Number in Uniform in 1865

[sjepperson]

Could somebody give me an idea of how many men were still in the field (on both sides) in early 65?

[tamaroa]

That is a next to impossible task, Steve. You might want to refer to E.B. Long's Civil War Day by Day. He has a very extensive appendix which may cover what you want. As far as I know from the years studying the war, it is thought that there were 1.4 million enlistments in the Confederate army and a tad over 4 million enlistments in the Union army. The term enlistments is more appropriate because on many occasions, a soldier's time would be up and he would reenlist in another unit. Here in Rockland County, NY, soldier's enlistments expired in the 17th NYV in June, 1863. Many of them re-enlisted in either the 6th New York Heavy Artillery, 95th New York Infantry, 127th New York Infantry.

The nature of record keeping was primitive, soldier's stood muster every two months for their regiment. They could be present, absent on duty with pioneers, sick in hospital, etc. Because of the two month gap between musters, it is difficult to pinpoint an army's strength at any given time. Educated estimates are the best one can do. For example, it is estimated that near the end of the Petersburg campaign in the Confederate trenches, there were roughly 35,000 Rebs. I have seen figures from 120,000 to 180,000 Yanks opposing them. Again these numbers are gleaned from muster records which could be notoriously inaccurate. The muster records you get from the archives now are not originals, they are summations copied by a war dept. clerk years after the war. Who knows what errors were made in transcription?

Bill

[gary]

Considering how fast the Confederates were "melting" away through desertions, that's pretty tough. I read at Petersburg that another line of pickets were placed behind the Confederate lines to catch deserters. It's estimated though that at least 100,000 men in the South seceded from the war and returned home or went into hiding.

[johan_steele]

An add to your note on Desertions Gary. Even the most loyal Confederate Units suffered desaertion rates in excess of 40%. The lowest desertion rate in the CSA was that of Kentucky's Orphan Brigade, their desertion rate was a little less than 15%... That's hideous.

About 2.75 Million men served in the Civil War-About 2 million for the Union and about 750,000 for the CSA. It's all but impossible to know how many were still on the field for the CSA in 1865.