|
What seems to have been overlooked is that in the given example of the Revolutionary War, when the "Colonies" took on England, there was a multi-week time frame involved in shipping more troops, and for sending information back across the Atlantic. As a result, I would argue that the U.S. Civil War is a much better case study.
In regard to the Civil War, I would propose that both sides fielded large numbers of civilian soldiers, but that the "professional" military personnel were about evenly dispersed (at least, when it came to more experienced officers and non-coms). Each state involved had its own militia, composed primarily of the citizen-soldiers previously mentioned, and I would argue that it wasn't technology - but rather available supplies - that decided the outcome. When the "North" was able to secure a stockpile of saltpeter for their gunpowder-making efforts, the fate of the "South" was sealed.....
|