Freedom is not free. Thank you to all our veterans.

A casualty is someone injured, killed, captured, or missing in a military engagement. The Civil War had plenty of all these. The casualty totals in the Civil War can only be treated as estimates. The exact numbers cannot be exactly known.

Dead at Spotsylvania, 1864.

Due to exhaustive research by many credible and earnest Civil War scholars, the casualty numbers presented here can be considered to be as accurate as possible. I have relied on trustworthy sources for the numbers and statistics I share in this post. The exact number of Civil War casualties will forever be a topic for debate.

One fact we can be certain of regarding Civil War casualty counts, the carnage of the Civil War was immense. War and disease provided the Grim Reaper with all he desired.

Let us not neglect to know that the cold numbers and statistics shown in this post are facts that represent real people. People who fought in a vicious war, who bled red blood whether they were clothed in blue or gray. People who lost limbs or were severely disfigured, people who died miserable, slow deaths of disease or injury, people who perished instantaneously in groups during battle, or slowly had life ebb away as they sprawled alone and incapacitated in the aftermath of a major battle or minor skirmish. Many died agonizing and feverish deaths of disease. These numbers are human beings.

Dead Yankee at Petersburg, 1864.

How Many Died in the Civil War? The quick and simple answer is that no one knows for sure exactly how many died in the Civil War, neither for the North or the South. An estimate of the deaths in the Civil War is 623,026. This means that of men of service age, one out of eleven men died during the Civil War years between 1861 and 1865.

Below is a chart showing how the Civil War compares in total deaths to other wars:

A severe facial wound suffered in the Civil War.

How Many Casualties in the Civil War? For both sides in the Civil War, 471,427 can be considered as a minimum number of those wounded. When added to the estimate of 623,026 deaths, the total estimate of Civil War casualties is 1,094,453.

Greatest Union Battle Losses

+ Not including South Mountain and Crampton’s Gap.
++ Includes Chantilly, Rappahannock, Bristoe Station, and Bull Run Bridge.
Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

The Union Armies lost 110,070 killed or mortally wounded, and 275,175 wounded; for a total of 385,245. This does not include the missing in action. Of the 110,070 deaths from battle, 67,058 were killed on the field and the remaining 43,012 died of wounds.
This table shows how this loss was divided among the different arms of the service:

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

The losses in the three main categories of Union troops were:

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

DIED BY DISEASE. NOT INCLUDING DEATHS IN PRISONS.

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

Deaths in the Union Army, from all causes, as officially classified.
DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES:

NOTE: The deaths from accidents were caused, principally, by the careless use of fire-arms, explosions of ammunition, and railway accidents; in the cavalry service, a large number of accidental deaths resulted from poor horsemanship.

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

DEATHS IN CONFEDERATE ARMIES
James B. Fry, United States Provost Marshal-General, provides a report in 1865-1866 that includes a tabulation of Confederate losses. Fry’s report is compiled from the muster-rolls which are on file in the Bureau of Confederate Archives. This report is incomplete, as Confederate records can be, and often are, spotty. For example, in these records the Alabama rolls are mostly missing. Nonetheless, the numbers are worth noting. From General Fry’s report, the following table was created by William E. Fox in his Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865:

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

Confederate Deaths of Disease:

Source of table: William E. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural on March 4, 1865 was held on a miserable, windy, rainy, and muddy day in Washington, D.C. The inaugural ceremonies were planned to be held outside, but were moved inside to the Senate chamber because the weather was so bad.

Note: You may read about Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural in this post.

Andrew Johnson

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin was retiring, and Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson would now be inaugurated as Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president. The Senate chamber’s 1800s ventilation system was poor and it could not handle the added moisture from the wet and soaked clothes of the people attending the ceremony. The Senate chamber was muggy and sticky, it was a very uncomfortable place to be on this poor-weather inaugural day in Washington, D.C.

Andrew Johnson had been suffering from typhoid fever and generally was in poor health, during the weeks before the inaugural. Johnson’s travel to Washington, D.C. from Nashville did not help his physical condition, and he didn’t feel well shortly before the inauguration. He downed three glasses of "medicinal" whiskey before entering the uncomfortable Senate chamber. As Andrew Johnson walked into the Senate chamber he appeared to be unsteady, and he was leaning on Hannibal Hamlin’s arm.

Usually the vice-president’s inaugural speech is a brief formality on inauguration day. It became obvious to all that the new vice-president was three sheets to the wind as he began his vice-presidential inauguration speech. The stewed Johnson rambled on and on, speaking for seventeen minutes instead of the expected seven. Hannibal Hamlin finally gave a tug on Johnson’s coat-tail, and only then did Johnson end his alcohol-impaired inaugural speech.

