What Southern State Suffered the Least During the War?

Reconstructed Rebel

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Jun 7, 2021
Of all the southern states that joined their fortunes to the Confederacy, which one paid the least price during the war years? I've been trying to find the answer to this question online or in a CWT thread with no luck so far. The best I've come up with is this link, which had a few surprises for me:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/civil-war-casualties-by-state

Casualties, military or civilian, would not be the only criteria however. Damage to towns, cities, infrastructure, agricultural resources, trade, etc. are all valid considerations. Does anyone have some insight on this?
 
So as far as disruption to the state's economies, which state, FL or TX, had the worst of it? Texas had their trade routes interrupted but Florida was able to sell their agricultural products freely to the Confederacy. Does the Civil War Book of Lists mention anything about that?
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If it does I haven't found it yet.
 
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The civilian population in the Florida panhandle suffered a lot. They caught it from both sides. Lotta Union patrols and raids based outta Pensacola. Bandits, Confederate deserters and Partisan Rangers roamed the countryside and hid out pretty easily. Both sides foraged and roughed up civilians suspected of siding/supporting/collaborating with the other side.
 
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Is this data incorrect? Alabama 27,000 deaths?

Estimates for deaths in each of the Confederate states:

Taken from: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/civil-war-casualties-by-state
Missouri had an extensive guerrlla war and approximately 110k fought for the Union vs 39k for the Confedracy. Both Union and Confedrate Regiments from Missouri were heavily deployed in combat. Not seeing just 3k deaths.
Leftyhunter
 
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Missouri had an extensive guerrlla war and approximately 110k fought for the Union vs 39k for the Confedracy. Both Union and Confedrate Regiments from Missouri were heavily deployed in combat. Not seeing just 3k deaths.
Leftyhunter
According to one of the sources, the data on Confederate deaths was collected by General James Fry from Confederate muster rolls. A couple thoughts:

Did the Union count guerilla deaths the same as regular soldiers?
Maybe larger death totals represent those states where muster rolls were not destroyed or lost?
Is there any source that has reasonable estimates for Confederate dead?
For the purposes of this thread it would be helpful to have reasonable estimates of civilian casualties as well.
 
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The South received beef, mutton, wool, horses, leather, foodstuffs, and sugar from Texas. The fall of New Orleans and Vicksburg cut off the major pipelines to these supplies and I'm guessing had a terrible effect on Texas' economy. They exported goods primarily to other states - not world wide. But I'm on!y guessing at this and I can't find any data one way or another....
Don't forget nitrates. Texas had the largest nitrate deposits, most of which were developed only after the war began. Prior to developing them, the south was pushing people to dig up the soil under their outhouses for nitrates. After the fall of Vicksburg, a brigade's worth of men were diverted to working low-quality nitrate mines in the Appalachians.
 
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Is this data incorrect? Alabama 27,000 deaths?

Estimates for deaths in each of the Confederate states:

Taken from: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/civil-war-casualties-by-state
Missouri had an extensive guerrlla war and approximately 110k fought for the Union vs 39k for the Confedracy. Both Union and Confedrate Regiments from Missouri were heavily deployed in combat.
According to one of the sources, the data on Confederate deaths was collected by General James Fry from Confederate muster rolls. A couple thoughts:

Did the Union count guerilla deaths the same as regular soldiers?
Maybe larger death totals represent those states where muster rolls were not destroyed or lost?
Is there any source that has reasonable estimates for Confederate dead?
For the purposes of this thread it would be helpful to have reasonable estimates of civilian casualties as well.
Those are valid questions and the historians T.J.Stiles and Bruce Nickols would be far more authoritative. Unfortunately in counterinsurgency warfare people end up dead and it's up to the local commander to label a dead body an innocent victim or an insurgent. Many Missourians also fought in out of state regiments such has the 1st Arkansas Cavalry Union. The Missouri State Milita had at least several companies raised in Illinois.
There have been recent revisions of mortality during the ACW it's a very contentious area of study.
Leftyhunter
 
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Florida. no large campaign in it, only minor battles, low casualties

While there were no major battles, the Union occupied Pensacola, Fernandina, St. Augustine, and (periodically) Jacksonville. It also never lost Key West. There were several cavalry raids and many cutting out expeditions aimed at blockade running and/or salt manufacturing.

Florida's casualties were low in total, but I think they were a higher percentage of the population?

I would expect Florida also had more problems with deserter gangs.

Texas is my pick, although I ageee Florida was a clear second. (This assumes we don't consider Delaware a Southern state.)
 
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I'll underscore the point made earlier about Texas's western border being pushed back by the Comanches and other tribes during the war when the number of protective (mostly retaliating) mounted Ranger companies converted to Confederate cavalry and were pulled away. The Comanches were not reluctant to fill the void. No one knows how many homesteads were burned out, murders committed, and captives taken during those four years.
 
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Those numbers are complete and utter hogwash. LOL at Tennessee with 3,000 deaths out of roughly 120,000 enlisted. Bama with 31,000 deaths out of something like 90,000 enlisted? Even if it meant civilians it would not make sense. I imaging poor or incomplete meothodology by the battlefield trust is to blame.
Definitely need some one to do a more complete study on that. I agree those numbers don't sound sensible. Hopefully some scholar will make a name for themselves by digging up the data. My fear is that the records were destroyed somehow, in which case we will never know for sure.

@leftyhunter made a point that sometimes men from neighboring states crossed state lines to join up. I could see where maybe men from surrounding states that were later occupied by Union forces might go to Alabama to join regiments there and that could throw the numbers off.
 
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Joseph T. Glatthaar in his book, General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse writes these very telling words regarding Southern casualties -
"By factoring in those who were discharged for disabilities, almost three of every four soldiers who ever served in the Army of Northern Virginia were killed, died of disease, wounded, captured, or discharged for a disability. That statistic rises to more than 80 percent when those who deserted are factored out of the equation."
He goes on to mention the "staggering battlefield losses of North Carolina soldiers in 1863 and 1864."
 
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Definitely need some one to do a more complete study on that. I agree those numbers don't sound sensible. Hopefully some scholar will make a name for themselves by digging up the data. My fear is that the records were destroyed somehow, in which case we will never know for sure.

@leftyhunter made a point that sometimes men from neighboring states crossed state lines to join up. I could see where maybe men from surrounding states that were later occupied by Union forces might go to Alabama to join regiments there and that could throw the numbers off.
Per " Lincoln's Loyalists Union soldiers from the Confedracy" Richard Current North East University Press of the 104k white men from the Confedracy who enlisted in the Union Army half of that number enlisted bin out of state regiments some were from Southern states such has the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Union that had many men from East Tennessee as well as from Union POW Camps.
Leftyhunter
 
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