FOX'S REGIMENTAL LOSSES
CHAPTER XV.
THE eleven States of the Southern Confederacy had, in 1860, a military population of 1,064,193 with which to confront the 4,559,872 of the same class, belonging to the other States and Territories. This number was largely supplemented during each successive year of the war by those who attained their eighteenth year of age, at which time they became liable to military duty.(*)
The phrase "military population," as used in the Eighth Census, represented the white males between the ages of 18 and 45, and included all who were unfit for military duty on account of physical or mental infirmities. These exempts--which include, also, all cases of minor defects--constitute, in every country, one-fifth of the military population.(+) But the Confederate recruiting officers did not insist on any high standard of physical requirements. Their need was too pressing; and they accepted all recruits or conscripts except those whose disabilities manifestly incapacitated them for military service.
The Confederate States, however, could send to the war a far greater proportion of their military population than the Northern States, as they possessed a large agricultural population of blacks who were exempt from military service. The aggregate enrollment of the Confederate Armies during the whole war, according to their best authorities, numbered over 600,000 effective men; of whom not over 400,000 were enrolled at any time.(++) These eleven States furnished, also, 86,009 men to the Union Armies, receiving in return over 19,000 men from the Border.
Many will hold, and with good reasons, that 600,000 is too low an estimate for the total number that served in the Confederate Armies. Their military population and sweeping conscription acts indicate more. The number of regiments which served continuously during the war indicate more.
A compilation made from the official rosters of the Confederate Armies as they stood at various battles, and at various dates covering the entire period of the war, shows that the different States kept the following number of regimental organizations in almost continuous service in the field:
ALABAMA -- 55 regiments, and 11 battalions of infantry; 5 regiments of cavalry; 3 regiments of partisan rangers; and 16 batteries of light artillery.
ARKANSAS--35 regiments, and 12 battalions of infantry; 6 regiments, and 2 battalions of cavalry; and 15 batteries of light artillery.
FLORIDA--10 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 2 regiments, and 1 battalion of cavalry; and 6 batteries of light artillery.
GEORGIA--68 regiments, and 17 battalions of infantry; 11 regiments, and 2 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of partisan rangers; 2 battalions of heavy artillery; and 28 batteries of light artillery.
LOUISIANA--34 regiments, and 10 battalions of infantry; 2 regiments, and 1 battalion of cavalry; 1 regiment of partisan rangers; 2 regiments of heavy artillery; and 26 batteries of light artillery.
MISSISSIPPI-- 49 regiments, and 6 battalions of infantry; 7 regiments, and 4 battalions of cavalry; 2 regiments of partisan rangers; and 20 batteries of light artillery.
NORTH CAROLINA-- 69 regiments, and 4 battalions of infantry; 1 regiment, and 5 battalions of cavalry; 2 battalions of heavy artillery; and 9 batteries of light artillery.
SOUTH CAROLINA -- 33 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 7 regiments and 1 battalion of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of heavy artillery; and 28 batteries of light artillery.
TENNESSEE--61 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 21 regiments, and 11 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of heavy artillery; and 32 batteries of light artillery.
TEXAS--22 regiments, and 5 battalions of infantry; 28 regiments, and 4 battalions of cavalry;(*) and 16 batteries of light artillery.
VIRGINIA -- 65 regiments, and 10 battalions of infantry; 22 regiments, and 11 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment of partisan rangers; 1 regiment of artillery; and 53(+) batteries of light artillery.
BORDER STATES-- 21 regiments, and 4 battalions of infantry; 9 regiments, and 5 battalions of cavalry; and 11 batteries of light artillery.
C. S. REGULARS-- 7 regiments of infantry; 6 regiments of cavalry; and one battery of light artillery.
AGGREGATE--529 regiments, and 85 battalions of infantry; 127 regiments and 47 battalions of cavalry; 8 regiments and 1 battalion of partisan rangers 5 regiments and 6 battalions of heavy artillery; and 261 batteries of light artillery. In all, equivalent to 764: regiments of 10 companies each.
