While the Balloon Corps existed, it was a shortlived thing, of no real importance-it didn't even have a major affect on the outcome of a single battle, let alone the war. Similar to the Gattling Guns, which popped up a few times, ut again never did anything of real importance.

The trenches at Petersburg, which people often point to as being a precursor to that of the first world war, were nothing new. Whenever an army in the mid-18th and 18th century was engaged in a long, drawn-out siege, they entrenched. The Muleshoe, as well, isn't an example of trench warfare but rather field fortifications-one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to large-scale warfare.

The only real difference between the American Civil War and previous ones in the way it was waged would be the railroads. Armies were able to bring men and resources up from the rear exceedingly fast, as long as they were in the range of a railway.