The US South provided 80% of British cotton, and the textile industry was the UK's largest employer and industry.[1]. [1] https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/liverpools-aberc...
Well yeah you are correct, and I wrote clumsily. That was meant to read 'although the U.S. was gaining steam economically, it was not of much consequence militarily'