Union regiments

[MikeyB]

Did the vast majority of Union regiments start off with 1000 men?

Later in the war, it would not be unusual to have 200 man regiments. Does this imply that you had an 80% chance of dying or being wounded to the point of no longer being able to serve? I guess you would have to back out those that were captured, but when you think about casualty figures this way, its quite astounding.

 

[DixieRifles]

Later in the war, it would not be unusual to have 200 man regiments.

Hmm. I thought the Union armies were able to bring in replacements. Of course they never returned to the original strength but 200 seems low to me. That sounds like the size of the typical Confederate regiments but then I haven't traced the history of many Union regiments.

 

[Niagara1864]

Did the vast majority of Union regiments start off with 1000 men?

Later in the war, it would not be unusual to have 200 man regiments. Does this imply that you had an 80% chance of dying or being wounded to the point of no longer being able to serve? I guess you would have to back out those that were captured, but when you think about casualty figures this way, its quite astounding.

Far more men were lost from regiments due to desertion and disability rather than by death. I think the average figure was about 15 to 20% death rate in a regiment. Of course each regiment has widely varying figures

 

[Cavalier]

I believe, generally speaking, new regiments were created rather than refilling the depleted the ranks of existing regiments in the Union army.

John

 

[Pete Longstreet]

Ideally, a regiment would consist of anywhere from 800-1000 soldiers. But that was the ideal number. Over a period of time factor in sickness, desertion, wounded, dead, etc, and those numbers obviously declined. As the war continued, new regiments and companies were formed, rather than filling the vacant positions in the former regiments. That probably accounts for the lower numbers as the war progressed.

 

[rpkennedy]

Did the vast majority of Union regiments start off with 1000 men?

Later in the war, it would not be unusual to have 200 man regiments. Does this imply that you had an 80% chance of dying or being wounded to the point of no longer being able to serve? I guess you would have to back out those that were captured, but when you think about casualty figures this way, its quite astounding.

In my experience, new regiments generally came close to the regulation size (800-1000) when they were first mustered into service but quickly shrank as their term went on. Most of this loss was due to disease, desertion, and resignation but a battle could rapidly shrink a unit.

Ryan

 

[leftyhunter]

Did the vast majority of Union regiments start off with 1000 men?

Later in the war, it would not be unusual to have 200 man regiments. Does this imply that you had an 80% chance of dying or being wounded to the point of no longer being able to serve? I guess you would have to back out those that were captured, but when you think about casualty figures this way, its quite astounding.

If you look at the figures from Dyers Compendium you will see that the there were some Unionist Cavalry Regiments from Arkansas that started out with over 2k men although obviously they finished with less. Definitely take a look at Dyers Compendium.
Leftyhunter

 

[PrivateBrooke]

Also that little hiccup with the 2nd Maine, made famous in the Gettysburg movie, was not terribly uncommon it seems. Especially early in the war, you'd get regiments with mixed length enlistments. So guys would be mustering out, while the regiment otherwise remained intact. Also the four D's :

Disease
Desertion
Disability
Death

They also didn't generally get replenished, at least not heavily. With the exception of some of the famous units like the Iron Brigade and Irish Brigade regiments, the 14th Brooklyn, those types. There's a reason Union regimental numbers went so high, especially in the bigger states: They formed a new regiment rather than sending the recruits to existing ones from their state. Confederate numbers stayed low for the opposite reason, they usually distributed recruits to existing regiments from their state.

The number you see in the order of battle is usually not the number currently on the roster. It's simply the number of effectives reporting for battle. The regiment might almost double in size a few days after a battle, as the less seriously wounded as well as those on sick leave or who were otherwise unavailable return to duty.

 

[111thNYSV]

In many of the regimental histories I read, mostly NY infantry regiments, it seemed common for an officer and a couple rank and file to go home during winter months and recruit replacements. Some were more successful than others. In the 124th NY book, the recruiting party sent home wasn't very successful as the newspapers made it sound as if you joined the 124th NY you were sure to be killed in battle. Other units were more successful and the authors would describe how they would have to teach the new replacements.

 

[Cavalier]

I can't remember where I read this of course, but the claim by the author was that creating new regiments rather than refilling the ranks of old ones gave the state governors opportunities to create more officer positions as political favors.

John

 

[Cavalier]

As an interesting example of the subject being discussed, the five regiments of the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg contained 532 men. The three original New York regiments contained 240 men between them.

I believe Meagher attempts to resign because he is not allowed to return to New York to recruit more troops for his depleted brigade.

John

 

[PrivateBrooke]

As an interesting example of the subject being discussed, the five regiments of the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg contained 532 men. The three original New York regiments contained 240 men between them.

I believe Meagher attempts to resign because he is not allowed to return to New York to recruit more troops for his depleted brigade.

John

He was allowed to recruit after Sharpsburg, I believe. Subsequent requests were however denied. Like you said above, new regiments mean more officers to be appointed as favors.

 

[TimJeffers]

The 3rd Iowa Infantry picked up nearly 150 recruits. As far as losses, the greatest number was from disability (due to either disease or injury), then death (about equally split between wounds and disease), then capture. Some were transferred to other units. Desertion was a very small number. Also, many of those discharged due to disability joined another unit after recovering.