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The Civil War was the deadliest war in the history of the United States. In all, over 600,000 people died as a direct result of injury in battle, disease, or as prisoners.
Union
Confederate
Total
Killed in Battle
112,000
94,000
206,000
Died of Disease
197,000
140,000
337,000
Died as Prisoners
64,000
26,000
90,000
Total Deaths
373,000
260,000
633,000
Statistics from Ayers et al. American Passages, p. 518
Deadliest U.S. Wars
1.) U.S. Civil War
633,000 American deaths
2.) World War II
405,000 American deaths
3.) World War I
116,000 American deaths
4.) Vietnam War
90,000 American deaths
5.) Korean War
54,000 American deaths
Note: Figures for tables are approximate
Dealiest Battles of the Civil War
1.) Gettyburg (PA) 1863
Between 46,000 – 51,000 casaulties
2.) Chickamauga (GA) 1863
Apx. 35,000 casualties
3.) Spotsylvania (VA) 1864
Apx. 32,000 casualties
4.) Chancellorsville (VA) 1863
Apx. 31,000 casualties
5.) Wilderness (VA) 1864
Apx. 29,000 casualties
As is often the case in wars and sieges, the majority of the deaths in the Civil war were caused by disease. Field hospitals often became centers for infection and disease as mass numbers of wounded soldiers would be housed together in filthy conditions with little or no sanitation.
Most of the horrenous injuries suffered by soldiers were as a result of being hit with bullets from “minnie balls.” Soldiers hit with such bullets in the head or abdomen nearly always died, but those in the arms and legs suffered considerable damage and often had the affected limbs amputated with various kinds of forceps. Such gruesome tools were not washed properly, and infection spread quickly from one soldier to another, or, from the dirty hands of the surgeon.
In Union and Confederate prisons, prisoners often died from disease, which spread quickly in the deplorable conditions, or died outright from neglect or starvation. In the infamous Andersonville, Georgia (sometimes called Camp Sumter) prison camp, conditions were so horrid that prisoners were described as “walking skeletons.” Of the 45,000 total prisoners that were sent to Andersonville, more than one in four died of starvation, dysentery, or another disease.
This Union soldier survived Andersonville
Death in the Civil War Video (From the Museum of the Confederacy moc.org)