Andrew Johnson’s sottish inauguration festivities and formalities were not yet complete. As he took the oath of office (which took more time than needed because Johnson drunkenly rambled with incoherent and slurred speech), Johnson put his hand on the Bible and said in a loud voice; "I kiss this Book in the face of my nation the United States."

Johnson then gave the Bible a tipsy kiss. As the now freshly inaugurated vice-president, it was Johnson’s job to swear-in the new senators. Vice President Andrew Johnson was too drunk and confused for this, so instead a Senate clerk performed swearing-in of the new senators.

1864 Republican Presidential Ticket

After the drunken Andrew Johnson had been inaugurated indoors as vice-president, the nasty weather began to clear and improve. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address could now be given outside as was originally planned. As Lincoln witnessed the soused Andrew Johnson’s Bible kiss, he said to Senator John B. Henderson, who was the marshal for the inauguration; "Do not let Johnson speak outside."

Later, President Lincoln remarked regarding Vice President Johnson’s inaugural drunkenness;

"It has been a severe lesson for Andy, but I do not think he will do it again."

Lincoln had known Johnson for years and they were friends. To answer concerns expressed by some about Johnson, Lincoln further explained;

"I have known Andrew Johnson for many years. He made a slip the other day, but you need not be scared; Andy ain’t a drunkard."

Civil War Re-enactors Fight Results in a Draw

I have to include this post, because the story is bizarre.

The Associated Press reports a judge on January 6, 2010 found two Civil War re-enactors (a Johnny Reb and a Billy Yank) not guilty of assault. Seems the two were involved in a re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville when their re-enacting became too realistic.

The two were re-enacting as cavalry officers, and Johnny Reb claims Billy Yank knocked his hat off. Johnny Reb then responded by firing his revolver at Billy Yank. Although the revolver had a blank round, Billy Yank was injured. Then the two went on to feed the lawyers.

Here is The Associated Press report:

VIRGINIA
Re-enactors’ spat settled in court

STANARDSVILLE – A judge says it’s a draw between two Union and Confederate re-enactors who got into a tussle on the battlefield.

A judge found each man not guilty of assault on Wednesday after they pressed charges against each other over the dispute last September.

The men were playing cavalry officers in a re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville. The Confederate re-enactor claims his Union counterpart knocked his hat off.

The Confederate was accused of responding by firing a blank round from his revolver and injuring the Union re-enactor.
The Associated Press

I’m a fan of Civil War re-enactors. I appreciate and enjoy how they strive to bring history alive for us. If you ever get a chance to see a Civil War battle re-enactment, do it. But, I have to say in my point of view, these two Civil War re-enactors are nuts. To put it in 1800s terms; these two guys are crazy as loons.

To add some actual Civil War history value to this post:

While Vermont’s contribution to the Union during the Civil War is significant, Civil War events in Vermont are not significant. Nevertheless, your BlogMaster will discuss an interesting Vermont Civil War event.

Vermont and the Civil War
In 1777, Vermont proclaims itself as an independent state. The second article of the Vermont Constitution abolishes slavery, making Vermont the first state to abolish slavery. In the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln won a decisive victory in Vermont with voting results as follows:

• Abraham Lincoln – 33,808
• Stephen Douglas – 8,649
• John C. Breckenridge – 1,866
• John Bell – 217

“Vermont will do its Full Duty.”
Vermont had three governors during the Civil War, they were Erastus Fairbanks (1860-1861), Frederick Holbrook (1861-1863), and J. Gregory Smith (1863-1865). All were Republicans.

When the Federal Government called for troops, Governor Fairbanks stated “Vermont will do its Full Duty” and Vermont did so by providing the Union with six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, two light artillery batteries, and three sharpshooter companies. Vermont also built three military hospitals.

During the Civil War Vermont provided to the Union:

• Over 28,100 men who served in volunteer units
• 17 infantry regiments
• 1 cavalry regiment
• 3 light artillery batteries
• 1 heavy artillery company
• 3 sharpshooter companies
• 2 frontier cavalry companies

Green Mountain State men in the Civil War also suffered during their service:

• During battle, 1,832 were killed or mortally wounded
• Disease claimed 3,362 men, either in prison or otherwise
• Over 2,200 Vermont men were taken prisoner
• Vermont men who died while prisoners of war totaled 615

Vermont provided the Union with men who carried with them to Civil War battlefields the reputation and pride of the Revolutionary War Green Mountain Boys. During the Civil War, the youngest to ever to win the Medal of Honor was Vermonter Willie Johnston. Sixty-three other men from Vermont also won the Medal of Honor.

St. Albans Raid

Despite the fury and carnage of the Civil War occurring in other parts of the country, the people of Vermont led a peaceful life during the war years. St. Albans Raid however, muddied the water somewhat for the quiet village of St. Albans. St. Albans is located on the shore of Lake Champlain, only fifteen miles from the Canadian Border.

