>>622792
In my reading, the general opinion of historians is that the ACW was the first modern war. Something extremely important that ought to be noted is the recognition of trains/railways as objects of strategic value. This was further developed during the Franco-Prussian war and became one of the leading themes in WW1. Dupuy says
>The French Revolutionary concept of the "nation at arms" had been eclipsed by […] the "nation at war." With the national economies on both sides fully integrated into their respective war efforts, the [ACW] was truly the first modern war, and the first "total" war in the modern sense.
>News dispatches also promoted the common soldier […] to the status of an individual by [presenting his hardships to the public]. The result was improvement of the soldier's welfare and of his morale.
A little mentioned point that Dupuy makes is that telegraphs enabled politicians to fuck up operations more often - see Davis and Stonewall during the Valley Campaign. Of course, in the ultramodern current day, it's worse than ever.
>>622819
Yeah, hot air balloons or something like that, some of them with telegraph wires that led to the ground.