Chapter IV: Losses

More Americans died in the Civil War than in all of America's other wars combined. From the French and Indian wars of the 1750's through the hostilities in Korea in the 1950's (with the exception of the Civil War), 606,000 American soldiers died in the line of duty. In the Civil War alone, over 618,000 men perished in four years of fighting.

The North lost 360,022 soldiers. Of that number, 67,058 were killed in action, while 43,012 later died of battle wounds. A total of 275,175 Federals received wounds while fighting.

Accurate records do not exist for the Confederate side. The total number of Southern soldiers killed was approximately 258,000. About 94,000 were killed or fatally wounded in battle. No figures exist for the number of Confederates who were wounded in action.

Lord Alfred Tennyson's famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," tells of the assault of a British cavalry unit in the Crimean War. In its charge the Light Brigade sustained 37% losses. Yet at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, the 1st Minnesota Infantry lost 82% of its strength in that day's fighting. At Antietam the 1st Texas suffered 82% casualties in a few hours of combat. The 27th Tennessee had 54% losses at Shiloh; six months later, the same regiment lost 53% of its remaining strength at the battle of Perryville. In all during the Civil War, no less than 63 Federal and 52 Confederate regiments lost over 50% of their strength _in a single engagement_.

Other statistics of the Civil War give an equally horrible picture. Over 400,000 soldiers died of sickness and disease. For every man killed in battle, two men died behind the lines from such maladies as smallpox, measles, pneumonia, and intestinal disorders. It is a sad fact that almost as many Federal soldiers (57,265) died of dysentery and diarrhea as were killed outright on the battlefield (67,058). Since conditions in Confederate armies were worse, the number of Southern deaths from sickness was probably higher.

SUGGESTED READINGS

Adams, George W., _Doctors in Blue_ (1952)
Cunningham, H. H., _Doctors in Gray_ (1958)
Fox, William F., _Regimental Losses in the American Civil War_ (1898)
Livermore, Thomas L., _Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America,
1861-1865_ (1900, 1956)
Phisterer, Frederick, _Statistical Record of the Armies of the United
States_ (1883)