White Flint Bill
Sergeant
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2017
- Location
- Southern Virginia
Professor Jeffrey W. McClurken has collected and analyzed the data concerning Pittsylvania County, Virginia's contribution to the war effort in his book Take Care of the Living: Reconstructing Confederate Veteran Families in Virginia (University of Virginia Press, 2009).
According to his analysis, 79% of Pittsylvania County's military age men served in "front-line" duty (compared to 60% in the South as a whole) and one-fourth of the Pittsylvania County men who served died in service. 24% of county men who served (683 men) spent time in a Federal prison during the war, and 108 of them died in prison. All told, three-quarters of the county men who served were killed, wounded, captured, died of disease or suffered a life-threatening illness during the War.
This has me wondering how those numbers compare to other American counties. Are those numbers matched or exceeded by any other counties? Does anyone know what county has the distinction of bearing the most casualties as a percentage of its military-age population?
According to his analysis, 79% of Pittsylvania County's military age men served in "front-line" duty (compared to 60% in the South as a whole) and one-fourth of the Pittsylvania County men who served died in service. 24% of county men who served (683 men) spent time in a Federal prison during the war, and 108 of them died in prison. All told, three-quarters of the county men who served were killed, wounded, captured, died of disease or suffered a life-threatening illness during the War.
This has me wondering how those numbers compare to other American counties. Are those numbers matched or exceeded by any other counties? Does anyone know what county has the distinction of bearing the most casualties as a percentage of its military-age population?