Existing comment:
Communications Revolution
Two newly popular devices -- the telegraph and the illustrated newspaper -- revolutionized the ways that wars were fought and reported.
Developed in the 1830s, the electric telegraph allowed distant military commanders to coordinate more effectively and newspaper reporters to send news to the home front instantaneously. With this expanding media coverage, the military took on the added responsibility of managing information as well as their armies. New technologies allowed drawings of battles in progress and photographs of their aftermath to be reproduced in newspapers as engravings.
"The army signal-telegraph has been so far perfected that in a few hours quite a large force can be in constant connection with head-quarters. This, while a battle is progressing, is a great convenience."
-- Alfred Waud, "Army Telegram," Harper's Weekly, 24 January 1863 |