NF Engineering Victory: How Technology Won the Civil War

Non-Fiction
I assume you've read Thompson's 1910 paper for the Army's Engineering School on The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War? It's a good overview and I've correlated the diaries to it. Of course, there were the two State volunteer units, as well.


Actually there were three in the east, all from New York, the 15th, 50th and 1st, The 1st was reintroduced to the virginia campaign when a portion of the unit was reassigned from the south when emphasis on that theater waned. 8 companies were sent to the Army of the James during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Eventually those engineers may have been involved in the bridging of the james
 
I assume you've read Thompson's 1910 paper for the Army's Engineering School on The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War? It's a good overview and I've correlated the diaries to it. Of course, there were the two State volunteer units, as well.
Actually there were three in the east, all from New York, the 15th, 50th and 1st, The 1st was reintroduced to the virginia campaign when a portion of the unit was reassigned from the south when emphasis on that theater waned. 8 companies were sent to the Army of the James during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Eventually those engineers may have been involved in the bridging of the james
And several out west who performed remarkably as well: 1st MI and 1st MO plus others
 
I assume you've read Thompson's 1910 paper for the Army's Engineering School on The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War? It's a good overview and I've correlated the diaries to it. Of course, there were the two State volunteer units, as well.
I assume you've read Thompson's 1910 paper for the Army's Engineering School on The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War? It's a good overview and I've correlated the diaries to it. Of course, there were the two State volunteer units, as well.
You might enjoy Westervelt's "Diary of a Yankee Engineer" too. Its about his time with the 1st NYVE.
 
You might enjoy Westervelt's "Diary of a Yankee Engineer" too. Its about his time with the 1st NYVE.

I would also recommend these for those that have interest in engineer matters:
The Diary of William Folwell (50th NY)
The diary of Cyrus Comstock
The letters of Thomas owens
I also have about 200 letters from engineer soldiers that I am willing to share off forum
 
of course I have it and my copy of his personal journal is waiting for me at home. Unfortunately I still trapped by this job here in Erie Pa
Now that Amazon is doing a discount of the (usual) U of T over-pricing, I'm jumping on that published version as well.
 
Currently reading this book.

Interesting statistic: of all the engineer officers in the US Army before the Civil War, about 4 of every 5 were Northern born and about the same ratio stayed in the Union Army in 1861 (1 in 5 resigning to join the Confederates). The majority of Union army engineers stayed in engineer roles through the war. Those, like William Franklin, who accepted field commands, were in the minority.

One of the interesting ideas that the book puts forward is the significance of railroads. Oh everyone knows how the Union had a great advantage in logistics and mobilty from the Northern rail network. But the book points out someone had to design, build, and maintain those locomotives and railcars. Someone had to lay out the tracks and design the tunnels and bridges. They had to operate the trains. They had to manage the railroads, some quite long in distance and large in work force. All that gave the Union more men with mechanical and engineering work experience, and more men with experience managing operations over great distances with large numbers of men and material involved.

Southerners not only had much less rail mileage, but also their railroads were mostly short, served local interests, and had fewer locomotives and trains. Not only less experience in total, but even less experience relative to mileage.
 
Currently reading this book.

Interesting statistic: of all the engineer officers in the US Army before the Civil War, about 4 of every 5 were Northern born and about the same ratio stayed in the Union Army in 1861 (1 in 5 resigning to join the Confederates). The majority of Union army engineers stayed in engineer roles through the war. Those, like William Franklin, who accepted field commands, were in the minority.

One of the interesting ideas that the book puts forward is the significance of railroads. Oh everyone knows how the Union had a great advantage in logistics and mobilty from the Northern rail network. But the book points out someone had to design, build, and maintain those locomotives and railcars. Someone had to lay out the tracks and design the tunnels and bridges. They had to operate the trains. They had to manage the railroads, some quite long in distance and large in work force. All that gave the Union more men with mechanical and engineering work experience, and more men with experience managing operations over great distances with large numbers of men and material involved.

Southerners not only had much less rail mileage, but also their railroads were mostly short, served local interests, and had fewer locomotives and trains. Not only less experience in total, but even less experience relative to mileage.
Civil engineers to build the rail system. Mechanical engineers to help with locomotive design, but also employed in naval steam engine selection, and applied to industrial engines used in industry. It was probably the civil engineers whose work took them towards industrial engineering and managing complex systems.
 
Daniel McCallum was probably the first great systems manager, and Andrew Carnegie applied that to iron/steel production at scale, but that was after the war.
 
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