Fox's Regimental Losses
Chapter XV

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, a 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.
       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. 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. 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 the Confederate Armies. Their military population and sweeping conscription acts indicate more. The number of regiments which served continuously 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 continuous service in the field:

ALABAMA -- 55 regiments, and 11 battalions of infantry; 5 regiments of cavalry; 3 regiments of partisan rangers; and 16 batteries of light artillery.

ARKANSAS--35 regiments, and 12 battalions of infantry; 6 regiments, and 2 battalions of cavalry; and 15 batteries of light artillery.

FLORIDA--10 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 2 regiments, and 1 battalion of cavalry; and 6 batteries of light artillery.

GEORGIA--68 regiments, and 17 battalions of infantry; 11 regiments, and 2 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of partisan rangers; 2 battalions of heavy artillery; and 28 batteries of light artillery.

LOUISIANA--34 regiments, and 10 battalions of infantry; 2 regiments, and 1 battalion of cavalry; 1 regiment of partisan rangers; 2 regiments of heavy artillery; and 26 batteries of light artillery.

MISSISSIPPI-- 49 regiments, and 6 battalions of infantry; 7 regiments, and 4 battalions of cavalry; 2 regiments of partisan rangers; and 20 batteries of light artillery.

NORTH CAROLINA-- 69 regiments, and 4 battalions of infantry; 1 regiment, and 5 battalions of cavalry; 2 battalions of heavy artillery; and 9 batteries of light artillery.

SOUTH CAROLINA-- 33 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 7 regiments and 1 battalion of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of heavy artillery; and 28 batteries of light artillery.

TENNESSEE--61 regiments, and 2 battalions of infantry; 21 regiments, and 11 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment, and 1 battalion of heavy artillery; and 32 batteries of light artillery.

TEXAS--22 regiments, and 5 battalions of infantry; 28 regiments, and 4 battalions of cavalry; and 16 batteries of light artillery.

VIRGINIA-- 65 regiments, and 10 battalions of infantry; 22 regiments, and 11 battalions of cavalry; 1 regiment of partisan rangers; 1 regiment of artillery; and 53 batteries of light artillery.

BORDER STATES-- 21 regiments, and 4 battalions of infantry; 9 regiments, and 5 battalions of cavalry; and 11 batteries of light artillery.

C. S. REGULARS-- 7 regiments of infantry; 6 regiments of cavalry; and one battery of light artillery.

AGGREGATE--529 regiments, and 85 battalions of infantry; 127 regiments and 47 battalions of cavalry; 8 regiments and 1 battalion of partisan rangers 5 regiments and 6 battalions of heavy artillery; and 261 batteries of light artillery. In all, equivalent to 764: regiments of 10 companies each.

       These were all troops of the line, and they served during the whole, or the greater part of the war. The number does not include regiments which served a short time only; neither does it include disbanded or consolidated regiments; nor State militia, Junior Reserves, Senior Reserves, Home Guards, Local Defense regiments, and separate companies. And, yet, these miscellaneous organizations rendered effective service at times, and took the place of regular troops. The Petersburg entrenchments on June 15, 1864, were held successfully by militiamen during the first assault, until the arrival of Lee's army. Partisan bands like Mosby's and John Morgan's kept ten times their number of Union cavalry employed in protecting the territory in which they operated, or in watching their movements.
       The question arises, next, as to the average enrollment of the Confederate regiments. That known, the strength of their armies could soon be computed; the rolls of the North Carolina regiments have been printed and,--with the eight regiments of Junior and Senior Reserves not included in the foregoing list,-- show a total enrollment of 125,000 men. These rolls, incomplete as they necessarily are, show that twenty-two of the North Carolina regiments numbered over 1,500 men, each; and some of them over 1,800. The Confederacy organized but few new regiments after 1862; the recruits and conscripts were assigned to the old regiments to keep them up to an effective strength.
       The total loss of the Confederate Armies in killed and mortally wounded will never be definitely known, and can be stated only in round numbers. A summing up of the casualties at each battle and minor engagement--using official reports only, and in their absence accepting Confederate estimates- indicates that 94,000 men were killed or mortally wounded on the Confederate side during the war.
       In the report for 1865-6, made by General James B. Fry, United States Provost Marshal-General, there is a tabulation of Confederate losses as compiled from the muster-rolls on file in the Bureau of Confederate Archives. The returns are incomplete, and nearly all the Alabama rolls are missing. Still the figures are worth noting, as they show that at least 74,524 were killed or died of wounds; and, that 59,297 died of disease. From Gen. Fry's tabulation the following abstract is made:

