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West Point graduates commanded forces both North and South in the Civil War. Because the training they
shared had not prepared them for the new conditions of war in the 1860s, they all struggled with the
consequences of rapidly changing military technology, railroad expansion, and industrial growth.
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Tensions between North and South over slavery and states’ rights erupted into war in 1861. Although
the Union enjoyed far greater resources, it also faced the harder and more costly task of waging
offensive war to conquer the Confederacy. Secession required the South only to stand on the defensive to
stave off Northern attempts at reunification.
Immense changes in military technology and industry during the middle third of the 19th century greatly
affected the course of the war. Abundant rifled firearms dramatically transformed land combat, while steam
power revolutionized the production and distribution of supplies. Both sides struggled to adapt to these
dramatic changes.
By 1865 the United States may have been the strongest military power in the world. But the great citizen
armies of the Civil War were rapidly demobilized, leaving only the small regular army to support the
reconstruction of the conquered South.
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Artist William Travis was hired to memorialize the Civil War adventures of Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
Travis painted a huge panorama on a roll of canvas over 500 feet long and presented his work to the
public in lecture halls.
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Experience Panorama
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