Civil War firsts

"The Civil War did produce unprecedented change. Americans were never the same once Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. It may be true that many of the new developments spawned by the war would have taken place in spite of it. But it was war ... that served as 'the fiery crucible in which the old nation was melted down, and out of which modern America was poured' ... Civil War firsts attempts to fill [a] void. Authors Gerald S. Henig and Eric Niderost focus on the numerous, and in many cases pivotal, precedents established during the Civil War"--Jacket.