These were all troops of the line, and they served during the whole, or the greater part of the war. The number does not include regiments which served a short time only; neither does it include disbanded or consolidated regiments; nor State militia, Junior Reserves, Senior Reserves, Home Guards, Local Defense regiments, and separate companies. And, yet, these miscellaneous organizations rendered effective service at times, and took the place of regular troops. The Petersburg intrenchments on June 15, 1864, were held successfully by militiamen during the first assault, until the arrival of Lee's army. Partisan bands like Moseby's and John Morgan's kept ten times their number of Union cavalry employed in protecting the territory in which they operated, or in watching their movements.
The question arises, next, as to the average enrollment of the Confederate regiments. That known, the strength of their armies could be soon computed. The rolls of the North Carolina regiments have been printed and,--with the eight regiments of Junior and Senior Reserves not included in the foregoing list,-- show a total enrollment of 125,000 men. These rolls, incomplete as they necessarily are, show that twenty-two of the North Carolina regiments numbered over 1,500 men, each; and some of them over 1,800. The Confederacy organized but few new regiments after 1862; the recruits and conscripts were assigned to the old regiments to keep them up to an effective strength.
The total loss of the Confederate Armies in killed and mortally wounded will never be definitely known, and can be stated only in round numbers. A summing up of the casualties at each battle and minor engagement--using official reports only, and in their absence accepting Confederate estimates- indicates that 94, 000 men were killed or mortally wounded on the Confederate side during the war.
In the report for 1865-6, made by General James B. Fry, United States Provost Marshal-General, there is a tabulation of Confederate losses as compiled from the muster-rolls on file in the Bureau of Confederate Archives. The returns are incomplete, and nearly all the Alabama rolls are missing. Still the figures are worth noting, as they show that at least 74,524 were killed or died of wounds; and, that 59,297 died of disease. From Gen. Fry's tabulation the following abstract is made:
DEATHS IN CONFEDERATE ARMIES.
Killed. Died of Wounds.
STATE. Officers. En. Men. Total. Officers. En. Men. Total.
Virginia 266 5,062 5,328 200 2,319 2,519
North Carolina 677 13,845 14,522 330 4,821 5,151
South Carolina 360 8,827 9,187 257 3,478 3,735
Georgia 172 5,381 5,553 140 1,579 1,719
Florida 47 746 793 16 490 506
Alabama 14 538 552 9 181 190
Mississippi 122 5,685 5,807 75 2,576 2,651
Louisiana 70 2,548 2,618 42 826 868
Texas 28 1,320 1,348 13 1,228 1,241
Arkansas 104 2,061 2,165 27 888 915
Tennessee 99 2,016 2,1 15 49 825 874
Regular C. S. Army 35 972 1,007 27 441 468
Border States 92 1,867 1,959 61 672 733
Totals 2,086 50,868 52,954 1,246 20,324 21,570
Died of Disease.
Officers. En. Men. Total.
Virginia 168 6,779 6,947
North Carolina 541 20,061 20,602
South Carolina 79 4,681 4,760
Georgia 107 3,595 3,702
Florida 17 1,030 1,047
Alabama 8 716 724
Mississippi 103 6,704 6,807
Louisiana 32 3,027 3,059
Texas 10 1}250 1,260
Arkansas 74 3,708 3,782
Tennessee 72 3,353 3,425
Regular C. S. Army 25 1,105 1,040
Border States 58 2,084 2,142
Totals 1,294 58,003 59,297
If the Confederate rolls could have been completed, and then revised,--as has been done with the rolls of the Union regiments,--the number of killed as shown above (74,524) would be largely increased. As it is, the extent of such increase must remain a matter of conjecture. The Union rolls were examined at the same time, and a similar tabulation of the number killed appears, also, in General Fry's report. But this latter number was increased 15,000 by a subsequent revision based upon the papers known as "final statements," and upon newly-acquired information received through affidavits filed at the Pension Bureau.
To understand the full meaning of these figures one must keep in mind the sparse population of these States. Their military population in 1861 was:
Alabama 99,967 Louisiana 83,456 Tennessee 159,353
Arkansas 65,231 Mississippi 70,295 Texas 92,145
Florida 15,739 North Carolina 115,369 Virginia 196,587
Georgia 111,005 South Carolina 55,046 Total(*) 1,064,193
Of this number, Tennessee furnished 31,092 to the Union Armies; and the western counties of Virginia--afterwards set apart as West Virginia--furnished 31,872 men.
