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.Even when it came to destroying each other’s railroads, a tactic used routinely by both sides, the Unionists were rather better at causing irreparable damage than the rebels: ‘Confederate raiders never acquired the pure destructive skill of the more mechanically-minded northern soldiers’ 43 scoffed a military historian.The scorched earth policy of the Unionists, together with the destruction meted out by retreating rebels, resulted in over half the southern railroads being unusable by the end of the war.In contrast, the northern railroads had not only suffered little damage, but had been greatly enhanced both in terms of investment and mileage, due to their vital role in the conflict.Overall, the role of the railroads in the Civil War was not all positive.By enabling the rapid deployment of troops, the railroads spread the conflict across a far greater part of the country, turning it almost into a continent-wide conflict rather than the localized war it would have been otherwise.Moreover, the vital role of the railroads did not go unnoticed, ensuring railways around the world were viewed from a military point of view.Among the spectators of the operation which relieved Grant’s troops were a group of Prussian officers who had crossed the Atlantic to observe the latest tactics and techniques of warfare, a surprisingly common habit of the leaders of neutral armies.Just three years later they used their experience to good effect.At the Battle of Sadowa, they beat the Austrians thanks to the rapid deployment of troops on five available railway lines and the chief of the Prussian general staff, Helmuth von Moltke, put the success down unequivocally to the railways: ‘We have the inestimable advantage of being able to carry our field army of 285,000 men over five railway lines, and of virtually concentrating them in five days on the frontiers of Saxony and Bohemia.Austria has only one line of rail, and it will take forty-five days to assemble 210,000 men.’ 44Railways, though, have their limitations in war as would be discovered in later battles.They are easily sabotaged and therefore need considerable numbers of soldiers to protect them; they, obviously, only allow goods to be transported where the lines are as it takes time to build new track, and are therefore dependent on the logistics available at the railhead; and they require excellent management, particularly of single track lines, or otherwise bottlenecks can occur.Even in the Civil War, the Unionists had to be flexible.General Sherman realized the limitations of using the railroad in hostile territory and, having arrived in Atlanta by train, he used the river for his march through Georgian territory because ‘they can’t stop the Tennessee River and each boat can make its own game’.45 Nevertheless, they were to play a vital role in numerous conflicts and were a backbone of the supply chain in several countries, over the next hundred years during both world wars.With the Civil War over, and the importance of the railroad reemphasized, the dreamers who had sought to build a transcontinental line could now see their ambition realized (see Chapter 6).Meanwhile, however, Europe was getting the railway habit and the iron road was becoming commonplace elsewhere.JOINING UP EUROPEBy 1850, railways were established in all the main European countries, but it was in the second half of the century that the iron road established itself almost universally as the principal means of transport for both passengers and goods.The spread of the railway was uneven, characterized by periods of boom and bust, with the various states ever ready to intervene when things started to go wrong.Governments became aware that a healthy and extensive rail network was essential for development.In Britain, the railway mania of the 1840s was short-lived but its impact was long lasting.It reached its peak in 1844 when Parliament was inundated with 240 petitions to build railways and in three years the lines authorized approached 10,000 miles, of which about two thirds were eventually built.As a result, by the early 1850s, Britain had over 7,000 miles of railway, a stunning achievement given that only twenty years had elapsed since the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]