On October 10, 1864 three young men check in at a hotel in St. Albans. They explain they are from St. John’s Canada (Canada at this time, was the Province of Canada, and part of the British Empire) and are on a sporting vacation. Their leader signs the hotel register as Bennet Young, another signs in as George Sanders. More men from St. John’s regularly arrive at the hotel in groups of two or three every day or so, their sporting vacation in the small St. Albans village is shaping up to be a big affair. Finally, a total of twenty-one young men (they averaged 23 years of age), arrived over nine days. They seemed to be a friendly bunch of young men.

At 3:00 P.M. on October 19, 1864 the Canadian sporting vacation to St. Albans gives way to the real reason and mission for the young men gathering in St. Albans. The friendly young men are actually Confederate cavalrymen who were taken prisoner by Union troops, but had escaped to Canada. They were at St. Albans on authority of the Confederate government to steal money for the Confederate Treasury and to distract Federal troops away from their lines. They were not friendly.

Barnes&Noble: A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters

The raiding Confederates divide into three groups and simultaneously enter the three banks of St. Albans. Confederate agent George Sanders has drawn his gun as he climbs the steps of the hotel and shouts: “This city is now in the possession of the Confederate States of America!” The Civil War has come to St. Albans, Vermont with Confederates soldiers taking over the town, galloping about and threatening the Vermont Yankees with guns. The Confederates rob the St. Albans banks of $208,000. While the bank robbing is going on, eight or nine other Confederates gather townspeople to the town common, threatening them with drawn guns and stealing their horses. Confederate Lieutenant Bennett Young orders his men to set St. Albans aflame using bottles of “Greek Fire,” an incendiary chemical that would burst to flame when exposed to air. Fortunately for St. Albans, the bottles of Greek Fire turn out to be duds. Only a woodshed was set afire.

The citizens of St. Albans fight back and one townsman is killed, another is injured. A lone raider is wounded, and he dies afterwards. Confusion and mayhem control the scene for both the townspeople and the Confederate raiders. During their escape to Canada the Confederates clumsily drop some of the bank money in the town, but still make off with over $200,000. Canadian authorities arrest them in Montreal after the raiders have crossed back into Canada.

The St. Albans Raiders are tried In Montreal. The United States government considers the Confederates to be criminals and requests their extradition. Canada however, has a trick up her sleeve, saying the Confederates are soldiers under military orders. With this stance, and desiring to remain neutral in the American Civil War, Canada does not convict the Confederate raiders of a crime and sets them free. Canada does return $88,000 that was found with the raiders to St. Albans banks.

St. Albans Raid The Raiders Take Over

It has been interpreted that the ruling of the Canadian court in the St. Albans Raid was in fact recognition of the Confederate States of America by the British, since Canada was then the Province of Canada and part of the British Empire. This is debatable.

The raider Lieutenant Bennett Young, later becomes a Confederate general.

On this day in 1864, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president of the United States.

This was one of the few elections in world history held in the middle of a civil war. As the country’s president and with the circumstances of the ongoing Civil War, Lincoln might have tried to cancel or postpone the election until the war was over. Instead, Lincoln said, "If the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."

Barnes&Noble: Tried By War Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief Though Abraham Lincoln arrived at the White House with no previous military experience, he Quickly established himself as the greatest commander in chief in American history. James McPherson illuminates this often misunderstood and profoundly influential aspect of Lincoln’s legacy. In essence, Lincoln invented the idea of commander in chief, as neither the Constitution nor existing legislation specified how the president ought to declare war or dictate strategy…

The Confederate Army had recently advanced so close to Washington, D.C., that by standing on top of a parapet with field glasses, Lincoln was able to watch a battle. On July 30, 4,000 Union soldiers were killed in a disastrous attempt to invade Petersburg, Virginia. The army needed 500,000 more soldiers, Lincoln would probably have to call for another draft, and the war debt was becoming unsustainable. On August 23, Lincoln wrote a memo to his cabinet saying, "This morning, and for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected." As the presidential election day drew near, President Lincoln’s hopes for a second term were fading. The Democrat Party had as its candidate former Union general George B. McClellan, and its platform was based on ending the war. But, this turned out to be a huge mistake when news arrived in early September that the Union Army had captured Atlanta and Mobile. Suddenly, the Democrats looked like the party of surrender … as Union forces were starting to win battles, and the war.

Lincoln won the election with 2,330,552 votes to challenger George B. McClellan’s 1,835,985 votes. Lincoln had 212 Electoral College votes to McClellan’s 21 votes. Lincoln carried every state except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky.

