What was the average number of hours/days of combat for a soldier during the Civil War?

Waterloo50

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Last night I was watching a tv documentary called ‘The lost tapes of Vietnam’, at the end of one of the episodes the claim was made that during WW2, troops would see an average of 10 days combat in one year, during the Vietnam war the average number of combat days increased to 240 per year, of course, these claims made me wonder about the number of combat hours a soldier could expect to see during the civil war. My question is this, Has there been any research carried out that gives us any idea how many combat hours a CW soldier would experience or is it impossible to know?
Thank you in advance.👍
 
So I found a website that repeats this number - https://www.uswings.com/about-us-wings/vietnam-war-facts/

But it's worth pointing out the actual statistic is, "The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter."

An infantryman in the South Pacific is a very specific set of circumstances. An infantryman in Vietnam is a very broad set of circumstances. In other words, I don't think we can attach all that much significance to either number.

I guess I’ll just say this in conclusion - I think the only real way to reach a meaningful conclusion would be to compare what an infantry soldier could “expect” to experience in terms of combat while on the front lines (regardless of how long or frequent that time on the front lines is).

The experience of soldiers in the campaigns of 1864 and 1865 of extended time spent under fire was notable as being a departure from the normal experience.

For soldiers in WWII and Vietnam, the normal experience/expectation was to be on the line for an extended time under fire. (Yes you can find examples of the opposite - of Marines in the Pacific thinking the artillery and planes had killed all of the Japanese soldiers before they landed for example - but I'm speaking in general terms).

Time between campaigns, strategy, unit casualty rates, and other factors could and did impact the total number of days a soldier was in combat.

But in 1861-1863, the average soldier when on the “front lines” could expect maybe 5-10 days of low to extremely high intensity combat a year and the rest of the time to be spent marching and sitting in camp. At most, no more than a week of those days would be continuous, and usually no more than three days. In 1864-1865 soldiers could expect longer periods of low intensity combat lasting a month or more (sitting in the trenches at Petersburg for example) punctuated by a small number of extremely high intensity days, usually not lasting more than a day or two at a time continuously (such as an attempted breakthrough or a maneuver to cut a rail line). I don’t think there are many examples of regiments during the civil war suffering devastating casualties for more than a day or two at a time continuously.

Throughout all of WWII a soldier on the “front lines” could expect extended periods of continuous low intensity combat (holding a line or advancing through a sparsely defended area) punctuated by several days, weeks, even months of continuous high intensity combat (taking a city like Aachen, fighting in the Hurtgen Forest, or the Battle of Tarawa for example). The amount of time they would spend continuously in combat would depend on the strength of the enemy force and the difficulty of the terrain.

Vietnam soldiers could expect a lot of low intensity combat (daily patrols marked by short, sharp firefights or sniper fire) and a few several week to month to several month long high intensity experiences (Siege of Khe Sanh, Siege of Con Thien, Battle of Hamburger Hill, etc.)

As for how many days they would be on those “front lines” there are too many factors to consider - branch, theater, time period, etc. The 1st Marine Division fought 4 campaigns during WWII - Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. The 5th Marine Division fought 1 - Iwo Jima, which was a month straight of pretty much continuous high intensity combat.

Outside of these broad terms, I think there are too many outside factors to meaningfully compare "days in combat" between wars (or even within a war to be honest).

Disclaimer: None of this is meant to minimize the sacrifice of any service members in any wars. Any experience of combat is a life-altering experience no matter the intensity.
Using the First Marine Division as the example, each one of those campaigns was a month or more.

For example the 1st MarDiv was fighting on Guadalcanal from the initial invasion on August until 9 December when they were withdrawn to Australia. So 4 months of which they were involved in combat the majority of the time. Casualties were 650 killed in action, 1,278 wounded in action with a further 8,580 contracting malaria and 31 missing in action. They Landed with roughly 16,000 troops and fought for 4 months 2 days. Casualties were 650 killed in action, 1,278 wounded in action with a further 8,580 contracting malaria and 31 missing in action.The division was in such a shattered state that they were not put back into the fight for almost a year.
So basically after Guadalcanal the 1st Marine Division had 5461 Marines "Combat Ready".

26 Dec 1943 they landed at Cape Gloucester. The Island was declared secure on January 16th 1944, but Mopping up operations went on until 23 April 1944 when they were relieved by Army troops. Again another almost 4 month Campaign. 310 killed and 1,083 wounded.

15 Sept 1944 the Division Landed on Peleliu and was relieved by the 81st Division of the US Army on 30 October. The island was considered Secured on November 27th 1944 after almost another month of fighting by the 81stDiv.
Casualties for the 1st Marine Division were 1121 killed in action, 5142 wounded, 73 missing

The final campaign for the 1st Marine Division was Okinawa. The division landed on 1 April 1945 and in conjunction with the 6th Marine Division cleared the Northern end of the island with dramatically less fighting than the US forces on the southern end of the island. On May 1st the Division moved south and relieved the Army's 27th Division due to casualties. The Division was in the thick of it until the island was declared secure on 22 June 1945. The battle which took 82 days cost the division 1,655 killed in action, 6745 wounded, 41 missing.

So the Comparison to Iwo Jima isnt a fair or accurate one, especially when compared to Peleliu or Okinawa. Peleliu was 45 days of continuous combat. Okinawa if you go from May first when they moved south, 52 days.

Just something to think about
 
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So the Comparison to Iwo Jima isnt a fair or accurate one, especially when compared to Peleliu or Okinawa. Peleliu was 45 days of continuous combat. Okinawa if you go from May first when they moved south, 52 days.
Apologies - I wasn't comparing the 1st Marine Division's service to Iwo Jima. I was just saying one division fought in four campaigns and the other fought in one. I highlighted the intensity of the fighting on Iwo Jima so I wouldn't be accused of minimizing the sacrifice of the 5th Marine Division, not to suggest they fought harder or under worse conditions than the 1st.
 
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The other interesting question about this issue is how many of the original volunteers of 1861 were still in the ranks by 1865. Or if we consider the 3 year Union men, how many who joined (or what percentage), were able to complete their terms of service.
My Great, Great, Great Grandfather Samuel B. Kennedy joined the 3 year 11th PA Volunteer Regiment as a private at the age of 16 on October 1, 1861. This was after the 3 month 11th PA Volunteer Regiment was disbanded. He showed on the muster roles as a private in Company K until the 11th PA Volunteer Regiment was mustered out as a Veteran on June 9, 1865. The Regiment had 1890 men pass through its ranks in those four years. He completed his 3 year service and re-enlisted as a Veteran on January 5, 1864. PaulW
 
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