From: Graham Broad (graham_broad@sympatico.ca)
Subject: Confusion About Casualties
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Newsgroups: soc.history.war.us-civil-war
Date: 2004-06-05 17:05:08 PST
Hello. I searched the group FAQ for this but to no avail. I apologize
if it has been discussed to death.
I'm trying to clear up some confusion about the total number of Civil
War dead for a lecture I'm giving on Monday.
I'm trying to clear up some confusion regarding Civil War casualties.
I realize that exact accounting is impossible, especially where
wounded are concerned, as some soldiers would be wounded more than
once, for instance. So I'll limit my discussion just to deaths"
I think that the number of combat deaths / mortally wounded is widely
agreed upon:
Union: about 110,000
Confederacy: about 94,000
I think, as well, that the number of deaths due to disease is
more-or-less agreed upon:
Union: about 250,000
Confederacy: about 164,000
Adding all of the above up and we get 618,000 (a fairly standard
figure in most major sources on the war.)
Here's where my confusion begins:
1) "Other" Union Deaths. Several sources inform me that, in addition
to the above, the Union listed the following deaths: In addition to
its dead and wounded from battle and disease, the Union listed:
Deaths in Prison 24,866
Drowning 4,944
Accidental deaths 4,144
Murdered 520
Suicides 391
Sunstroke 313
Military executions 267
Killed after capture 104
Executed by enemy 64
Unclassified 14,155
Or an additional 50,000 deaths, which would make the total deaths
closer to 670,000 rather than 618,000. Presumably the Confederates had
a substantial number of deaths in categories like the above, as well.
Am I missing something here?
2) Civil Deaths. I've googled and googled and searched a number of
standard works and can find no estimate of the number of civilian
deaths. I know that most of the big battles were fought in the
countryside and I'm aware that only one civilian death is recorded at
Gettysburg, for instance, which would indicate that civilian deaths
were quite low. On the other hand, presumably enough towns were
shelled (Vicksburg, for instance) and enough put to the torch
(Sherman's march, etc.) that some substantial number of civilian
deaths must have occurred.
My thanks in advance for an assistance:
Graham Broad
Dept. of History
University of Western Ontario
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