Artillery Glossary

Arsenal – Used to store and upgrade small arms, Ordnance, and ordnance stores. Where construction and repair of ordnance takes place. It is a military installation.

Battery – A group of at least two artillery pieces, in the field, working together. An emplacement of artillery. In the Civil War, a Union Battery was six cannon, usually of similar caliber. For the Confederacy, a Battery was most likely only made up of four cannon.

Bore – The size of the opening of a gun barrel, its inside diameter.

Breech – The rear part of a gun barrel, not where the projectile come out.

Breech-Loading – A gun that has its projectile and powder charge loaded at the rear of the barrel. Breech Loading greatly lowers the time it takes to reload, a good thing when you are in a battle.

Caisson – Used to transport two chests of ammunition. The number of rounds in the chest depended on their Caliber.

Caliber – The size of the Bore of a gun’s barrel, the diameter of the bore. Is a decimal fraction in hundredths or thousandths of an inch. Is also used to describe the size of a projectile.

Carriage – A two-wheeled cart used to move field artillery. They were light and easy to move, this meant artillery could go with an army into the field.

Friction Primer – Used to fire a cannon. Was made up of two small brass or copper tubes, and a serrated wire. The larger tube was filled with gunpowder and the smaller tube was soldered onto the larger at a ninety-degree angle. The smaller tube had fulminate of mercury in it. The Friction Primer acted like a match.

Fuse – There were three kinds of fuses in the Civil War, timer-fuses, percussion fuses, and combination fuses. A fuse causes an artillery shell or case shot to blow at a certain set length of time after firing from the cannon.

Limber – A two-wheeled cart that was attached to the Carriage. The Limber had one ammunition chest, it was used for fast, immediate gun supply. The Limber and the Carriage combined to make a four-wheeled cannon mover

Muzzle – Is the front end of the gun barrel. where the bullet or artillery round comes out.

Muzzle Loader – A cannon (or other small arm) that is loaded by pouring a powder charge down the barrel and then seating the bullet or artillery round on top. A primer percussion cap at the Breech was used to ignite the powder charge.

Ordnance – Used to describe all weaponry, its ammunition, and needed equipment to maintain it.

Rifling – Rifling is when grooves or channels have been cut into the inside of a gun barrel (the Bore). The rifling will give spin to the projectile and this spin creates greater accuracy and range.

Smoothbore – This type of a gun barrel has no grooves (Rifling) cut into it.

Light Artillery

Field cannon were often pulled into place by a team of horses, the number of horses depending upon the size and weight of the cannon (or gun). After the gun was unlimbered, the horses and caissons were moved back to the relative safety of the rear or perhaps other nearby safe spot. The gun’s crew would then align the aim and trajectory by hand, load and fire. A competent crew might fire its cannon twice a minute, but under the heat of battle and with the adrenaline pumping, four canister shot a minute was known to occur. When the cannon fires, it would recoil from a few feet up to maybe a dozen yards, all depending on the particular powder charge amount and ammunition used. The gun crew would swab and load the gun as it is rolled back into place by hand.

How the Guns Were Fired

Here is a typical and general process of firing a muzzle-loading artillery weapon:

* One soldier drops a bag of gunpowder down the gun barrel. The gunpowder weight or amount has been chosen for the particular target.

* Another soldier rams a projectile down the barrel so it seats on top of the gunpowder charge.

* A third soldier at the back of the gun puts a friction primer into the breech. The friction primer has a lanyard, it will ignite the gunpowder charge.

* A fourth soldier pulls the lanyard and the gun fires, hopefully it is not a dud round and the target is hit.

* Now another soldier cleans the gun barrel out with water by using a sponge/swab on the end of a pole. A very important step because any remaining embers must be extinguished before the next gunpowder charge is placed into the barrel. A premature powder charge explosion because of remaining embers was a very bad thing.

* While the cannon was being fired, other soldiers would be busy holding horses, carrying ammunition to the gun, and performing other support duties.

Barnes&Noble: Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War

Swabbing the cannon barrel was a very important step that could not be eliminated. Swabbing cooled the barrel and put out any remaining sparks that would ignite the next charge prematurely … injuring or killing the gun crew. Black powder was used, so billowing, great clouds of smoke would soon fog the battleground as multiple artillery pieces fire. The cannon and their ammunition were dangerous to the crew, plus enemy infantry regarded an artillery battery as a prime target. Capture of a cannon was a great prize and the gun crews were targets for enemy bullets. When a gun was being limbered up for movement, attacking enemy would often shoot the horses and then the gun would have to be abandoned. If a cannon was going to be captured, then the crew would spike it by driving a piece of metal into the firing vent, this would make the cannon useless to the enemy for a period of time, until the metal spike could be removed. Gun crews would even shoot the horses themselves if cannon capture was unavoidable in order to prevent the enemy from moving the piece.

