This timely addition to Civil War history shares the stories of 25 unique military organizations, showing how past and future collided in the first modern war.The Civil War, of course, pitted North against South. It also pitted ancient ways of war against new, technology-inspired weaponry and tactics. In surveying the war's elite fighting units, this work covers both. The book showcases novel weapons and unorthodox strategies, including machine gunners, rocket battalions, chemical corps, the Union balloon corps, and the Confederate submarine service, all of which harnessed new technologies and were forerunners of the modern military. Chapters also cover archaic special forces, such as lancers and pikers, that had their last hurrah during this transformational conflict.Readers will also meet the fighting youth of the North Carolina Junior Reserves, the "Graybeards" of North Carolina, and the female combatants of the Nancy Harts Militia of Georgia. Going where few other studies have gone, the book fills a gap in existing Civil War literature and brings to life the stories of many of the most extraordinary units that ever served in an American army. The tales it tells will prove fascinating to Civil War and weapons buffs and to general readers alike.

Introduction1. The Zouaves2. The Lancers3. The Pikemen4. The Horse Artillery5. The Machine Gunners6. The Rocket Battalion7. The Chemical Corps8. Light Divisions9. The Balloon Corps10. The Signal Corps11. Snipers and Sharpshooters12. The Ambulance Corps13. Partisan Rangers14. Scouts and Spies15. The Marines16. Sappers and Miners17. Junior Reserves18. Senior Reserves19. The Submariners20. The Ironclads21. The Women22. The U.S. Colored Troops23. The Native Americans24. Summation of Combat EfficiencyConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex