A SLAVE BEING
AUCTIONEDThe Cost of the War
The Civil War resulted in a toll of death and injury unparalleled on American soil. The price for the
Confederacy was much the greater, with long-lasting social and economic consequences for the South.
Despite its heavy sacrifices, the Union went forward stronger with a new sense of American nationalism.
T
he Civil War took its horrifying
toll on American society, with
both the North and the South
suffering terrible losses. The total
number of military deaths in the war
exceeded 620,000—two percent of the
entire population in 1860. The military
death toll for the Civil War was the
same as that for all other American
wars from the Revolution through the
Korean War combined. A higher
proportion of men entered military
service during the Civil War than in
World War II, and the death rate was
six times higher.
During the 19th century, in an era
of imperfect medicine and unskilled
practitioners, disease was the greater
scourge—accounting for roughly
two-thirds of those who perished.
Though hundreds of thousands of
soldiers survived their injuries, untoldBEFORE
The institution of slavery was a primary
influence on the society and economy
of the prewar South.
THE OLD SOUTH
While the South was not a uniform region, slavery
united its people. On this captive labor force
rested the cash-crop plantation system. Slaves
grew a variety of staples including cotton—and
“King Cotton” gave the South great political
power. But its “slave society”
meant more than the racial
and economic domination of
4 million slaves ❮❮ 64–65. It
maintained white privilege
and Southerners argued that
the North had lost values of
honor and community in the
pursuit of materialistic gain.
numbers of veterans were haunted for
years by the horrific memories of war—
afflicted by what is today known as
post-traumatic stress disorder.The Confederate war
In many ways Confederate sufferings
were greater than those of the Union.
An estimated 80 percent of military-
aged men entered service and nearly
one-third of those who fought were
killed. Most of the fighting took placenumbers suffered throughout the rest of
their lives. Amputation was a common
surgical remedy for seriously wounded
limbs. The Union’s multivolume Medical
and Surgical History of the War of the
Rebellion tabulated 30,000 reported
amputations on Union soldiers alone,
giving details of thousands of surgical
cases. However, despite recording all this
data, medical services on both sides did
not understand the connection between
combat and mental trauma. Large“Next year their lands will be
taken, for in war we can take
them, and rightfully, too.”
WILLIAM T. SHERMAN IN A LETTER TO MAJOR R. M. SAWYER, JANUARY 31, 1864The Union dead
During the assault on Charleston, South Carolina,
the 3rd New Hampshire Infantry was based at Hilton
Head Island. Many fell victim to disease and were
buried in primitive graves in the Union cemetery.