June 15, 2024 – Session 3: The Evolution of Tactics, Weapons, and Organizations

“Jomini,” “Hardee’s Tactics,” “Napoleon’s Maxims;” all of these and many more were topics of discussion around campfires and tents of officers, both north and south, as the citizen-soldiers struggled to master the jargon and knowledge of the professional soldier.  The war as it continued saw the older Napoleonic-style tactics begin to give way to a more effective one based on the development of modern weapons and more effective cannon. How troops moved to how far a Napoleon cannon fired to the transition of cavalry’s role in battle are all topics of interest in this session as we watch the war grow from a clash of amateur armies to the forging of large, well-trained and veteran war machines.