Death by Disease or Battle?
The community’s standard answer seems to be three out of four died of disease. Is this a true statement? My study of the casualties of the 17th Michigan Infantry during its service (August 1862 to June 1865) shows that out of a total enrollment of 1,224 men 84 were killed in action, 48 died of wounds, 54 died in Confederate prisons, and 84 died of disease. The number of men discharged for disability (both wounds and disease) was 249, but I have been unable to accurately quantify the number of deaths in this group before the war ended. That may affect the ratio, but not significantly. The 17th saw duty in both the Western and Eastern Theaters. It was present at the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg (mostly watched), Knoxville and East Tennessee Campaign, Vicksburg Campaign, Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Petersburg Campaign. This Ninth Army Corps regiment saw a variety of action and did some hard marching throughout the war. Historians often quote the ratio of three to four men dying of disease for every one man killed in battle. In the case of the 17th the ratio is almost one to one. Many of the regiment’s casualties, particularly after Campbell’s Station (Knoxville Campaign) and the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, were prisoners, many of whom were not wounded. I would guess that many of those who died in prison suffered from the effects of disease due to prison conditions in general. A majority of those discharged were because of sickness not wounds. We get a clearer picture of the wide variation in the death from disease or battle ratio from a survey of other Michigan units. The ratio may vary by branch, location, length of time in the field and the period of the war.
Some notes about the table: Michigan soldiers also served in a number of small-company sized units, which are not included in this table. The percentage after “DIED disease” is based on the total number of men in the regiment. (3 mos.) - The regiment was mustered for only three months in April 1861. (reorg.) - These regiments were “veteranized” after the initial enlistment expired. 1. There is a discrepancy between the numbers for the 17th from between both State of Michigan sources (Record of Service, Vol. 17 [Lansing: Michigan Adjutant General’s Office, 1903] and Michigan in the War). Dyer’s Compendium gives a third set of figures: 135 killed and died of wounds, and 154 died of disease. This may be true for other regiments so all figures in the table are from the same source, Michigan in the War. 2. The 30th Michigan did not leave the state, as it was posted at various sites protecting the border with Canada. It was a one-year regiment raised at the end of November 1864. USCT - This regiment is a United States Colored Troops unit raised in Michigan. 3. The two batteries were stationed in the defenses of Washington, D.C. from November 1864 to the end of the war. SS - Sharpshooters. I will let the mathematicians among the readers average the ratios to see if the average or mean ratio is close to 3 or 4 to 1. Perhaps by looking at totals representing a published summary of all Michigan casualties including miscellaneous organizations and Michiganders in other state’s regiments from the same source (the number being slightly larger than the total of the table) we can get a quicker answer. This yields the following: Total killed = 2,820 Total died of disease = 10,136 The wide variation in the ratios is due to many factors (see below). This might make a purely mathematical average statistically meaningless. Interestingly, to the casual observer it appears that artillerymen were less apt to be killed or wounded than men in the other two branches Keep in mind that the general ratio for all United States and all Confederate troops will vary because of the following factors have an impact on the health of the soldiers: Disease — The state of medical science was not advanced compared to today. With thousands of troops living for years in close proximity to each other and millions of horses and other livestock the role of sanitation as a disease contributor was enormous. City-bred soldiers brought the diseases to camps where country-bred soldiers had decreased immunity. Food quality and quantity — Civil War soldiers certainly did not partake in a regular diet of what we would consider nutritious and healthy food. From the above information we need to use the caveat that the ratio of death by disease to death by battle varied widely in Michigan units. It depended on the unit, the health of the men, their length of service, theater of operation and type of service. So, when you are asked, one might be wise to first say, “It depends on . . ..” |
To the right is a table based on data in Michigan in the War edited by John Robinson (Lansing: State of Michigan, 1882):