I was recently reading a book for class called A History of the American People(ISBN:978--0-06--093034) by Paul Johnson.
On page 516 on the second paragraph, Johnson makes a claim about the effects of barbed wiring being available early in the civil war.
Now Johnson isn't a military historian, so I view this claim with caution. So just to check, what do you guys think?
Is Johnson being legitimate with the horror of barbed wiring in the civil war, or he is just exaggerating its effectiveness?
On page 516 on the second paragraph, Johnson makes a claim about the effects of barbed wiring being available early in the civil war.
...In the mid 1870’s, two Illinois farmers, Joseph F. Glidden and Jacob Haish, took out patents for barbed wire, which was both practical and cheap. In 1874, barbed wire cost $20 per 100 pounds and total production was 10,000 pounds. Six years later, production had risen to 80.5 million pounds following dramatic price falls which brought top-quality wire down to $1.90 by 1897. Glidden and Haish had no idea their invention would cost the lives of millions of lives in World War One(had it been available in 1861, casualties in the Civil War would probably have doubled and the fighting would have prolonged itself to the end of the decade). Barbed-wiring was far cheaper and quicker than wooden-fencing of rangeland and its mass production made it possible to fence in the black lands...
Now Johnson isn't a military historian, so I view this claim with caution. So just to check, what do you guys think?
Is Johnson being legitimate with the horror of barbed wiring in the civil war, or he is just exaggerating its effectiveness?