1859 The Franco-Austrian War
The French use railroads to transport 128,000 troops to Italy Both sides equipped with rifles Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss observer of the casualties after the Battle of Solferino, wrote a book bringing the horror to European audiences and helped to found the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention in 1864.
1862
1864 Prusso-Danish War
Dr. Richard Gatling developed the Gatling gun, an early machine gun operated by a hand crank
1866
Breech-loading rifles become standard issue
1866 & 1870-1871 Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars
Prussia demonstrates the power of new technology in their efficient and precise mobilization against Austria and France by railroad, relying on telegraph to coordinate -- after 1870 every general staff hastened to add a railway department Technological advances, including Krupp's breech-loading crucible steel artillery, make artillery the dominant weapon again Use of skirmish lines Percentage of casualties low Studied by European armies as an example of modern warfare
Late 1860s
1869
Machine-produced metal cartridge cases for small arms were developed making machine
guns more feasible
Mitrailleuse rapid fire gun deployed with French forces.
