Wilmer1269,
Welcome to CivilWarTalk dot com.
You wrote:
I was reading statistics on the civil war and apparently over 275,000 union soldiers were wounded or killed while about 137,500 Confederate Army soldiers were wounded or killed, half the number. Taking into account the union army size was much larger, the majority of all firearms were supposedly in possession of the north and they're industrial output was much greater (more railways etc); why was the casualty rate twice as high??
It is my personal observation and opinion that there are several reasons for the statistics.
1. Not all Confederate documents survived the Civil War. The muster rolls, descriptive sheets, Surgeon General in Richmond and other papers, were being destroyed and or carried off as Union troops entered Richmond, as fire was raging there also. Secretary of War Stanton did manage to crate up many boxes and sent them north but, as Jefferson Davis and Cabinet fled, they had papers with them too. What was destroyed on the retreat of the CSA Government is not known. With statistics being 'swiss cheese', there will only be best efforts in providing numbers.
2. Statistics are as perfect as the statistic keepers. Long engagements where under fire for more than a day, the reports are delayed until there is time to submit them. The morning report with aggregate numbers are the most important, followed by the after action reports aka AAR. There would be added reports via 'addendum' reports--at times correcting the report and or statistics. Seeing some reports, some are great with specific details--some are generalized and more likely detailed down in the Battalion level and lower.
3. The Confederacy, et.al., was by composition many states fewer than the Union army. Though the Union took great pains to attempt to keep accurate statistics those who deserted, POWs, missing in action were often in limbo. I would assume the Confederate Army, et.al., had the same issues with the 'unknown' status of the deserters, POWs and MIAs.
4. Diseases bloomed when all of a sudden, state's population were tossed together and their local immunity to diseases were no longer their shield. Mumps and sanitation related diseases wiped out scores of individuals. Though sick they would be counted as soldiers however, the ones healthy to take the field often bore the battle with less men.
Just my personal opinions.
M. E. Wolf