The Portland daily press., 1898-06-17
BATTLES IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Total in Four Years, 3,125; Missouri Wit
messed Much Hard Fighting.
Washington Post. }

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 appeared, but upon subject
not heretofore touched upon. through
the courtesy of Capt. L. M. Kelley, tne
obl1ging Deputy Commissioner OF PEN
sions, / was permitted to unearth certain
facts relating to the civil war that will
absolutely distinguish it as being con-
fict truly Titanic; and at the same time
it may furnish surprise to those who are
only familiar with the great battles.
Capt. Kelly by the way, is gallant
Union Soldier and participated in many of
the hard-fought battles that engaged the
armies of the West He entered the SER
vice as private and emerged from the
conflict as Captain of Company A,
Thirty-six Illinois Infantry. A vast
number of engagements were fought in
States where only few are ever spoken
of, and Of the actual number but little is
known. For instance, should a civil SER
vice examination require an applicant to
name the State in which the 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 mum Der took place of
any of the seeding States, while Florida
and Maryland came next in the ascending
scale. The actual number of engagements
that occurred in each State will doubtless
surprise those who have not investigated
the matter. As Virginia was the great
theatre of that struggle, we hear oftenest
of Bull Run, the Seven Days battles,
Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, Chancel-
lorsville, Petersburg and the Valley cam
paign, but by actual count, taken from
the records 627 battles were fought in
that Commonwealth during the civil
war In Missouri the greatest prOIni-
nence is given to the battles of Elk Horn
and Wilson's Creek, while, as matter of
fact AIT engagements took place alto
gether. Tennessee is famous as the scene
of the battles of Murfreesboro, Lookout
Mountain, Chickamauga, franklin and
other important struggles, but at the
close of the strife 375 engagements were
put. down as her quota
In Arkansas, one of the border States,
there was much hard fighting, Pea Ridge
being one of the important engagements,
but there were 294 battles in all. Vicks-
burg was in the fury OF long siege, and
the battles of Corinth. Holly Springs and
jackson also took place in Mississippi;
add to these the other engagements that
occurred in that State, and we have a
total of 284. Louisiana comes next in
point of mum bers, with ISL, among these
being the bates of New Orleans. Pleasant
Hills and the siege of Port Hudson as
events that will live in history. Georgia,
the route of Sherman's march to the sea,
furnished many of the notable battles of |
the war, among.th them Atlanta, Kenesaw |
Mountain. Peach Tree Greek, Resaca,
Savannah and Ringgold, the total being |
162. In Kentucky there were 1913 battles |
during the war, that Of Perryville being
perhaps the most Important. In Ala
bama there were 105 engagements, notable
among them being the bonn bardment of
Mobile and BATTLES around Selma and
Montgomery, Next on the list comes
North Carolipa, with total of l02 bat.
ties, among them Bentonville, Whining
ton and Greensboro. In South Carolina,
where the first gun of the war was fired
there were rs battles including the cap
lure OIL OOlumDld ana The numerous POM
bardments of Fort Sumpter and the as
saults that were made upon the batteries
in Charleston harbor. In the Indian Ter
ritory there were 40 battles, and in
Florida there were 80, the most important
being the battles of Olustee. Maryland
is famous for strategic Importance be-
cause the battle of Antietam took place
within her borders, bit there were also
IS other engagements. There were % en-
gagements in Kansas during the war,
and in Texas IL. Gettysburg, the greatest
battle of the war was fought in Pennsyl-
vania, but there were six other engage
ments IN that State which have been
overshadowed by that more important
event. in Ohio there were engagements,
in Indiana 5, Illinois IL, and in the
District of Columbia (Early's raid) /.
According to the above figures and they
are taken from the records, the total
number of battles that were fought be-
tween the Union and Confederate armies
form April Is. 1861, to April 8, 1865, is
3, l25. This period embraced the four
years of the civil war. To give an idea of
how this compares with other struggles
IN which the United States have been en-
gagged, it may be here stated that more
battles took place in West Virginia dur
Ing the civil war then were fought in the
entire country during the Revolutionary
war or during the war with Mexico. OF
course, there were numerous battles of
greater Importance during the latter con-
nlcts, but by count the number of engage
ments py comparison Is in West Vir.
ginfa's favor.