American Civil War casualties facts for kids
The American Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history. American Civil War casualties include all soldiers, both Union and Confederate, who died, were wounded, went missing, or were captured. Battles like Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg were very violent. This shocked people across the country and even around the world.
Most soldiers who died during the war actually died from disease, not from battle wounds. It's hard to know the exact number of deaths because records were not perfect. All numbers for Civil War casualties are estimates. For a long time, historians thought about 618,222 soldiers died, often rounded to 620,000. But newer studies suggest the number might be closer to 750,000, which is about 20% higher.
Contents
Background
In 1860, many people didn't think the Southern states leaving the Union would lead to a big war. Some thought it would be a very short fight, or even just for show. Southerners didn't believe the North would raise an army against them. One senator even joked he would drink all the blood shed if the South declared independence.
When it became clear a fight was coming, both sides still thought it would end quickly. In 1861, when the Union Army fought the First Battle of Bull Run, they expected a fast win to end the war. After the Union lost that battle, the Confederates thought the Union would just give up. Both sides were wrong. The war lasted four long years.
During the 1850s, weapons improved a lot, especially rifles. In the Civil War, soldiers used rifles that could shoot farther and more accurately than older muskets. They also reloaded faster. However, armies still used old military tactics. They marched in close groups and fired together. These new, powerful rifles combined with old tactics caused up to 90% of all deaths in battle.
A "casualty" during the Civil War meant any soldier who couldn't do his job. This included being sick, wounded, captured, missing, or killed. A single soldier could be listed as a casualty many times during the war.
Dying for a Cause
In the mid-1800s, people thought differently about death, especially dying for a cause. Many men saw going to war as a chance for honor and glory. They believed giving their life for their country was the highest calling. However, dying from disease was seen as a terrible way to go. Most soldiers feared disease more than dying in battle. They were often told that dying in war was "for God and country." This gave them strong reasons to fight. Many soldiers were Christians and felt ready to die. They believed in a "good death," which meant dying bravely and honorably. This showed others how to die well.
Civil War Medicine
Poor medical care also led to many deaths. In 1861, medical knowledge and treatments were very basic. Doctors often didn't know what caused diseases. Also, medical hygiene was very bad. Doctors often didn't wash their hands or tools when moving from one patient to another. This spread infections. Because of this, doctors sometimes made soldiers sicker instead of better.
Army camps also had very poor hygiene. There weren't enough clean toilets, and soldiers often lacked proper shelter, clothing, shoes, and food. Contaminated water was also a big problem. All these issues led to high death rates in the camps. Diarrhea and dysentery were the main causes of death. About twice as many soldiers died from disease as from gunshot wounds.
Other common illnesses included:
- Breathing problems (like asthma and pneumonia)
- Skin problems (like "army itch" and insect bites)
- Digestion issues (like constipation and scurvy)
- Infectious diseases (like cholera, measles, smallpox, and typhoid fever)
- Broken bones and sprains
- Parasites
Soldiers captured by the enemy and held as prisoners of war (POWs) faced even worse conditions. They often lived in terrible places, which made them more likely to get sick and die. Starvation also became a problem in POW camps as more soldiers were captured. Even nurses often caught diseases from the soldiers they cared for.
Poor Records
Many soldiers killed in battle were never identified when they were buried. Army records were mainly used to count how many men were in each unit, not to track every single soldier. Confederate military records are much fewer than Union records. When Richmond fell in 1865, many Confederate records were destroyed or lost. Some records were saved by the Union Army and sent to Washington, D.C.. Later, efforts were made to collect and copy any remaining Confederate records.
Death Estimates
For a long time, historians used numbers from Thomas L. Livermore, who estimated about 618,222 deaths. His numbers were based on incomplete battle reports. He also made guesses about how many died from disease. His book was called Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America, 1861-65.
Before Livermore, another Civil War veteran, William F. Fox, worked very hard to get his numbers. He looked at many lists and records. In 1889, he wrote Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Fox estimated around 94,000 battle deaths. He also shared facts about the average Union soldier, like their height and weight.
Interestingly, even earlier, Francis A. Walker, who was in charge of the 1870 United States Census, thought the number of male deaths was "not less than 850,000." But this higher number wasn't widely accepted. This was partly because the census itself was thought to have errors. Walker's estimate was based on how much the population usually grew, minus the men who were missing from the census.
Modern Death Estimate
Today, many historians believe the earlier death estimates were too low. J. David Hacker, a historian from Binghamton University in New York, has made a new calculation. His estimate is about 20% higher than before, putting the total at around 750,000 deaths. This new number uses digitized census data from the 1800s.
In 1860, the U.S. population was almost 31.5 million. About 2 million men fought for the Union, and about 750,000 for the Confederacy. About 75% of these soldiers were born in America. Many of the 25% who were born in other countries did not appear in census records before the war. This made counting them harder.
Wounded Warriors
Amputation was the most common surgery during the Civil War. Doctors performed about 60,000 surgeries, and nearly 75% of them were amputations. There were several reasons for this. The slow-moving Minié ball bullets caused huge damage, often shattering bones beyond repair. Amputations were also done to stop gangrene and other serious infections. Many wounded men lay on the battlefield for a day or more before reaching a surgeon.
Another big reason was that medics had too many wounded men and very little time. They couldn't spend time trying to fix damaged body parts. Also, if a soldier was shot in the head, stomach, or chest, they usually died before reaching a field hospital.
Before the war, most American doctors had never seen such terrible wounds. They mostly had experience with simple things like lancing boils or pulling teeth. Doctors knew very little about germs and bacteria. Bandages were used again and again on different men without being washed or disinfected. By today's standards, the operations were very rough. Soldiers called medics "butchers" and feared amputations more than anything. Some soldiers even tried to treat their own wounds to avoid losing a limb.
Where a wound was on a limb affected a soldier's chance of survival after Surgery. The closer the wound was to the body, the higher the chance of death. For example, Confederate General John Bell Hood was shot in the leg at the Battle of Chickamauga. His leg was cut off just over 4 inches (100 mm) from his hip. This type of hip surgery had an 83% death rate. Luckily, Hood was among the 17% who survived. Arm wounds had a lower death rate of 24%. However, Stonewall Jackson did not live long after losing his arm.
The amputation process itself was done quickly. A cut was made around the arm or leg, then the bone was sawed through. Nerves were pulled out and cut off. The bloody stump was often left to heal on its own, or a flap of skin was sewn over it. The surgeon had to work fast to prevent the patient from losing too much blood or going into shock. A leg amputation at the knee could be done in three minutes. In most cases, anesthesia was used to help with the pain.
Men who survived an amputation needed to return to work after the war. They needed a prosthesis (an artificial limb) to replace a missing arm or leg. North Carolina was the first former Confederate state to provide artificial legs to its veterans. In 1866, they passed a law to give artificial legs to veterans who needed them. If a veteran couldn't use an artificial leg, they were given $70 instead. North Carolina helped 1,550 veterans in this way.
See Also
