Fascinating Facts of the Civil War

Important dates:

January

February

Deaths in Northern Prisons: {C}

Location	No. of Prisoners	Deaths	percent
Point Lookout, Md.	38,073	3,446	9.0
Ft. Delaware, Del.	22,773	2,502	10.9
Camp Douglas, Il.	22,301	3,759	16.8
Camp Chase, Ohio	14,227	2,108	15.0
Camp Morton, Ind.	10,319	1,763	17.0
Elmira, N.Y.	9,167	2,980	32.5
Louisville, Ky.	8,438	139	1.7
Alton, Ill.	7,717	1,613	20.9
Johnson's Island, Ohio	7,357	275	3.7
Old Capitol, Washington, D.C.	5,761	457	7.9
Newport News, Va.	5,459	89	1.6
Ft. McHenry, Md.	5,325	33	.6
Ship Island, Miss.	4,789	162	3.3
St. Louis, Mo.	4,585	589	1.3
Camp Butler, Ill.	4,154	816	19.6
Harts Island, N.Y.	3,117	230	7.4
Rock Island, Ill.	2,484	1,922	77.4
Totals:	170,136	22,878	12.9

Deaths of Union prisoners in Confederate prisons - under nine percent {C}

Michigan in The Civil War:

Michigan had one of the Ten best Cavalry units in the Union army, Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade, in The Army of The Potomac

Michigan also had 16 regiments listed in Fox's Fighting 300, A monumental study published by William Fox in 1898, which listed those regiments that lost130 troops due to death or death by wounding.

They are the: 1st Cav. brigade, 5th Cav. brigade, 6th Cav. brigade, 1st sharpshooters, 1st, Inf., 2nd Inf., 3rd Inf., 4th Inf., 5th Inf., 7th Inf., 8th Inf., 16th Inf., 17th Inf., 20th Inf., 24th Inf., and 27th Inf.

Michigan's Rankings:

tied for 22nd in rank, based on thousands of active militiamen in 1860 - 1.2

16th in the number of men furnished for the Conflict, regardless of side

22nd based on number proportion of population furnished for military service, regardless of side - 11.8%, or 87,364

9th based on manpower recruited for entire Union, 3.1% of The Army

9th based on white troops furnished to The Union - 85,479 - 11.6% of the white population

24th based on black troops furnished to The Union - 1,387 - 20.4% of Blacks recruited, and 0.2% of the black population

Michigan regiments of Foriegn born soldiers:

2nd Michigan Cavalry, Co. D - Dutch

24th Michigan Infantry - Predominately Irish

Michigan and Gettysburg -

Furnished 2,649 engaged troops

sustained 1,111 casualties

suffered a 41.9% loss at Gettysburg

175 buried in National Cemetery in Gettysburg

The 24th Michigan Infantry had the greatest losses of any Union regiment - 363 casualties, 67 killed, 216 wounded

Michigan's total recorded losses from The Conflict: 14,753

Five Michigan units that had the most Battle Deaths in the Union Army:

The 5th Michigan Infantry was ranked 4th of Union Infantry with 263

The 16th Michigan Infantry was ranked 8th of Union Infantry with 247

The 1st Michigan was ranked 2nd of Union Cavalry with 164

The 5th Michigan was ranked 3rd of Union Cavalry with 141

The 6th Michigan was ranked 4th of Union Cavalry with 135

The population in Michigan in 1860 was 742,941 (2.4% of The U.S. pop.), with a Black pop. of 6,799, zero slaves.

Michigan had six electoral votes in 1860, and all six were given to Lincoln - All eight electoral votes Michigan had in 1864 went to Lincoln

Michigan has two recorded attempts of women to enlist as men, to serve their country during The Conflict:

Mary Burns enlisted as a man, but was detected before her unit shipped out, and was ejected.

Sara Emma Edmonds, from Flint, made several trips into the South as a spy, and enlisted as Franklin Thompson, and served as a male nurse in Co. F, 2nd Michigan Infantry

The Number of Soldiers recruited for the Conflict - {A}

Union: 2,803,292 (9.1% of U.S. Army)
Confederate: 1,033,000 (100% of C.S. Army)

Prewar Occupations of the Union Soldier - {A}

1860's Occupation	1860's Percent	Year 2001 Occupation of Our Battery members	Year 2001 percent
Farmers	48	Teachers	6
Mechanics	24	Mechanics	5
Laborers	16	Laborers	13
Commercial	5	Commercial	4
Professional	3	Professional	13
Other	4	Other	23

Average height of Union soldiers: - {A}

5 feet, 8 1/4 inches

Average weight of Union soldiers: - {A}

143 1/2 pounds

The Haircolor of the typical Union Soldier - {A}

Color	Percent
Brown	30
Dark	25
Light	24
Black	13
Sandy	4
Red	3
Gray	1

The Eye color of the typical Union Soldier: - {A}

Color	Percent
Blue	45
Gray	24
Hazel	13
Dark	10
Black	8

Nationalities of Foreign-born Soldiers: - {A}

Nationality	Number of Troops
German	175,000
Irish	150,000
English	50,000
Canadian	50,000
Other	75,000
Total	500,000

The first soldiers to die at Gettysburg: - {A}

Confederate: Henry Raison, 7th Tennessee Infantry
Union: Corporal Cyrus W. James, Co. G, 9th New York Cavalry

Burials by Section in the Gettysburg National Cemetary: - {A}

Connecticut: 22	Delaware: 15	Illinois: 6(+4 postwar)
Indiana: 81	Maine: 104	Maryland: 21
Massachusetts: 159	Michigan:175	Minnesota: 56
New Hampshire: 49	New Jersey: 79	New York: 876
Ohio: 131(+3 postwar)	Pennsylvania: 575	Rhode Island: 14
U.S. Regulars: 140	Vermont: 61	West Virginia: 11
Wisconsin: 73	Unknown: 4,606

Ten Bloodiest Battles: - {A}

Rank	Battle	Casualties
1.	Gettysburg	40,638
2.	Chickamauga	28,399
3.	Seven Days	27,535
4.	Antietam*	23,381
5.	Wilderness	22,033
6.	Chancellorsville	21,862
7.	Shiloh	17,897
8.	Atlanta	19,715
9.	2nd Mannasas	19,204
10.	Stones River	18,459

*Note - This was the bloodiest day in the war.

Famous ( Or soon to be) Players: - {B}

Christopher "Kit" Carson -

Made his name a household word as guide to John Charles Fremont's expeditions of 1842 - 1845.
He was almost guaranteed a brigadiership, but instead became lieutenant colonel of 1st New Mexico Cavalry, at age 52.
He led 8 companies in the 2/21/1862 Battle of Valverde, and due to the significance of his leadership, reluctantly accepted a brevet.

Frank Leslie -

Born in England in 1821, came to US at age 27.
Launched Frank Leslie's Ladies' Gazette of Paris, London, and New York Fashions.
Expanded, to include Boys' and Girls' Weekly Sunday Magazine, Jolly Joker, Comic Almanac, Chatterbox, Ladies' Magazine, and Ladies' Journal.
He was forced into bankruptcy, and died a debtor.
Today, each one of the 200 issues of the illustrated newspaper from 1861 - 1865, is a collector's item.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly is has been a major source of Civil War art since The Conflict.

Walt Whitman -

42 at the time of Fort Sumter, he failed as:
office boy, printer's devil, schoolteacher, typesetter, journalist, and editor.
Published Leaves of Grass in 1855, and cringed every time he saw a review.
Served as a volunteer nursein the hospitals of Washington, only occasionally seeing glimpses of Abraham Lincoln.
Received belated recognition of his poetic genius 1st in England, then in The US, after his death.

Fire and Brimstone on the Battlefield, too!: - {B}

Fighting Clergymen

Episcopal priest William N. Pendleton exchanged his robe for a gray uniform and at age 51 became a captain in the Rockbridge Artillery. Quickly promoted, he became chief of Artillery on the staff of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. He was so proud of his four 6-pounder brass smoothbore cannon, he named them Matthew, Mark, Luke , and John, claiming they " spoke a powerful language." On March 26, 1862, he was named Brigadier General in charge of Robert E. Lee's artillery. After the war, he returned to Grace Church in Lexington. His fighting men swore that when he signalled for a cannon to be fired, he bowed his head, and said this prayer:

"Lord, preserve the soul while I destroy the body."

In 1805, the Rev. Alexander J. Forsyth of Scotland perfected the percussion cap.

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{A} - This data was obtained from the book The Civil War Book of Lists by Combined Books.
{B} - This information was obtained from the book Civil War Curiosities written by Webb Garrison, and published by Rutledge Hill Press
{C} - This information extracted from the book Civil War Prisons and Escapes, A Day-To-Day Chronicle written by Robert E. Denney, and published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
If you have any questions or comments,
email me at jlindsey@batteryd.com.