DEATHS IN CONFEDERATE ARMIES

       If the Confederate rolls could have been completed, and then revised,--as has been done with the rolls of the Union regiments,--the number of killed as shown above (74,524) would be largely increased. As it is, the extent of such increase must remain a matter of conjecture. The Union rolls were examined at the same time, and a similar tabulation of the number killed appears, also, in General Fry's report. But this latter number was increased 15,000 by a subsequent revision based upon the papers known as "final statements," and upon newly-acquired information received through affidavits filed at the Pension Bureau.
       To understand the full meaning of these figures one must keep in mind the sparse population of these States. Their military population in 1861 was:

       Of this number, Tennessee furnished 31,092 to the Union Armies; and the western counties of Virginia--afterwards set apart as West Virginia--furnished 31,872 men.
       From the preceding figures it appears that South Carolina lost in killed over 23 per cent. of her entire military population; and that North Carolina lost over 17 per cent. Add to this the loss by disease, and the maimed or crippled for life, and the result becomes extraordinary in its heroic aspect.
       The Confederate Armies lost, in the aggregate, nearly 10 per cent. in killed or mortally wounded. The average loss in the Union Armies was 5 per cent. But in the latter there were over 300 regiments which were not in action, with as many more which were under fire but a few times. A large part of the Union Armies was used in protecting communications, guarding lines of supplies, in garrison duty, and as armies of occupation. The Confederate regiments were all at the front, and, although repeatedly filled up with recruits, were held there until many of them were worn out by the constant attrition.
       For these reasons it is evident that although the Confederate Armies were much smaller, their losses were not necessarily smaller in proportion. Their generals displayed a wonderful ability in always confronting the enemy with an equal force at the point of contact. What mattered? Hooker's extra thousands at Chancellorsville? In two corps not a shot was fired. What if Meade did have 20,000 more men at Gettysburg than Lee? The Sixth Corps lay in reserve. But in these battles, as in others, every Confederate regiment was put in and not relieved until they had lost killed and wounded men by the score.
       The aggregate of killed and mortally wounded in the Confederate Armies during the war was 16,000 less than in the Union Armies; or, adding the usual proportion of wounded, a difference of about 60,000, killed and wounded, in favor of the Confederates. Up to 1864 the aggregate of losses on each side was substantially the same. There was a small percentage in favor of the Confederates up to that time; but, if their casualty lists could be subjected to the same revision as that recently applied to the nominal casualty lists of the Union Armies, it is probable that their official returns as thus corrected would show an increase which would largely offset the difference prior to 1864. The excess of 16,000 killed, in the Union aggregate --or, its equivalent of 60,000 in killed and wounded--occurred almost wholly in the campaigns of 1864-5.
       The severity of the losses among the Confederates, and the heroic persistency with which they would stand before the enemy's musketry, becomes apparent in studying the official returns of various regiments.
       At Gettysburg, the 26th North Carolina, of Pettigrew's Brigade, Heth's Division, went into action with an' effective strength which is stated in the regimental official report as "over 800 men." They sustained a loss, according to Surgeon-General Guild's report, of 86 killed and 502 wounded; total, 588. In addition there were about 120 missing, nearly all of whom must have been wounded or killed; but, as they fell into the enemy's hands, they were not included in the hospital report. This loss occurred mostly in the first day's fight, where the regiment encountered the 151st Pennsylvania and Cooper's Battery, of Rowley's Brigade, Doubleday's Division. The Quartermaster of the 26th, who made the official report on July 4th, states that there were only 216 left for duty after the fight on the 1st inst. The regiment then participated in Pickett's Charge, on the third day of the battle, in which it attacked the position held by Smyth's Brigade, Hays's Division, Second Corps. On the following day it mustered only 80 men for duty, the missing ones having fallen in the final and unsuccessful charge. In the battle of the first day, Captain Tuttle's company went into action with 3 officers and 84 men; all of the officers and 83 of the men were killed or wounded. On the same day, and in the same brigade (Pettigrew's), Company C, of the Eleventh North Carolina, lost 2 officers killed, and 34, out of 38, men killed or wounded; Captain Bird, of this company, with the four remaining men, participated in the charge on the 3d of July, and of these the flag-bearer was shot, and the captain brought out the flag himself. This loss of the 26th North Carolina, at Gettysburg, was the severest regimental loss during the war.
       The next instance, in point of numerical loss, is that of the 6th Alabama- Colonel John B. Gordon--at Fair Oaks. This regiment was then in Rodes's Brigade of D. H. Hill's Division, which in this fight was pitted against Naglee's Brigade of Casey's Division. The regiment lost 91 killed, 277 wounded, and 5 missing; total, 373, out of about 632 engaged.
       In the same battle, and in D. H. Hill's Division also, the Fourth North Carolina, of G. B. Anderson's Brigade, sustained a loss of 77 killed, 286 wounded, and 6 missing; total, 369, out of 678 engaged.
       At Gaines's Mill the First South Carolina Rifles, Gregg's Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division, charged a battery which was supported by the Duryée Zouaves. The Rifles lost in this affair, 81 killed, 234 wounded, and 4 missing; total, 319, out of 537 engaged.
       At Stones River the Eighth Tennessee, of Donelson's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, lost 41 killed and 265 wounded; total, 306, out of 444 engaged. The 8th sustained the principal part of this loss while engaged with some troops of Sheridan's Division, and in a successful charge on Houghtaling's Battery, in which they captured several pieces of artillery from that and other batteries.
       The severest losses are not always the largest numerically. To understand the extent of a regimental loss in any particular battle, one must know the number of men taken into action by the regiment. Many of the Confederate Colonels were intelligent and thoughtful enough in making their battle reports, to mention in connection with the casualties, the number of men engaged, without which all such statements convey no definite idea. By doing so they have, in many instances, secured for their regiments an honored place in history which otherwise would have been lost.

