Land and water are disparate mediums for war their organizations, strategies, tactics, technologies, leadership, and personnel are unique. A theater is, “a subordinate entity in itself-depending on the extent to which changes occurring elsewhere in the war area affect it not directly but only indirectly.” The naval side of the war consisted of distinct theaters also and these warrant independent definition and consideration. They can be defined as: The Offshore Blockade, Peripheral Coasts and Harbors, Heartland Rivers, and the Wide Oceans.Ĭarl von Clausewitz defined a theater as: “A sector of the total war area which has protected boundaries and so a certain degree of independence.” Protected boundaries might consist of fortifications, natural barriers, or simply distance. This framework organizes operations in terms of discrete location, environment, interacting events, influences, and consequences. 7 1861Ĭivil War military history occurs in the context of “theaters” including the Eastern, the Western, and the Trans-Mississippi with sub-theaters within each.

American civil war union navy weapons