Before the Civil War, there were no national cemeteries, no processes for identifying the dead in the battle. There weren’t any dog tags, and there was no next-of-kin notification. You didn’t necessarily even hear what the fate of your loved ones had been. It was up to their comrades to write and inform you.
Drew Gilpin Faust
And ever since, war has been an industrialized, efficient project.
Too efficient, sometimes.
1. National Cemeteries.
How Arlington National Cemetery came to be.
2. Military observers.
Philip Sheridan served as an observer of the Franco-Prussian War on both the Prussian side and the French side. He reported to President Grant that the American army had nothing to learn from the Europeans.
3. “Cutting loose” from a base of supply in http://www.sonofthesouth.net/civil-war-pictures/strategy/foreign-observers.htm
Winfield Scott did it first in the Mexican-Armerican War. He abandoned his supply line to Vera Cruz and marched to and captured Mexico City. On hearing of the operation, Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington) called Scott the greatest soldier of the time.
In many ways, the US Civil War was the first modern war. This did not go unnoticed by the various European powers that sent observers to watch the new equipment and tactics in operation.
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/civil-war-pictures/strategy/foreign-observers.htm
“It was up to their comrades to write and inform you.”
If they ever made it back/lived to make a note …