 These terrible losses were not confined to regiments and brigades; in some divisions the men were cut down equally fast throughout the entire ranks of the command. During the Seven Days Battles, Longstreet's Division lost in the actions at Gaines's Mill and Glendale 766 killed, 3,435 wounded and 237 missing; total, 4,438,--out of 8,831 engaged, or, 50.2 per cent.
       Nor was this an uncommon loss. The official reports of Confederate Division-Generals, though lacking the figures necessary for a statement of an exact percentage, often indicate plainly a division-loss in killed and wounded of over forty per cent.
       Through four years of desperate war and its score of battles these excessive percentages divided and subdivided the ranks, until the end came and with it a division which was merely a thing of shreds and patches.
       If each regiment in the preceding list had fought in no other battle than the one mentioned in connection with it, the record would still be a heroic one; but the battle mentioned-was one of a score of bloody contests, in each of which the gallant command was decimated. In fact, any regiment in the American War considered itself fortunate if it could come out of a battle with no greater loss than decimation.
       But, in May, 1863, General Lee issued an order which has an important bearing on the subject of regimental casualties in the Confederate Army:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 63.
MAY 14, 1863.

       The practice which prevails in the Army of including in the list of casualties those cases of slight injuries which do not incapacitate the recipients for duty, is calculated to mislead our friends, and encourage our enemies, by giving false impressions as to the extent of our losses.
       The loss sustained by a brigade or regiment is by no means an indication of the service performed or perils encountered, as experience shows that those who attack most rapidly, vigorously, and effectually generally suffer the least. It is, therefore, ordered that in future the reports of the wounded shall only include those whose injuries, in the opinion of the medical officers, render them unfit for duty. It has also been observed that the published reports of casualties are in some instances accompanied by a statement of the number of men taken into action. The commanding general deems it unnecessary to do more than direct the attention of officers to the impropriety of thus furnishing the enemy with the means of computing our strength, in order to insure the immediate suppression of this pernicious and useless custom.

By command of General Lee.
W.H. TAYLOR,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

       If this order was observed, it is evident that all subsequent casualty lists are of little value for statistical purposes; and, if enforced, that many a gallant regiment has been deprived of the laurels to which its heroic record would have entitled it.
       The effect of this order is manifest in the tone of the official reports made by the regimental commandants at the next battle. For instance:

       I herewith respectfully submit a detailed statement of casualties, giving names and description of wounds in full, from which I have omitted all slight wounds which, though sufficient to disable a man for a day or two, will not prevent his taking part in the next battle,--say a week or ten days from the time the hurt was received. {Official report of Ninth Georgia, for Gettysburg.]
       Below I submit a list of killed, wounded, and missing. The wounded include only those disabled indefinitely. Quite a number were temporarily disabled by slight wounds, but resumed their duties in a few days; hence I make no mention of them in this report. [Official report of Colonel V. H. Manning, Third Arkansas; for Gettysburg.]

