Southern Historical Society Papers/Volume 40/Losses in the War between the States
LOSSES IN THE UNION WAR.
By Dr. Tiebault, in Richmond (Va.) Times.
The United States in enlisted men numbered 2,865,028 against not exceeding 600,000 on the side of the Confederacy.
Dr. C. H. Tibault, Surgeon General of the United Confederate Veterans, addressed a circular to the surviving Confederate Surgeons in view of the reunion in Atlanta, Ga., in which he said:
Let me here briefly and tersely recite a few historic facts, from official data in my possession, of interest to stimulate our further research:
Of the 34 States and Territories only 11 seceded. In these 11 States the men of military age—from 18 to 45 years—numbered 1,064,193, inclusive of lame, halt, blind, etc. On the Union side the same class numbered 4,559,872—over 4 to 1—without estimating the constant accessions from the world at large augmenting monthly the Union side.
With the States of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, and the remainder of the Southern States, the remarkable fact presents that the South itself—the slave States—gave exceeding 300,000 to the Union side—more than half as many soldiers as comprised the entire Confederate army. These facts, derived from the war records, show that there were four armies in the field, each one of which was as large as the entire Confederate army, without including the more than 300,000 contingent from the South.
In numbers the Federal loss was 67,058 killed and 43,012 died of wounds; total, 110,070. Of the Confederates the like total was 74,524. The Confederates had 53,773 killed outright and 194,026 wounded on the field of battle. More than one-third of the 600,000 Confederates were therefore confided to the Confederate surgeons for battle wounds. For the nineteen months—January, 1862, to July, 1863, inclusive—over 1,000,000 cases of wounds and sickness were entered upon the Confederate field reports and over 400,000 cases of wounds upon the hospital reports. It is estimated that each of the 600,000 Confederates were, on an average, disabled for greater or less periods, by wounds and sickness, about six times during the war. The heroic, untiring, important part thus borne by the skillful Confederate surgeons in maintaining in the field an effective army of unexampled Confederate soldiers must challenge particular attention.
The destruction by fire of the medical and surgical records of the Confederate States, deposited in the Surgeon General's office, in Richmond, Va., in April, 1865, renders the roster of the Medical Corps somewhat imperfect, hence the need of concerted action on the part of the survivors to bridge this hiatus. The official list of the paroled officers and men of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered by Gen. R. E. Lee, April 9, 1865, furnished 310 Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons. In my first report, presented at the Richmond reunion, I showed that the medical roster of the Army of Tennessee had been preserved in duplicate. I shall offer in a more detailed report data to prove indisputably important facts resulting to the prisoners of war upon both sides, with the purpose of establishing the death rate responsibility in the premises. It will suffice to mention here that the report of Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, on the 19th of July, 1866, exhibits the fact that of the Federal prisoners in Confederate hands during the war only 22,700 died, while of the Confederate prisoners in Federal hands 26,436 died. This report does not set forth the exact number of prisoners held by each side respectively.
These facts were given more in detail by a subsequent report by Surgeon General Barnes, of the United States Army.
The whole number of Federal prisoners captured by the Confederates and held in Southern prisons from first to last during the war was, in round numbers, 270,000, while the whole 'number of Confederates captured and held in prisons by the Federals was in like round numbers only 220,000. From these two reports it appears that, with 50,000 more prisoners in the Southern stockades or other modes of confinement, the deaths were nearly 4,000 less. According to these figures, the per centum of Federal deaths in Southern prisons was under 9, while the per centum of Confederate deaths in Northern prisons was over 12. These mortuary statistics are of no small weight in determining on which side there was the most neglect, cruelty and inhumanity, proclaiming as they do a loss of more than 3 per cent, of Confederates over Federals in prisons, while the Federals had an unstinted command of everything.
There is in my keeping unchallenged evidence to demonstrate that the refusal to exchange prisoners was not due to the Confederate Government.
The policy of the Confederates was established by law. By an act of the Confederate Congress passed soon after the war was inaugurated, it was provided that prisoners of war should have the same rations in quantity and quality as Confederate soldiers in the field. By an act afterward passed, all hospitals for sick and wounded prisoners were put upon the same footing with hospitals for sick and wounded Confederates. This policy was never changed. There was no discrimination in either particular between Federal prisoners and Confederate soldiers. Whatever food or fare the Confederate soldier had, whether good or bad, full or short, the Federal prisoners shared equally with them. Whatever medical attention the sick and wounded Confederate soldiers had, the Federal prisoners in like condition also received. Where the supply of the usual standard medicines was exhausted and could not be replenished in consequence of the action of the Federal Government in holding them to be contraband of war and in preventing their introduction by the blockade and severe penalties, when resort was had to the virtues of the healing herbs of the country as substitutes for more efficient remedial agents, the suffering Federals shared these equally with like suffering Confederates. All Confederate surgeons have more or less valuable data in their keeping. Gather these up at once, comrades, resolve to come to this meeting, and bring them with you. Each separate fact placed with others in a connected whole will fill in the needed missing links required to perfect the historic part relating to the faithfulness and unfaultering devotion of the Confederate surgeons in the thorough and conscientious performance of their humanitarian professional obligations, regardless of creeds and of nationalities, or whether friends or foemen. The whole number of Confederates surrendered from the 9th of April, 1865, to the 26th day of May, 1865, the date of final surrender, under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, was, according to the muster rolls, a little under 175,000. This embraces quite a number who from disease and wounds were not actually in the field at the time. The whole number of Federal forces then in the field and afterward mustered out of service, as the records show, amounted to in round numbers, 1,000,000.
The total loss in killed and died of wounds in the Franco-German war was 3.1 per cent; that of the Austrians in the war of 1866, 2.6 per cent; that of the Allies in the Crimea, 3.2 per cent. But in our war the hemorrhage was far greater, for the Federals lost 4.7 per cent and the Confederates over 9 per cent., the heaviest loss of any modern army, that fell around its standard.