Davis Rifles of the 37th Virgina Infantry Regiment

[Southern Son]

I have read in the book 'Born Fighting' by James Webb a little story of 37th Virgina Infantry Regiment.
One of the authors ancestor served in the Company D of the Davis Rifles of the 37th Regiment,Virginia Infantry, under the leadership of Gen.Stonewall Jackson.The offical records show that 1490 men volunteered to join the 37th Regiment.At the end of the war only 39 were left,when Gen.Lee surrendered at Appomattox.
The Davis Rifles were not unique in this fate.To his knowledge,no modern army has exceeded the percentage of the losses the Conferderate Army endured,and only the Scottish regiments in WW1 and the Germans in WW2 come close.
77 of the 425 Generals of the south died.
From the North 47 of its 583 Generals.
The men of the Conferderate Army gave every ounce of courage and loyality to the leadership they trusted and respected.
I was very surprised by the high casualties from the southern regiments.

Born Fighting is a book,how the 'Scots-Irish shaped America'.

[johan_steele]

Keep in mind that many... no make that a majority of the casualties were wounded or missing (either capture or deserted) Casualty rates over well over 150% were not uncommon to US Rifle Companies & Battalions in WW2.

THe number of 39 left to surrender fails to take into account how many men voted w/ their feet. Even such venerable units as the Stonewall Brigade had suffered appaling loses due to desertion, some considerably higher than their 60%.

THe idea that only Scottish Regiments of WW1 & German Regiments of WW2 approached or surpassed such casualty rates shows me the author lacked one fundamental thing in the work... research. Such an appaling oversight makes me wonder what else is incorrect.

[whitworth]

One can never account for what happened to the soldiers of either army, without a consideration of desertions.
Lee complained bitterly about the rate of desertions and the fact the soldiers were taking their muskets with them. Lee even mentioned one section of the Confederacy where "friends" were promoting desertion and that the "home guard" was well outarmed to do anything about it.
One diarist said that many Georgians were deserting because of Sherman's March and that a 20 day furlough would be given an Confederate soldier, who shot one of their deserters.
One Confederate soldier wrote after the war, of soldiers who were part of a skirmish line along the Chattahoochee River, who laid down their weapons, crossed the river, and went into enemy lines on their way, hopefully home in Tennessee.