       This order lays too much stress upon the hackneyed assertion that losses are by no means an indication of the service performed or perils encountered. Such statements have, indeed, proved true in a few particular instances; but, in only a few. They were exceptions which only proved the rule. A study of regimental actions shows clearly that the battalions which faced musketry the steadiest, longest, and oftenest were the ones whose aggregate loss during the war was the greatest. Fighting regiments leave a bloody wake behind them; retreating regiments lose few men. At Chancellorsville, the heaviest losses were in the corps that stood; not in the one that broke.
       In the following table is given the leading regiments, in point of loss, at various battles. The list is incomplete, as there are few Confederate official reports for the latter part of the war. Still the record is one which will ever redound to the credit of American manhood, and to the glory of the American soldier.

       There are no muster-out rolls of the Confederate regiments. There are partial sets of muster-rolls and monthly returns at Washington in the Bureau of Confederate Archives; but they are defective and incomplete. There is no way of determining accurately the mortuary loss of each Confederate regiment during its entire service.
       The total losses of a few regiments have been ascertained from other sources. The History of Gregg's South Carolina Brigade states the number of deaths in each regiment, and, judging from the casualty lists given for each action, the statistics are substantially correct.

Gregg's Brigade	Officers Killed	Enlisted Killed	Total	Officers Dead of Disease	Enlisted Dead of Disease	Total
1st South Carolina	26	260	281	---	156	156
12th South Carolina	17	213	230	2	182	184
13th South Carolina	17	203	220	5	257	262
14th South Carolina	16	208	224	4	322	326
1st South Carolina Rifles	19	305	324	3	198	201
Total	90	1,189	1,279	14	1,115	1,129

       But the loss in action of this famous brigade was largely in excess of other commands. The average number of killed in the Confederate regiments was something less than 150.
       The desperate character of the fighting entailed a large loss of life upon the general officers. The following list has been compiled from the official reports, but some names may possibly have been omitted.

CONFEDERATE GENERALS KILLED OR MORTALLY WOUNDED IN BATTLE.

ARMY COMMANDERS

General Albert Sydney Johnston, Killed at Shiloh.

CORPS COMMANDERS

Lieutenant-General Thomas J. Jackson, Killed at Chancellorsville.
Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk, Killed at  Pine Mountain.
Lieutenant-General Ambrose P. Hill, Killed at Fall of Petersburg.

DIVISION COMMANDERS

Major-General William D. Pender Killed at Gettysburg.
Major-General J. E. B. Stewart, Killed at Yellow Tavern.
Major-General W. H. Walker, Killed at Atlanta.
Major-General Robert E. Rodes, Killed at Opequon.
Major-General Stephen D. Ramseur, Killed at Cedar Creek.
Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne, Killed at Franklin.
Brigadier-General John Pegram, Killed at Hatcher's Run.