On the third day of the battle at Gettysburg, the Confederates unleashed a huge artillery bombardment. This artillery fire was directed at Cemetery Ridge where the Union troops held a strong defensive position. This artillery fire came from close to 150 guns and it lasted for nearly two hours. The noise from this massive artillery fire was heard in Pittsburgh, 140 miles away. At the time, this was one of the loudest sounds ever heard on the North American continent.

Acoustic Shadow is a strange thing. It is a phenomenon where sound, such as artillery, is unheard close to the cause of the sound, but the same sound is heard a far distance away from its source. The distance that the sound is heard may be great, even hundreds of miles, yet nearby, mere miles away, the sounds are not heard. Battles where the Acoustic Shadow phenomenon occurred in the Civil War are Gettysburg, Seven Pines, Iuka, Fort Donelson, Five Forks, Perryville, and Chancellorsville.

Some Artillery Ammunition

The ammunition for field artillery during the Civil War generally fell into four categories; solid, shell, case (or shrapnel), and canister. Each was used for a specific purpose.

Solid
This was simply a solid iron shell, like a bowling ball. In fact, the solid shot acted like a bowling ball. It was fired at enemy cavalry, or at infantry aligned in column or at its flank. The solid shot was like a deadly bowling ball rolling through pins, only the pins in the Civil War were men and horses made of flesh and blood. As the solid shot bowled through the line of enemy in position of column or flank, man after man would be bowled down, the result was often slaughter.

Explosive Shell
Shell was a hollow projectile filled with black powder. They had fuses that were cut in length to time the explosion of the shell after it was fired from the cannon. Usually the shell could be timed to explode in 0 – 50 seconds and the firing charge of the cannon lit the fuse. Targets for shell were often enemy fortifications and artillery.

Case or Shrapnel General Shrapnel of the British Army came up with the idea of case shot. It was similar to shell shot, but differed in that it was filled with iron balls in addition to the explosion charge inside its shell. This ammunition was used against infantry positioned at long range of over 400 yards. It was most successful when it could be timed to explode at about 15 feet above the target so it could rain its iron ball shrapnel downward. Canister Think of a thin-walled metal can(similar to a coffee can) packed with iron or lead balls in sawdust. As canister was fired from a cannon, the can would disintegrate as it left the gun muzzle and then it would act like a blast from a huge shotgun with the iron or lead balls plowing through the enemy. Canister was effective against attacking infantry.

Barnes&Noble: Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance

All this artillery ammunition was effective when it worked, but it was not reliable. Results were variable, but duds were common, sometimes as much as half the cannon fire were failures.

Some Various Cannon Types

12-pounder Napoleon
A commonly used cannon in the Civil War was the 12-pounder Napoleon. Napoleon cannons were muzzle-loading and bronze barreled of a ninety percent copper and ten percent tin mixture. They were used as field artillery. Napoleons could fire four canister shots a minute and killed infantry efficiently. These cannons weighed 2,600 pounds and it took a crew of six men to man each cannon. Six horses were needed to pull the cannon and its caisson.

The Napoleon was officially named the "Twelve-Pounder Field Guns, Model 1857." The French emperor Louis Napoleon (he was Napoleon III) began this cannon’s development in France. It is the most widely used cannon of the Civil War. Approximately 40% of the artillery used by the Union Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia were Napoleons. Napoleons were manufactured in both the North and the South, the North made more than 1,000 and the South somewhere between 500 and 600. Southern Napoleons can be identified because they don’t have a muzzle swell as the Northern Napoleons have. The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia made Napoleons of iron, instead of bronze. Because the Napoleon was a smooth-bore it was not as accurate, nor did it have the range of a rifled gun. However, they could be loaded fast and were very good at defending against enemy infantry.

Napoleon cannons were smooth bored. The 12-pounder Napoleon was named such because the weight of one round of its solid shot was 12 pounds. Because of its smooth bore design, Napoleons had a low muzzle velocity. Their range was under a mile (1700 yards) for solid shot and for shell under 1300 yards.

At Gettysburg on the afternoon of July 3, 1863, Union Napoleon cannon had crushing effect against Rebel soldiers in Pickett’s Charge.

Whitworth Guns
The Whitworth Gun (also called the Whitworth Rifle) was a breech loading cannon with a rifled barrel. The Whitworth had a unique hexagonal bore and fired an elongated projectile that was called a bolt. Various calibers were found, and with the breech loading, a tighter rifling was possible. This meant these artillery pieces had increased range and accuracy. Whitworth Rifles were brought into the South through the blockade from England, but they were never available in sufficient numbers for the South. The bolts used by the Whitworths were an elongated twelve-pound shell that emitted a strange whine during its flight toward a target. Interestingly, the Whitworths imported after 1863 were muzzle-loaders instead of breech.

