Robert E. Lee: Civil War General of a trend toward ease-of-use in the computer wargame genre spurred by "Panzer General"s commercial success. He further noted that Impressions " 'borrowed' half the title" from SSI's game. T. Liam McDonald of "PC Gamer US" likewise reported that the "Civil War General" title was chosen to capitalize on the commercial performance of "Panzer General" and "Allied General". "Civil War General" was based on Robert E. Lee's campaign against the Army of the Potomac because of his popularity among Civil War enthusiasts, and because Fiske believed that this confrontation "converts to computer gameplay better than any other" from the period.
Armies in the American Civil War by the Civil War, ensured that the rifled shoulder weapon would be the basic weapon used by infantrymen in both the Federal and Confederate armies. The standard and most common shoulder weapon used in the American Civil War was the Springfield .58‑caliber rifle musket, models 1855, 1861, and 1863. In 1855, the US Army adopted this weapon to replace the .69‑caliber smoothbore musket and the .54‑caliber rifle. In appearance, the rifle musket was similar to the smoothbore musket. Both were single‑shot muzzleloaders, but the rifled bore of the new weapon substantially increased its range and accuracy. The rifling system chosen