Page:Facts About the Civil War (1955).djvu/8



According to the U. S. Census, the population of the United States in 1860 numbered 31,443,321 persons. Of these, approximately 23,000,000 were in the 22 Northern states and 9,000,000 in the 11 Southern states. Of the latter total, 3,500,000 were slaves.

At one time or another, the Northern armies numbered 2,100,000 soldiers. The Southern armies were considerably smaller. The total dead on both sides was about 600,000.

Of the 364,000 on the Union side who lost their lives, a third were killed or died of wounds and two-thirds died of disease.

The chance of surviving a wound in Civil War days was 7 to 1; in the Korean War, 50 to 1.

About 15 per cent of the wounded died in the Civil War; about 8 per cent in World War I; about 4 per cent in World War II; about 2 per cent in the Korean War.

There were 6,000,000 cases of disease in the Federal armies, which meant that, on an average, every man was sick at least twice.

The diseases most prevalent were dysentery, typhoid fever, malaria, pneumonia, arthritis, and the acute diseases of childhood, such as measles and malnutrition.

The principal weapon of the war and the one by which 80 per cent of all wounds were produced was a single-shot, muzzle-loading rifle in the hands of foot soldiers.

Most wounds were caused by an elongated bullet made of soft lead, about an inch long, pointed at one end and hollowed out at the base, and called a “minie” ball, having been invented by Capt. Minié of the French army.