The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 10: The Armies and the Leaders.
Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ed.

---

[152]

Regimental casualties in the Union Army

In any discussion of the total or relative casualties suffered by a military organization in a war, or in any particular engagement, it must be borne in mind that the entire subject is one around which many questions center. The general consideration has been discussed by Colonel Hilary A. Herbert in the preceding chapter. It now remains to give the readers of the Photographic History some few exact statistics of the losses suffered in both great armies.

In the official records there are summarized with considerable completeness the enlistments and casualties for the various regiments and other organizations of the Union army. The reports for the most part are complete and comprehensive, admitting of full discussion, yet often there is great difficulty in reducing the vast amount of material to a common denominator for purposes of comparison. The problem is to consider the various elements in their relations one to another. Thus, it is possible to take those regiments where the number killed or died of wounds during the entire period of service stood at a maximum in comparison with other organizations. Furthermore, it is possible to consider such casualties relatively, depending upon the strength of the organization, and this latter method gives a clear indication of the efficiency of the regiment during its entire period of service. Large total losses mean that the regiment was at the fore-front of the fighting in many battles and not necessarily unduly exposed at one particular action.

Such is the list to be found on page 154, compiled from the authoritative work of LieutenantColonel William F. Fox, U. S. V.—Regimental losses in the Civil War. It is, indeed, a record of valor; the fifty regiments here listed are entitled to places of high honor on the scroll of history. It is, all things considered, the most useful basis of making a comparison of the services of the different regiments, and it is one which unfortunately cannot be made for the regiments comprising the Confederate army, on account of the absence of suitable rosters and reports.

Now, if we should consider the maximum percentage of casualties based on the total of killed, wounded, and missing, a similar roll could be constructed. It would be headed by the First Minnesota Infantry, which, at the battle of Gettysburg, with 262 men engaged on the second day, lost 168 wounded and 47 killed, or a percentage of 82. In fact, other regiments standing at the top of such a list are worthy of note, and a few such, as listed by Colonel Fox, are given in the table at the bottom of this page.

The tabular statement on page 154 must be considered, therefore, as suggestive rather than complete. The selection of fifty regiments is an arbitrary one; for, of over two thousand regiments in the Union army, 45 infantry regiments lost over 200 men killed or mortally wounded in action during the war. In fact, Colonel Fox has compiled a list of 300 fighting regiments, which lost over 130 who were killed and died of wounds during the war, or which, with a smaller enrollment, suffered an equivalent percentage of casualties.

REGIMENT	BATTLE	Killed	Wounded	Missing	Total	Engaged	Per Cent.
1st Minnesota	Gettysburg	47	168	—	2151	262	82.0
141st Pennsylvania	Gettysburg	25	103	21	149	198	75.7
101st New York	Bull Run	6	101	17	124	168	73.8
25th Massachusetts	Cold Harbor	53	139	28	220	310	70.0
36th Wisconsin (4 Cos.)	Bethesda Church	20	108	38	166	240	69.0
20th Massachusetts	Fredericksburg	25	138	—	163	238	68.4
8th Vermont	Cedar Creek	17	66	23	106	156	67.9
81st Pennsylvania	Fredericksburg	15	141	0	176	261	67.4
12th Massachusetts	Antietam	49	165	10	224	334	67.0
1st Maine H. A.	Petersburg	115	489	28	632	950	66.5
9th Louisiana Colored	Milliken's Bend	62	130	—	192	300	64.0
5th New Hampshire	Fredericksburg	20	154	19	193	303	63.6