Michael Leavy 221 pages softcover
Over
the course of the first half of the nineteenth century, America would
find itself following two increasingly divergent tracks: an
industrialized North and an agricultural South. By 1860 railroads were
firmly entrenched in our culture, reshaping our cities and steering us
through the industrial age towards worldwide prominence. From sleepy
post towns to the largest east coast cities, the distant hooting of the
locomotive whistle drew ever closer and louder, filling listeners with
fascination while brightening the eyes of profit-driven industrialists.
But this admirable invention, lavishly adorned in brass and iron
trimmings, was about to take on a new and deadly role. America's
regional differences would result in a spectacular collision over
slavery, and between 1861-1865, the nation fought a savage war. The
"iron horse" became a major weapon in the first war fully dependent on
railroads. Moreover railroads would escalate and prolong the war,
leading to its terrible carnage. Trains were used to move troops rapidly
and over great distances, completely changing military strategy. Trains
were also used as mobile artillery, armed with large-caliber cannons
that could pound cities and fortifications. Trains were a crucial means
for supplying the armies on both sides, and it was the severing of the
railway lines providing food and munitions to the Army of Northern
Virginia that led to Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court
House.
In Railroads of the Civil War: An Illustrated History,
Michael Leavy uses compelling period photographs and drawings and a rich
narrative to reevaluate and illuminate the role of railroads in the
Civil War. In addition to identifying details about the various trains
and ancillary equipment and buildings in the illustrations, the author
explains how trains influenced the outcome of battles and the war in
general.