| Cause. | Officers. | Enlisted Men. | Aggregate. |
| Killed, or died of wounds | 6,365 | 103,705 | 110,070 |
| Died of disease | 2,712 | 197,008 | 199,720 |
| In Confederate prisons1 | 832 | 24,7833 | 24,8664 |
| Accidents | 142 | 3,972 | 4,114 |
| Drowning | 106 | 4,838 | 4,944 |
| Sunstrokes | 5 | 308 | 313 |
| Murdered | 37 | 483 | 520 |
| Killed after capture | 14 | 90 | 104 |
| Suicide | 26 | 365 | 391 |
| Military executions | ---- | 267 | 267 |
| Executed by the enemy | 4 | 60 | 64 |
| Causes known, but unclassified | 62 | 1,972 | 2,034 |
| Cause not stated | 28 | 12,093 | 12,121 |
| Aggregate | 9,584 | 349,944 | 359,528 |
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soldier's life; and that the remainder would have occurred, just the same, if the men had remained at home.
Of those who died from disease, one-fourth died of fever, principally typhoid; one-fourth died of diarrhea, or other forms of bowel complaint; nearly one-fourth died from inflammation of the lungs, or consumption, principally the former; the remaining fourth died of small-pox, measles, brain disease, erysipelas, and the various forms of disease common to the masses.
The deaths in the Union Army, from all causes, as officially classified were as follows;
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.
The number of the drowned may seem large, but the average is less than three men to a regiment.
This loss was occasioned largely by bathing and boating.
At times, some regiment would sustain a larger loss while fording rivers, or landing from small boats in the surf.
The Seventy-fifth Pennsylvania, while crossing the Shenandoah, in April, 1862, lost 2 officers and 51 men, drowned by the swamping of a scow.
Of the Union soldiers confined in Confederate prisons, 24,866 died of disease, exclusive of 2,072 who died of wounds while in the enemy's bands, and 3,218 others who died from various causes, known and unknown.
As to what proportion of these 24,866 deaths was due to harsh treatment, instead of disease, it would be difficult to say. In the Northern military prisons, where the inmates were furnished with good food and quarters, the death rate was nearly the same; 30,152 Confederates died in Northern prisons.5 But these pages have nothing to do with the prison question other than the statistics.
1 In addition to this number, there were 5,290 who died while prisoners, and who are included in the other items of this classification. The total number of Union soldiers who died while in the hands of the enemy according to this official report was 30,156. The causes of their deaths are classified as follows: From disease, 24,866; wounds, 2,072; sunstroke, 20; accidents, 7; drowning, 7; killed after capture, 104; executed by the enemy, 64; causes known, but not classified, 319; cause not stated, 2,697; total, 30,156. But, owing to the imperfect records kept at some of the Confederate prisons, the deaths are not all included in the foregoing statement. The mortality of Union prisoners, as shown by the graves, has been estimated at 36,401.
2 In addition to this number, there were 5,290 who died while prisoners, and who are included in the other items of this classification. The total number of Union soldiers who died while in the hands of the enemy according to this official report was 30,156. The causes of their deaths are classified as follows: From disease, 24,866; wounds, 2,072; sunstroke, 20; accidents, 7; drowning, 7; killed after capture, 104; executed by the enemy, 64; causes known, but not classified, 319; cause not stated, 2,697; total, 30,156. But, owing to the imperfect records kept at some of the Confederate prisons, the deaths are not all included in the foregoing statement. The mortality of Union prisoners, as shown by the graves, has been estimated at 36,401.
3 In addition to this number, there were 5,290 who died while prisoners, and who are included in the other items of this classification. The total number of Union soldiers who died while in the hands of the enemy according to this official report was 30,156. The causes of their deaths are classified as follows: From disease, 24,866; wounds, 2,072; sunstroke, 20; accidents, 7; drowning, 7; killed after capture, 104; executed by the enemy, 64; causes known, but not classified, 319; cause not stated, 2,697; total, 30,156. But, owing to the imperfect records kept at some of the Confederate prisons, the deaths are not all included in the foregoing statement. The mortality of Union prisoners, as shown by the graves, has been estimated at 36,401.
4 In addition to this number, there were 5,290 who died while prisoners, and who are included in the other items of this classification. The total number of Union soldiers who died while in the hands of the enemy according to this official report was 30,156. The causes of their deaths are classified as follows: From disease, 24,866; wounds, 2,072; sunstroke, 20; accidents, 7; drowning, 7; killed after capture, 104; executed by the enemy, 64; causes known, but not classified, 319; cause not stated, 2,697; total, 30,156. But, owing to the imperfect records kept at some of the Confederate prisons, the deaths are not all included in the foregoing statement. The mortality of Union prisoners, as shown by the graves, has been estimated at 36,401.
5 Congressional Documents: Report of House Committee on treatment of prisoners, 1869, page 231. (But this number, 30,152, does not include the deaths at Johnson's Island and some other places of confinement; neither does it include deaths from wounds in field hospitals.)
1888.
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