Fascinating Civil War Facts
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At least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War Of every 1,000 Federals in battle, 112 were wounded Of every 1,000 Confederates, 150 were hit The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, in a charge at Petersburg, Virginia, 18 June 1864, sustained a "record" loss of the war-635 of its 900 men within seven minutes. The bloodiest battles of the War were: Gettysburg (3 days) ....................... 51,116 casualties Antietam (1 day) ............................ 22,726 casualties Seven Days Battle .......................... 36,463 casualties The Confederate regiments sustaining the greatest losses in one battle were: 26th North Carolina ................ 86 killed 588 wounded (Gettysburg) 6th Alabama ....................... 91 killed 277 wounded (Seven Pines) 4th North Carolina................. 77 killed 286 wounded (Seven Pines) 44th Georgia ..................... 71 killed 264 wounded (Mechanicsville) There were more Northern-born Confederate generals than Southern-born Union generals. The general with the longest name was union General Alexander Schimmelfennig The largest cavalry battle took place at Brandy Station Virginia, June 9, 1863. There were 100 men in a Company and 10 Companies in a Regiment. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson often went about camp handing out Sunday school leaflets. Approximately 3 million men served at some point between 1861 and 1865, about 900,000 for the Confederacy and 2.1 million for the Union. An estimated 300 women disguised themselves as men and fought in the ranks. About 180,000 African American men served in the Union army. By the time of the Confederate surrender in 1865, there were more African Americans in the Union army than there were soldiers in the Confederate army. More than 3,000 horses were killed at Gettysburg 3,530 Indians who fought for the Union, 1,018 were killed Within the Civil War soldiers Three hundred were thirteen or under-most of these fifers or drummers, but regularly enrolled, and sometimes fighters. Twenty-five were ten or under Civil War has long been known for its "firsts." American President assassinated, Hospital ships, Medal of Honor, Cigarette tax Tobacco tax The Income tax. Legal voting for servicemen Organized medical and nursing corps Photography of battle In dollars and cents, the U.S. government estimated Jan. 1863 that the war was costing $2.5 million daily. A final official estimate in 1879 totaled $6,190,000,000. The Confederacy spent perhaps $2,099,808,707. In addition to its dead and wounded from battle and disease, the Union listed sunstroke fatalities at 313 Of the 425 Confederate generals, 146 were graduates of West Point. Almost 1/3 of US Army officers resigned to serve the Confederacy. Archibald Gracie III, a West Point graduate and son of CS Gen Archibald Gracie, Jr., survived the sinking of the Titanic. 
Union privates were paid $13 per month until after the final raise of 20 June '64, when they got $16. In the infantry and artillery, officer was as follows at the start of the war: colonels, $212; lieutenant colonels, $181; majors, $169; captains, $115.50; first lieutenants, $105.50; and second lieutenants, $105.50. Other line and staff officers drew an average of about $15 per month more. Pay for one, two, and three star generals was $315, $457, and $758, respectively. The Confederate pay structure was modeled after that of the US Army. Privates continued to be paid at the prewar rate of $11 per month until June '64, when the pay of all enlisted men was raised $7 per month. Alfred Thomas Archmedes Torbert held commissions in both USA and CSA armies simultaneously Surgeons never washed their hands after an operation, because all blood was assumed to be the same, nor did he wash his instruments After the Battle of Gettysburg the discarded rifles were collected and sent to Washington to be inspected and reissued? Of the 37,574 rifles recovered, 24,000were still loaded; 6,000 had one round in the barrel; 12,000 had two rounds in the barrel; 6,000 had three to ten rounds in the barrel. A regiment of volunteers has been commenced at Albany to be composed entirely of men over forty-five years One of the New York regiments contains thirty schoolmasters An Iowa regiment has a rule that any man who utters an oath shall read a chapter in the Bible. Several have got nearly through the Old Testament Thomas Stewart, aged 92 years, of East Newtown, Ohio, was private in the 101st Ohio regiment, and took part in the battle of Perryville, where he was complimented for his bravery and soldierly bearing. He has four sons, two grandsons, and three sons-in-law at present in the army. He was born in 1770 at Litchfield, Conn., where his father now resides, aged 122 The death of Major McCook furnishes some melancholy coincidences in the history of his family in connection with the war. His youngest son, Charles, was killed at the battle of Bull Run, on the 21st day of July, 1861; his son, Col. Robert McCook, was killed on the 21st day of July, 1862, and the father himself was killed on the 21st day of July, 1863. Some idea of the tremendous work at Gettysburg may be inferred from the fact stated that more shells were discharged in the single battle of Gettysburg than were employed in all the battles that Napoleon ever fought If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. The name "Dixie" became a universal nickname for the South long before the war. "Unlike many Southern banks, the prospering Creole financial houses of New Orleans dealt at par; their notes were traded at face value, and no deductions were made or asked in the brisk trade which came downriver into the gay Louisiana city. The most popular of these bank notes was a ten-dollar bill. Its French heritage was clear in the cheery legend on each corner: "Dix." To unlettered tradesmen, stevedores and boatman, these bills were only "Dixies," and as their soundness became known in the great river basin, the lower South became "Dixieland" . . . On May 13, 1865, a month after Lee's surrender, Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana became the last man killed in the Civil War, in a battle at Palmito Ranch, Texas. The final skirmish was a Confederate victory. Info gathered from among the following. The Civil War: Strange Facts by Burke Davis 2,000 Questions and Answers About the Civil War by Webb B. Garrison Civil War Ghost Stories & Legends by Nancy Roberts "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War" Edited by Patricia L. Faust |
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