BRIGADE COMMANDERS

Brigadier-General Robert S. Garnett, Killed at Cheat Mountain.
Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee, Killed at First Bull Run.
Brigadier-General Francis S. Bartow, Killed at First Bull Run.
Brigadier-General Felix K. Zollicoffer, Killed at Mill Springs.
Brigadier-General Ben. McCulloch, Killed at Pea Ridge.
Brigadier-General James Mcintosh, Killed at Pea Ridge
Brigadier-General William Y. Slack, Killed at Pea Ridge.
Brigadier-General Adley H. Gladden, Killed at Shiloh.
Brigadier-General Robert Hatton, Killed at Fair Oaks.
Brigadier-General Turner Ashby, Killed at Harrisonburg.
Brigadier-General Richard Griffith, Killed at Savage Station.
Brigadier-General Charles S. Winder, Killed at Cedar Mountain.
Brigadier-General Samuel Garland, Jr, Killed at South Mountain.
Brigadier-General George B. Anderson, Killed at Antietam.
Brigadier-General L. O'B. Branch, Killed at Antietam.
Brigadier-General William E. Starke, Killed at Antietam.
Brigadier-General Henry Little, Killed at Iuka.
Brigadier-General Thomas R. Cobb, Killed at Fredericksburg.
Brigadier-General Maxcy Gregg, Killed at Fredericksburg.
Brigadier-General James E. Rains, Killed at Stones River.
Brigadier-General Roger W. Hanson, Killed at Stones River.
Brigadier-General E. D. Tracy, Killed at Port Gibson.
Brigadier-General E. F. Paxton, Killed at Chancellorsville.
Brigadier-General Lloyd Tilghman, Killed at Champion's Hill.
Brigadier-General Martin E. Green, Killed at Vicksburg.
Brigadier-General William Barksdale, Killed at Gettysburg.
Brigadier-General Lewis Armistead, Killed at Gettysburg.
Brigadier-General Richard B. Garnett, Killed at Gettysburg.
Brigadier-General Paul J. Semmes, Killed at Gettysburg.
Brigadier-General J. J. Pettigrew, Killed at Falling Waters.
Brigadier-General Preston Smith, Killed at Chickamauga.
Brigadier-General Benjamin H. Helm, Killed at Chickamauga.
Brigadier-General James Deshler, Killed at Chickamauga.
Brigadier-General Carnot Posey, Killed at Bristoe Station.
Brigadier-General Alfred Mouton, Killed at Sabine Cross Roads.
Brigadier-General Thomas Green, Killed at Pleasant Hill.
Brigadier-General W. R. Scurry, Killed at Jenkins Ferry.
Brigadier-General John M. Jones, Killed at Wilderness.
Brigadier-General Micah Jenkins, Killed at Wilderness.
Brigadier-General L. A. Stafford, Killed at Wilderness.
Brigadier-General Abner Perrin, Killed at Spotsylvania.
Brigadier-General Junius Daniel, Killed at Spotsylvania.
Brigadier-General James B. Gordon, Killed at Yellow Tavern.
Brigadier-General George Doles, Killed at Bethesda Church.
Brigadier-General W. E. Jones, Killed at Piedmont.
Brigadier-General C. H. Stevens, Killed at Peach Tree Creek.
Brigadier-General Samuel Benton, Killed at Ezra Church.
Brigadier-General John R. Chambliss, Jr, Killed at Deep Bottom.
Brigadier-General J. C. Saunders, Killed at Weldon Railroad.
Brigadier-General Robert H. Anderson, Killed at Jonesboro.
Brigadier-General John Morgan, Killed at Greenville, Tenn.
Brigadier-General Archibald C. Godwin, Killed at Opequon.
Brigadier-General John Dunnovant, Killed at Vaughn Road.
Brigadier-General John Gregg, Killed at Darbytown Road.
Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr., Killed at Petersburg.
Brigadier-General Victor J. Girardey, Killed at Petersburg.
Brigadier-General Archibald Gracie, Jr. Killed at Pt.burg. Trenches.
Brigadier-General John Adams, Killed at Franklin.
Brigadier-General Oscar F. Strahl, Killed at Franklin.
Brigadier-General S. R. Gist, Killed at Franklin.
Brigadier-General H. B. Granberry, Killed at Franklin.
Brigadier-General James Dearing, Killed at High Bridge.

       The record of casualties in the Confederate Navy is not a startling one. Nevertheless, the Confederate seamen, in every action, fought their ships to the last extremity, and made a record which, for heroism, skill, and enterprise, will challenge the attention of the historical student as long as the story of the war is told.
       With crippled resources, and under discouraging circumstances, vessels were constructed which revolutionized the entire system of naval warfare, and although the flag of the Confederate Navy went down in ultimate ruin and defeat, it will survive in the history of the world's navies as the flag which waved over the first iron-clad.

LOSSES IN THE CONFEDERATE NAVY. 1861-65

       But any recital of casualties or battles would fail to convey a proper idea of the extent and activity of the Confederate Navy. Important and successful operations were carried on by privateers and swift cruisers flying the Confederate flag. These cruisers inflicted an immense damage on the commerce of the United States. The Confederate steamer Alabama captured or destroyed 69 vessels; the Florida, 37; the Tallahassee, 29; the Shenandoah, 36; the Sumter, 18; the Olustee, 6; the Tacony, 15; the Georgia, 9; the Clarence, 8; the Jeff. Davis, 8; the Chickamauga, 4; and the Nashville, 2. There were other privateers which also made some captures.

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

By William F. Fox, Lt. Col., U.S.V.

President Of the Society Of The Twelfth Army Corps, Late President Of The
10th N.Y. Veteran Volunteers' Association and Member of the New York
Historical Society

Albany, N.Y.
Albany Publishing Company
1889