Soldiers could kill farther, quicker, and easier with weaponry that improved firing range and increased damage. What really made these weapons so impactful was that they were so new. In modern wars, though weaponry has continued to improve since the Civil War, there are fewer deaths than the Civil War. The reason behind this is because most of the new weapons used in the Civil War were invented mere years before its start. Military commanders didn’t realize just how damaging the new technology would be and often failed to compensate for the improved range and accuracy of the weapons. Their lack of knowledge combined with their antiquated battle strategy made casualty counts soar. Instead of drawing back their distance, it was far more common to use huge frontal assaults made up of a large group of soldiers. Some battles could involve as many as 100,000 soldiers, a huge leap from previous encounters in wars like the Mexican-American War, were only around 15,000 soldiers were pitted against each other at one time. (Why the Civil War Was So Lethal, Digital
Soldiers could kill farther, quicker, and easier with weaponry that improved firing range and increased damage. What really made these weapons so impactful was that they were so new. In modern wars, though weaponry has continued to improve since the Civil War, there are fewer deaths than the Civil War. The reason behind this is because most of the new weapons used in the Civil War were invented mere years before its start. Military commanders didn’t realize just how damaging the new technology would be and often failed to compensate for the improved range and accuracy of the weapons. Their lack of knowledge combined with their antiquated battle strategy made casualty counts soar. Instead of drawing back their distance, it was far more common to use huge frontal assaults made up of a large group of soldiers. Some battles could involve as many as 100,000 soldiers, a huge leap from previous encounters in wars like the Mexican-American War, were only around 15,000 soldiers were pitted against each other at one time. (Why the Civil War Was So Lethal, Digital