Parrott Gun
This was also called the Parrott Rifle. The Parrott Gun was a rifled and muzzle loading cannon. The barrels were cast-iron and this made them apt to burst. To strengthen the guns, a reinforcing band of wrought-iron was added around the breech where the pressure of firing projectiles was greatest. Robert P. Parrott developed the wrought-iron breech reinforcement band of the Parrott Gun. Compared to smoothbore guns, the Parrotts were less expensive to make and because they were rifled, more accurate. The reinforcing band of wrought-iron gives the Parrott cannon a very distinctive look. They are easy to identify when you visit the various Civil War battlefields, like Gettysburg. Both the North and the South used the Parrott guns in the Civil War. Despite the reinforcement near the breech, Parrotts still had a tendency to burst. Ten-pounder and twenty-pounder Parrotts were available and popular.

3-Inch Ordnance Rifle
3-Inch Ordnance Rifles were light-weight and long-ranged cannon made by wrapping boiler plate around a core. They were patented by John Griffen in 1855 and made of wrought iron. Their barrels were much stronger than the Parrott. Horse Artillery used 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles because their barrels weighed only 820 pounds, making it 100 pounds lighter than the Parrott. Although 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles had a range of about 1,835 yards, the Parrott had a range of around 2,000 yards (both using a five degree elevation). This cannon was also a favorite
of regular army artillery batteries. It was a muzzle-loader and had a range of approximately two miles (4,000 yards).

The Napoleon, the Parrott, and the 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle were the three guns that made up most of the artillery of the Civil War.

How Artillery Was Organized

Union – The Union artillery batteries were usually made up of six guns that were used in three, 2-gun sections. There were left, middle, and right sections. Because the North had a better a supply system and great resources, all of the guns in a battery were of the same type. This made supplying ammunition easier. Around a hundred men made a Union battery.

Confederate – A Confederate battery was made up of four guns. They usually had a mixture of different guns, so the Confederate ammunition supply to artillery batteries was very difficult. Around sixty-eight men made up a Confederate battery.

Learn More About Civil War Artillery With The Swamp Angel…

Barnes&Noble: What This Cruel War Was Over

It is important to note that slavery was not unique to the United States. Many European countries had slavery before it came to the New World colonies and grew. Countries like Spain and Portugal had significant counts of slaves before 1492. But, this is no defense of the institution of slavery. The world was guilty of slavery. Slavery was a disease of humanity that spread to the colonies of the New World. It should be known that although the United States was guilty of slavery, it fought a war against itself. As a result of the Civil War, in which literally brother fought against brother and hundreds of thousands died, slavery ended here.

In 1619 a Dutch ship arrived at the Virginia colony and sold "20 and odd negroes" to colonists. Some of these blacks became indentured servants (people who worked for a period of years to pay for their passage to the New World, then became free) but others were slaves. Most blacks in the Virginia colony were either free or indentured servants in 1640. Slavery grew and flourished in the colonies, especially in the Southern ones. By 1700 in the Virginia colony, most blacks were in the bondage of that "peculiar institution," slavery. The South depended on slavery for its agricultural economic success.

Cotton was King in the South and the institution of slavery made it very profitable. Indeed, the South’s economy was based on slavery and cotton. One of the main contributing factors to the Civil War was that the South was willing to go to war with its own fellow countrymen in order to preserve slavery.

In 1808 the importation of slaves was made illegal in the United States of America. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 and was very popular amongst abolitionists. In the book, slaves were described as victims of the Southern system. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a powerful factor in bringing about anti-slavery sentiment in the North. The expansion of the country westward, with new territories and states coming into being, only fueled debate and conflict over the spread and continuation of slavery. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the South believed he intended to end slavery. Secession, and then the Civil War followed.

Barnes&Noble: The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe first published her groundbreaking novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 as an outcry against slavery after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. The book sold more copies than any book other than the Bible and caused Abraham Lincoln to exclaim upon meeting her, during the Civil War, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!”

In 1860, approximately 4,500,000 white people were living in the states that had slavery. Of these 4,500,000 approximately 46,000 of them owned more than 20 slaves. Approximately 4,000,000 slaves lived in America at the start of the Civil War. On January 1, 1863 President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation that declared free the slaves in the parts of the country which were in rebellion. Only Northern victory and preservation of the Union ensured the end of slavery in the United States.

The shown map is: Distribution of Slaves in the Southern States from the book History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard. – White areas depict less than 25% slave distribution – Light gray areas depict 25 – 50% – Dark gray areas depict 50% and greater
Distribution of Slaves in the Southern States

Barnes&Noble: John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights

A few quotes by Abraham Lincoln regarding slavery: ”In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free,–honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.” — Abraham Lincoln, from his Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.   ”My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving the others alone, I would also do that.” — Abraham Lincoln, from a letter to Horace Greeley of August 22, 1862. (The Emancipation Proclamation had been written but not yet released).

