The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12
BATTLES IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Total in Four Years. 8,I95t Missouri Wit
messed much Hard Fighting.
From the Washington Post.


From the Washington Post.
The interest in war "Reminiscences created by,
the present difficulty with Spain has influenced
me to contribute something to the numerous
articles that have already appeared. but upon a
subject not heretofore touched upon. Through
the courtesy Of Capt. l. NJ. Kelley. the obliging
Deputy Commissioner of Pensions. / was per-
mitted to unearth certain facts relating to the
civil war that will absolutely distinguish 1t as
being n conflict truly Titanic; and at the same
time it may furnish q surprise to those who
are only familiar with the great battles.
Capt. Kelley. by the way. is a gallant
Union soldier. and participated in many
of the hard-fought battles that engaged
the armies in the West. He entered the
service as a private and emerged from the con-
flict as Captain OF Company A. Thirty-siXth iii
nois Infantry. A vast number OF engagements
were fought in States where only a few are ever
spoken of. and OF the actual number but little
is known. For instance, should q civil service
examination require an applicant to name the
State in which tho greatest number of battles
took place, excepting, Of course. Virginia, he
would naturally reply Kentucky or Tennessee,
while as a matter OF fact more battles were
fought in Missouri than in any other State. In
Texas the fewest number took place of any
of the s~eceding States, while Florida and
Maryland como next in the ascending
scale. The actual number OF engage.
ments that occurred in each State will
doubtless surprise those who have not investi.
gated the matter. AS Virginia was the great
theatre Of that struggle, we hear oftenest of
Bull Run. the Seven Days battles. Fredericks.
burg. the Wilderness. Chancellorsville. Peters,
count. tnken from the records. 627 battles were
fought in that Commonwealth during the civil
given to t the battles u Of NEES Elk Horn pf and Wiison =
Creek. while. as n matter of fact. All engage
ments took place altoRethor; Tennessee is
boro. Lookout Mountain. ChickamauRa, Frank
lin and. other important struggles, but at the
close OF the strife 1913 engagements were put
In Arkansas. one Of the border States. there
was much hard fighting, Pea Ridge being one OF
the important engagements. but there we're 294
battles In all. vicksburg was In the fury of II
Springs and Jackson also took place in Missis,
sippi; add to these the other engagements that
occurred in that State, and we have a total OF
2st; Louisiana comes next in point OF numbers
with lsl, among these being the battles OF New
Orleans, Pleasant Hills and the siege of Port
hudson as events that will liye in history.
sea, furnished many OF the notable battles OF the
war, among them Atlanta, Kenesaw Mountain,
Peach Tree Creek. RCsaca. Savannah and Ring
gold, thetotGl being l69. In Kentucky there were
1873 BATTLES during the war. that OF Perryville he
ing perhaps the most important. In Alabama
there were 100 engagements, notable, among
them being the ,bombardmcnt of Mobile and
| lohllAl VIM hIhl NIDllkDUltIys q
on the list comes North Carolina. with . total oil
lO2 battles, among them Benlonvile. Whining
ton and Greensboro: In West Virginia IS
engagements took place. In south Carolina
where the first gun OF the war WAS fired, there
were T5 battles. including the ca pturcO of Colum
bia and the numerous bombArdments of Fort
Sumter and tho assaults that were made upOr
tho batteries In Charleston harbOr. In the
Indian Territory there were 40 battles. anC
in Florida there were 80, the most i'm
poTtant being the battle of Olustee. Mary
land is famous for strategic Importance he
cause the battle Of AntietAm took place within
her borders, but there were also ~ other en-
There were % e~nGngCmrntsi in Kan
sas during the war. and In Texas IL. Gettys
burg, the greatest battle of the war. was Tough
In Pennsylvania but there were six other en-
gaRemcnts in that State which have been over
shadowed by that more important event. IL
Ohio there were 3 engagements. in Indiana 2
Illinois J., and in the District Of Columbi,
(Early's raid !.
According to the above figures. and they mr.,
taken from the rocOrds, the total number o
battles TINT were fought bet tween the Union an,
Confederate armies from April 10, 1861, Il
April o. 1865, Is 3.l25. This period embrace,
the four years Of the civil strife. To give al
Idea OF how this compares with other struggle
in which the United Stat s have been engaged. 1
MAJ he here stated that more battles took plac
In West Virginia during the civil war tina
were fought In tho entire country during tn
Revolutionary war or during the war wit
Mexico. OF course. there were numerous bal
ties OF greater importance during the latte
e%onfiotA. but by count the number, q engage
mentS BY comparison 10 In West ViralniA'S tGyol