Although trench warfare was made famous during the battles of WWI, it was originally the brainchild of a French military engineer named Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th century.
Fast-forward to 1861 when the Civil War started. The implementation of entrenchments as a form of defensive posturing was commonly overlooked.
As the war raged on, infantry units began dominating the battlefield as troops increased their use of the rifled muskets and Gatling guns. These new deadly weapons caused the need for entrenchments as a form of cover.
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban — the first known architect of trench warfare.
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The trenches used during the Civil War were primitively constructed from wood logs, as engineers and other materials needed to build them properly were in short supply.
For nine long months, both sides of the fight battled it out in a series of man-made tunnels that stretched more than 30 miles long.
When the Civil War ended in 1865, an estimated 620,000 people lost their lives during the multi-year skirmish — nearly two percent of the population.
As time would go on, trench warfare was famously utilized and modified throughout military history. Today we commonly refer to trenches as fighting holes.
Also Read: This is actual footage of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri
Check out the American Heroes Channel‘s video below for this powerful 360 video of a Civil War firefight re-enactment below.
(American Heroes Channel, YouTube)