Civil War Firsts

Most Civil War "firsts" list contain debatable facts. For example, one commonly-cited "first" is the repeating rifle. Technically, the repeating rifle had been around for years, although the design left a lot to be desired. Even the first lever-action repeating rifle, the breach-loading Spencer, was introduced in 1860. What can be said is the Civil War saw the first breach-loading, lever action repeating rifle used on a field of battle. Another is the use of "ironclads." Sorry, but the French were using ironclad vessels five years before the start of the American Civil War, however, the Civil War did feature the first battle of ironclad vessels, between the U. S. S. Monitor and the C. S. S. Virginia (The Merrimack) in March, 1862.

Photographs are also commonly cited as a "Civil War first." Don't believe it. Roger Fenton's photographic exploration of the Crimean War pre-dated any Civil War photographs and the subjects were essentially the same. Even the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov) agrees. The largest collector of Civil War photographs states on its web site: "Because wet-plate collodion negatives required from 5 to 20 seconds exposure, there are no action photographs of the war." The site later makes the correct "first" statement, saying, "The War Between the States was the first large and prolonged conflict recorded by photography..."

Sometimes the "first" is correct, at least partially. Take the United States Medal of Honor. During the Civil War both the Army and Navy instituted a Medal of Honor, but the Navy's was first by 6 months, so the actual "first" was the Navy Medal of Honor. Now this may seem picky, but it is important to our Navy and Marines, at least.

Medicine made dramatic advances during The Civil War. Ever hear that our Civil War saw the first use of morphine as a pain-killer? Not quite. Morphine had been around since 1803 and doctors were using it as a pain-killer in the War of 1812, but it was taken orally. It wasn't until the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853 that morphine could be injected and became the addictive medicine it is today.

One enduring argument is which is the first land battle of the Civil War, Philippi or Little and Big Bethel? The question is raised because Philippi's Colonel George Porterfield may have been part of the Virginia Militia rather than the Confederate Army. Porterfield had received instructions from the Confederate government, but the state of Virginia did not officially turn over control of its troops until after the battle.

One first rarely discussed is in the area of weather forecasting. While the science of accurately predicting weather arose before Benjamin Franklin (he thought he discovered it, then found out ship captains had been doing it for years), it evolved in the 1830's and 1840's to become more accurate (although a far cry from what we have today). Before the Civil War Army stations and the Corps of Engineers had been gathering weather data, as well as notable institutions such as the Smithsonian Institute. After the start of the Civil War commanders wanted weather forecasts and the Army responded by gathering data via telegraph and attempting to make regular short-range forecasts. They weren't very good at it, but this group would become the National Weather Bureau (later the National Weather Service).

Links appearing on this page:

Little and Big Bethel
March, 1862
Philippi
The Civil War
War of 1812
telegraph

Civil War Firsts was last changed on - April 15, 2008
Civil War Firsts was added in 2005