The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1907-05-08
The Civil War at a Glance.

The American Civil war was the
greatest conflict at arms'in the history
of the human race. The American
Revolutionary, war, which lasted
nearly twice as long, was a series of
mere skirmishes compared with the
struggle of the early sixties. Battles
were fought during the civil war, now
known only to the mustiest of his
torians or to local tradition or recol-
lection, which exceeded in the forces
engaged and surpassed in the carnage
resulting some of the most important
actions during the struggle for inde-
pendence. The number of battles
fought greatly exceeded the number
incident to any single European war.
The firing line was thousand miles
long. Nearly 4,ooo, 900 men were en-
gagged. More than 500, 600 men were
killed in action or died from wounds
or disease. In practically every re-
spect the war of 1s61-65 was the big
gest and bloodiest of all time.
This stupendous struggle embraced
so many ramifcations Of incident that
complete history of the whole is
utterly impossible. Historians have
been able only to "Hit the high spots'
for want of space and lack of time
and endurance to sift and chronicle
all the interesting facts.
We do not know even how many
battles were fought. This can be
only approximated. In the govern
ment's chronological List of Battles"
the number exceeds 2,2O0. But the
bureau of pensions has an alphabeti-
cal list of engagements, including
skirmishes and such other minor ac-
tions as were deemed sufficiently i'm
portant to note. This list contains
more than $500 engagements.
About 1880, 600 Union soldiers were
enlisted during the war. The Coafed-
crate records are very incomplete,
many of them having been lost or de-
stroyed. 1t is estimated that the
numbers engaged on that side Of the
conflict were not far short Of zoo, 900
men. These figures do not include
the considerable numbers of irregular
combatants on each side, many OF
whom were not officially enrolled.
War department. records show 359,-
52S deaths from all causes in the Union
armies during the war. In proportion
to strength of forces engaged the Con-
federate losses were equally severe.
In the absence of definite records any
estimate, however, must be mere
guess. In the Union armies 81 ,058
men were killed in battle, 1902 died
of wounds received in action, and
224, 1886 died of disease incident to SER
vice. Of those killed in battle 4,142
were commissioned officers. The
number of Union men who died while
prisoners of war was 9,49s. United
States military authorities executed
267 men and would have executed
many more but for the humane inter-
vention of Abraham Lincoln. The
Confederates executed four officers
and sixty men of the Union forces.
It is most remarkable fact that in
the four years of this mighty conflict
only one man was executed for
"politicaP' reasons by a Union gen.
eral. In New Orleans man named
Mumford pulled down flag of the
United States after the city had been
captured, but before it was occupied
by the Federal forces. General Benz.
F. Butler. who was in command of
the occupying force, caused Mumford
to be hanged.-Walton Williams in
The American Press.