![]() ![]() No one understood this point better than Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, who observed: “This war differs from other wars, in this particular. The Civil War also foreshadowed the age of total war, encompassing soldiers and civilians alike. The use of the telegraph for instant communication, of ironclad warships for naval engagements, and of the railway for rapid troop deployment prefigured military operations during later conflicts. The Civil War also influenced modern warfare on a global scale. Moreover, the war transformed our country from a loose confederation of independent-minded states under a weak central government into a modern nation state. The Union’s victory banished the specter of secession forever and sealed the fate of slavery, freeing millions of African Americans from bondage. Indeed, the Civil War stands as a defining moment in American history. “These are fearfully critical, anxious days, in which the destinies of the continent for centuries will be decided,” wrote one New York diarist in 1864. I have never advocated war except as a means of peace. ![]()
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