From the preceding figures it appears that South Carolina lost in killed over 23 per cent. of her entire military population; and that North Carolina lost over 17 per cent. Add to this the loss by disease, and the maimed or crippled for life, and the result becomes extraordinary in its heroic aspect.
The Confederate Armies lost, in the aggregate, nearly 10 per cent. in killed or mortally wounded. The average loss in the Union Armies was 5 per cent.(*) But in the latter there were over 300 regiments which were not in action, with as many more which were under fire but a few times. A large part of the Union Armies was used in protecting communications, guarding lines of supplies, in garrison duty, and as armies of occupation. The Confederate regiments were all at the front, and, although repeatedly filled up with recruits, were held there until many of them were worn out by the constant attrition.
For these reasons it is evident that although the Confederate Armies were much smaller, their losses were not necessarily smaller in proportion. Their generals displayed a wonderful ability in always confronting the enemy with an equal force at the point of contact. What mattered Hooker's extra thousands at Chancellorsville? In two corps not a shot was fired. What if Meade did have 20,000 more men at Gettysburg than Lee? The Sixth Corps lay in reserve. But in these battles, as in others, every Confederate regiment was put in and not relieved until they had lost killed and wounded men by the score.
The aggregate of killed and mortally wounded in the Confederate Armies during the war was 16,000 less than in the Union Armies; or, adding the usual proportion of wounded, a difference of about 60,000, killed and wounded, in favor of the Confederates. Up to 1864 the aggregate of losses on each side was substantially the same. There was a small percentage in favor of the Confederates up to that time; but, if their casualty lists could be subjected to the same revision as that recently applied to the nominal casualty lists of the Union Armies, it is probable that their official returns as thus corrected would show an increase which would largely offset the difference prior to 1864. The excess of 16,000 killed, in the Union aggregate --or, its equivalent of 60,000 in killed and wounded--occurred almost wholly in the campaigns of 1864-5.
The severity of the losses among the Confederates, and the heroic persistency with which they would stand before the enemy's musketry, becomes apparent in studying the official returns of various regiments.
At Gettysburg, the 26th North Carolina, of Pettigrew's Brigade, Heth's Division, went into action with an' effective strength which is stated in the regimental official report as "over 800 men." They sustained a loss, according to Surgeon-General Guild's report, of 86 killed and 502 wounded; total, 588. In addition there were about 120 missing, nearly all of whom must have been wounded or killed; but, as they fell into the enemy's hands, they were not included in the hospital report. This loss occurred mostly in the first day's fight, where the regiment encountered the 151st Pennsylvania(+) and Cooper's Battery, of Rowley's Brigade, Doubleday's Division. The Quartermaster of the 26th, who made the official report on July 4th, states that there were only 216 left for duty after the fight on the 1st inst. The regiment then participated in Pickett's charge, on the third day of the battle, in which it attacked the position held by Smyth's Brigade, Hays's Division, Second Corps. On the following day it mustered only 80 men for duty, the missing ones having fallen in the final and unsuccessful charge. In the battle of the first day, Captain Tuttle's company went into action with 3 officers and 84 men; all of the officers and 83 of the men were killed or wounded. On the same day, and in the same brigade (Pettigrew's), Company C, of the Eleventh North Carolina, lost 2 officers killed, and 34, out of 38, men killed or wounded; Captain Bird, of this company, with the four remaining men, participated in the charge on the 3d of July, and of these the flag-bearer was shot, and the captain brought out the flag himself.(*) This loss of the 26th North Carolina, at Gettysburg, was the severest regimental loss during the war.
The next instance, in point of numerical loss, is that of the 6th Alabama- Colonel John B. Gordon--at Fair Oaks. This regiment was then in Rodes's Brigade of D. H. Hill's Division, which in this fight was pitted against Naglee's Brigade of Casey's Division. The regiment lost 91 killed, 277 wounded, and 5 missing; total, 373, out of about 632 engaged.
In the same battle, and in D. H. Hill's Division also, the Fourth North Carolina, of G. B. Anderson's Brigade, sustained a loss of 77 killed, 286 wounded, and 6 missing; total, 369, out of 678 engaged.
continued
Bringing the