”I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”
— Abraham Lincoln, from a letter to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862.

The ugly fact is that slaves were treated as property. Slavery was a brutal, cruel, unfair, and evil thing. Slaves did not have the right to vote. Slaves could not own land. Slaves could not travel. Slave marriages were not recognized by law. Slaves were allowed to work, and work hard from the early morning light until darkness (or longer if the moonlight was bright). Slave families could be split up by the whims and desires of their owners. Slaves could be beaten and whipped to make them obey. Some slaves were killed either by their owners or by hard work. Disease killed slaves. Slaves worked on plantations and farms, in homes, on docks, in businesses, and anywhere labor was needed.

The history of slavery still haunts the United States to this day. Perhaps only with the coming of each new generation, with its hopefully new and unprejudiced rational understanding, will the scar of slavery completely fade away. That will be a glorious time.

Some Notes and Facts about General William Tecumseh Sherman:

* William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio on February 8, 1820. Sherman’s middle name of "Tecumseh" was given to him at birth. The name "Tecumseh" was from a great Shawnee Indian leader and warrior who had almost defeated the United States Army.

* Sherman graduated sixth in his class of 1840 at West Point. He was highly intelligent, aggressive, and had a good imagination. These characteristics would help to make Sherman one of the great Union generals of the Civil War.

Barnes&Noble: Southern Storm

* When the Civil War broke out, Sherman was the superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana called the Alexandria Military Institute. This military academy would become the foundation of Louisiana State University. * Sherman was a West Point graduate, age 41, and a civilian when the Civil War started. He volunteered for service. Sherman took command of a brigade and led it at the Battle of First Bull Run. Sherman was lean, grizzled, and had red hair, he did not much care about his personal appearance.

* The Battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6, and 7, 1862. On the first day of battle, troops led by General Sherman came under heavy fire. Despite efforts by Sherman to rally the men, the Union troops (who were new to battle) fled to the rear. That evening, Confederates were camped on ground that in the morning had belonged to Union troops. Confederate General Beauregard spent the night sleeping in Sherman’s bed. The next day, April 7, Grant renewed the fight and pushed the Rebel troops back to their original attack position. The Billy Yanks had their camp again. Perhaps on the night of April 7, General Sherman got his bed back from General Beauregard.

* Benjamin Harrison was from Ohio and saw action in the Western Theater during the Civil War. He served in Sherman’s Army during the March to the Sea. In 1888, he became president of the United States of America.

* On May 4, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his march to Atlanta, Georgia. His army numbered 110,000 men. Sherman’s March to the Sea will make history, and make him hated in the South.

* In 1864, when Sherman was making his way through the South, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston won a victory at Kennesaw Mountain. At the end of the Civil War, Johnston was in command in the Carolinas. Johnson staged a defensive campaign after Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston finally surrendered to General Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. After the war, Sherman and Johnston became friends.

* William Tecumseh Sherman died of pneumonia in New York City on February 14, 1891. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston (Sherman’s old Confederate adversary) had reconciled in the years since the Civil War. Johnston served as an honorary pall bearer at Sherman’s funeral on a rainy and cold day. During the funeral, Johnston removed his hat in the cold rain as other mourners did the same. He was urged to put the hat back on so he would avoid the wet and cold. Johnston said, "If I were in his place and he standing here in mine he would not put on his hat." Former Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston developed pneumonia from the rain and cold at Sherman’s funeral. Johnston died only a few weeks later. * In Washington, D.C., there is a small park at Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. At this park there is a statue of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. This statue is forty-three feet high and depicts Sherman on a horse during a march. On the granite base of this statue is a Sherman quote in which he states his idea of what the purpose of war is; "War’s Legitimate Object Is More Perfect Peace."

Barnes&Noble: William Tecumseh Sherman

Some William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes:

"Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization."
-Union Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman upon hearing of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. Sherman had lived in the South for nearly 12 years, and he had a true fondness for the South. Sherman would play a major part in winning the Civil War for the Union.

"You people of the South don’t know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end.

"The North can make a steam engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or a pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth-right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"You people speak so lightly of war; you don’t know what you’re talking about. War is a terrible thing!

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it…Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them?

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail."
- The prophetic words of William Tecumseh Sherman on December 24, 1860, after he learned of South Carolina’s secession. Sherman was superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary and Military Academy at the time.

"I see every chance of a long, confused and disorganizing civil war, and I feel no desire to take a hand therein."
- In January 1861, Sherman wrote these words to his wife, Ellen.

