Technological innovations during the war had a great impact on 19th-century science. The war was an early example of an "
industrial war", in which technological might is used to achieve military supremacy. New inventions, such as the
train and
telegraph, delivered soldiers, supplies and messages at a time when horses had been the fastest way to travel. It was also in this war that aerial warfare, in the form of reconnaissance
balloons, was first used. It saw the first action involving steam-powered
ironclad warships in naval warfare history.
Repeating firearms such as the Henry rifle, Spencer rifle,
Colt revolving rifle,
Triplett & Scott carbine and others, first appeared during the Civil War; they were a revolutionary invention that would soon replace
muzzle-loading and
single-shot firearms. The war saw the first appearances of rapid-firing weapons and
machine guns such as the
Agar gun and
Gatling gun.
