William F. Fox, Lt. Col. U. S. V., Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865: A Treatise on the extent and nature of the mortuary losses in the Union regiments, with full and exhaustive statistics compiled from the official records on file in the state military bureaus and at Washington

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Chapter 15: Confederate losses — strength of the Confederate Armies--casualties in Confederate regiments — list of Confederate Generals killed — losses in the Confederate Navy.

The eleven States of the Southern Confederacy had, in 1860, 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.¹

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.² 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.³ 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 tile Confederate Armies. Their military population and sweeping conscription acts indicate more. The number of regiments which served continously 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 cntinuous service in the field: