July 18, 1864---The Civil War Soldier

JULY 18, 1864:                   

About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil War --- 2,000,000 for the North and 750,000 for the South. The average Yankee or Rebel was a white, native-born, male farmer, belonging to a Protestant sect. He was single, and aged between 18 and 29, with an average age of 25. The typical soldier stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed about 143 pounds.  

Besides farmers, both armies were made up of men in more than 300 different careers, including accountants, surveyors, locksmiths, teachers, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, house painters, masons, teamsters, and mechanics. Given the greater population of the North, it is surprising that the Southern army contained a greater number of merchants, lawyers, and dentists.

Most Civil War soldiers were born in the United States, but approximately one-quarter of Federal troopers were recent immigrants. Some 200,000 (approximately 10% of all Union men who served) were German-born. At least 150,000 Irish immigrants served the Union cause as well. Other significant groups included 45,000 men born in England and 15,000 Canadian-born men. Not all of these men were citizens when they served.  The Union armies were also comprised of men born in France, Norway, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Austria, and Poland. Fewer immigrants served in the Confederate armies, but the few that did represented the same broad spectrum. African-American soldiers made up roughly 10 percent of the Union army. Approximately 180,000 black soldiers wore the blue uniform; 40,000 lost their lives. Excepting Louisiana’s briefly extant Corps d’Afrique of 1861, African-Americans were not permitted to join the Confederate cause until its last days. Only a very few ever saw combat.

Soldiers on each side initially earned about $11.00 per month. In June 1864, the Confederacy raised each soldier’s pay to $18.00 per month, but due to rampant inflation, this sum was worth less than the lesser amount earlier in the war. The Confederacy struggled to pay even that, and many men fought for little or no money as time went on. The Union raised its monthly wage to $16.00 that same June. Black soldiers had initially been paid $10.00 per month, minus the $3.00 clothing allowance that white troops received --- in short, only $7.00. Eventually, there was wage parity (on paper) but many U.S.C.T. never saw the increase.

Officially, the daily Union ration consisted of 22 ounces of bread and either 12 ounces of pork or a pound of salted beef. Unofficially, and in reality, most men received hardtack, boiled beef, or bologna, usually less than fresh. Vegetables were provided as available. Coffee was the standard beverage, and smoking tobacco was a common addition to a soldier’s kit.   Confederates were supposed to receive (but rarely did) a daily ration of 12 ounces of bacon or 20 ounces of salted beef along with 18 ounces of flour or 20 ounces of corn meal or hardtack. Usually, Confederates got by on cornbread and coffee, and answered their oral cravings and pangs by smoking.   

In the Union army 80% of the men were in the infantry. 14% were in the cavalry. Six percent were in artillery units. In the Confederate army, 75% of the men served in the infantry, 20% served in the cavalry, and 5% served in artillery units.

Roughly 210,000 Union soldiers were captured and imprisoned in the South; 30,000 of them died. 215,000 Confederates were imprisoned in the North, and 26,000 of them died.

700,000 Americans died in the Civil War. Approximately 400,000 Yankees died in the war --- 150,000 in battle and 300,000 of disease, or roughly 20% of those who fought. The South lost about 300,000 men --- 100,000 in battle and 200,000 to disease (roughly 33% of those who fought).  Of every 1,000 Federals, 112 were wounded; 150 of every 1,000 Confederates were wounded. A Yankee stood a 1 in 8 chance of dying due to illness and a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle. A Rebel faced a 1 in 5 chance of succumbing to disease and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in combat. About fifteen percent of the wounded became narcotics addicts due to the opium and cocaine used as standard medical pain killers in the 1860s.