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_.
[Illustration: After a battle it was not always possible to bury the
dead. Here bleached bones mark the spots where soldiers died in the
fighting at Gaines's Mill.]
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.
[Illustration: Field hospitals, such as this one established near
Mechanicsville in June, 1862, could usually be found near the
battlefield. The man in the center foreground is a doctor examining
the leg wound of a soldier.]