Читать книгу American Civil War For Dummies - Keith D. Dickson - Страница 96

An important part of interior and exterior lines is how a commander establishes a line of communication and line of supply. These lines may be one and the same. Every army on the march has to have a means of continual resupply. Supplies are usually stockpiled and kept as close to the front as possible. Because of the massive amount of supplies a Civil War army consumed every day, boats and trains were the best means to move the amounts necessary to sustain the army for a week or so. Large wagon trains, 5 to 20 miles long at times, carried the immediate necessities (food for both men and animals and ammunition) with the army as it moved. Like the major arteries in the body, the line of supply is the lifeline of a modern army. If an artery is blocked, cut, or damaged, the body dies. If a line of supply is blocked, cut, or damaged, the army can no longer function. Soldiers and animals starve; their weapons are useless for lack of ammunition, and even the clothes and shoes they wear fall apart.