"You might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt-gun. I think this is to be a long war-very long-much longer than any politician thinks."
- William Tecumseh Sherman, assessing the war in 1861.

"I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash-and it may be well that we become so hardened."
-General Sherman, from a letter to his wife written in July, 1864.

"Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity…Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late…Next year their lands will be taken…and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives."
-General Sherman in January, 1864 regarding the situation of the Rebels. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865 and the Civil War was over. Happily, Sherman is wrong here with his time estimate of the continuation of the war.

Barnes&Noble: Sherman’s March

"If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir." -General Sherman’s warning to an army quartermaster before the departure of Sherman’s army from Chattanooga and heading toward Atlanta.   "Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless for us to occupy it; but the utter destruction of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources. I can make this march, and make Georgia howl." -General Sherman, from a telegram sent to General Ulysses S. Grant at Atlanta, Georgia. September 9, 1864.   "The whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak violence upon South Carolina. I almost tremble for her fate." -General William T. Sherman, as he prepared to march his army into South Carolina. This was following the March to the Sea.   "We have devoured the land and our animals eat up the wheat and cornfields close. All the people retire before us and desolation is behind. To realize what war is one should follow our tracks." -General William Tecumseh Sherman.

"That devil Forrest…must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury."
-Sherman referring to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

"After all, I think Forrest was the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side."
-After the Civil War, Sherman made these comments about Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

"Wars are not all evil, they are part of the grand machinery by which this world is governed."
-General William Tecumseh Sherman.

"War is at best barbarism…Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
-William Tecumseh Sherman. These words are from his June 19, 1879 address to the Michigan Military Academy.

During May and June of 1864, Grant’s Army of the Potomac and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fought a series of battles in Virginia, which included The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. General Ulysses S. Grant was on the attack and his goal was to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. Cold Harbor was fought on June 1-3, 1864.

Note: the term "cold harbor" meant a place to stay overnight, but where no cooked or hot meals are served. This is how the town of Cold Harbor got its name.

Overall, during this campaign of May and June in 1864, Grant’s Army of the Potomac was always moving to its left, hoping to flank the Army of Northern Virginia on its right. In early June, with the give and take of battle, the two armies were in a race to see which one would get to the crossroads town of Cold Harbor first. Lee won the race to Cold Harbor, but Grant was right behind.

General Robert E. Lee was (as usual) outnumbered. At Cold Harbor Lee had 59,000 troops facing 109,000 Yankees. The previous four weeks of fighting had taken a considerable toll on both armies. The Union suffered casualties of 44,000, while the Confederates had casualties of 25,000. General Grant’s idea was to wear Lee’s army down by constant fighting, and cause Lee to lose by attrition. Grant knew by steadily forcing Lee to fight, and to continue to fight, eventually the superior numbers of men and firepower of the North would win the war against the Confederacy. If the Army of Northern Virginia could be ground down to a nub, the Confederacy would be defeated. Grant’s plan was working.

Barnes&Noble: Cold Harbor

On June 3, at Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac faced a well-entrenched Army of Northern Virginia that held a good, strong, and defensive position. A newspaper reporter described the Confederate trenches as "intricate, zig-zagged lines within lines, lines protecting flanks of lines, lines built to enfilade opposing lines…works within works and works without works." Their ranks contained seasoned soldiers who knew how to fight. Though outnumbered, the trenches gave the Confederates the advantage. At dawn, General Grant sent three Federal corps in a straight-on charge against the defensively entrenched Confederates.

This charge resulted in one of the bloodiest slaughters of the Civil War. Within only seven to eight minutes, seven thousand Union men fell at Cold Harbor. The dead and wounded covered a battlefield of five acres. A Confederate general commented; "I had seen the dreadful carnage in front of Marye’s Hill at Fredericksburg, but I had seen nothing to exceed this. It was not war; it was murder." The amount of fire the Confederates poured into the Union soldiers was enormous. An Alabama colonel who witnessed the slaughter described a common end to the lives of many Union soldiers in this way; "dust fog out of a man’s clothing in two or three places at once where as many balls would strike him at the same moment." A few men from a Zouave unit managed to come close to the Confederate lines, but soon shot down. A Zouave regiment colonel was struck by so many bullets that afterwards his remains could only be identified by brass buttons, which remained on what little was left of his officer’s uniform.

Grant knew by the afternoon he had lost, and no further attacks occurred. Cold Harbor was a Confederate victory. On the evening of June 3, Grant said; "I regret this assault more than any one I have ever ordered." Grant knew his decision of a frontal charge at Cold Harbor was a mistake.

Petersburg was next for the two opposing armies.

Barnes&Noble: Both Prayed to the Same God

Under an act of the Federal Congress, the words "In God We Trust" were first stamped on United States coins.