List of costliest American Civil War land battles facts for kids
This is a list of the costliest land battles of the American Civil War, measured by casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) on both sides.
Highest casualty battles
Battle | Campaign | Date | Nearest town | Total | Union |
Confederacy |
Total | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strength | Commander | Casualties | Casualties as % of Strength | |||||||||||
Gettysburg | Gettysburg campaign | July 1–3, 1863 | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania | 93,921 | 71,699 | 165,620 | George G. Meade | Robert E. Lee | 23,049 | 28,063 | 51,112 | 24.54% | 39.14% | 30.86% |
Chickamauga | Chickamauga campaign | September 19–20, 1863 | Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia | 60,000 | 65,000 | 125,000 | William Rosecrans | Braxton Bragg | 16,173 | 18,450 | 34,624 | 26.95% | 28.38% | 27.70% |
Spotsylvania Court House | Overland Campaign | May 8–21, 1864 | Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia | 100,000 | 52,000 | 152,000 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 18,399 | 12,687 | 31,086 | 18.40% | 24.40% | 20.45% |
Chancellorsville | Chancellorsville campaign | May 1–4, 1863 | Chancellorsville, Virginia | 133,868 | 60,298 | 194,166 | Joseph Hooker | Robert E. Lee | 17,197 | 13,303 | 30,500 | 12.85% | 22.06% | 15.71% |
The Wilderness | Overland Campaign | May 5–7, 1864 | Locust Grove, Virginia | 101,895 | 61,025 | 162,920 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 17,666 | 11,033 | 28,699 | 17.34% | 18.08% | 17.62% |
Stones River (Murfreesboro) |
Stones River campaign | December 31, 1862 – January 2, 1863 | Murfreesboro, Tennessee | 41,400 | 35,000 | 76,400 | William Rosecrans | Braxton Bragg | 12,906 | 11,739 | 24,645 | 31.17% | 33.54% | 32.26% |
Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) |
Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers | April 6–7, 1862 | Shiloh, Tennessee | 66,812 | 44,699 | 111,511 | Ulysses S. Grant | Albert Sidney Johnston | 13,047 | 10,699 | 23,746 | 19.53% | 23.94% | 21.29% |
Antietam (Sharpsburg) |
Maryland campaign | September 17, 1862 | Sharpsburg, Maryland | 75,500 | 38,000 | 113,500 | George B. McClellan | Robert E. Lee | 12,401 | 10,316 | 22,717 | 16.43% | 27.15% | 20.01% |
2nd Bull Run (2nd Manassas) |
Northern Virginia campaign | August 29–30, 1862 | Manassas, Virginia | 62,000 | 50,000 | 112,000 | John Pope | Robert E. Lee | 10,000 | 8,300 | 18,300 | 16.13% | 16.60% | 16.34% |
Fredericksburg | Fredericksburg campaign | December 11–15, 1862 | Fredericksburg, Virginia | 114,000 | 72,500 | 186,500 | Ambrose Burnside | Robert E. Lee | 12,653 | 5,377 | 18,030 | 11.10% | 7.42% | 9.67% |
Cold Harbor | Overland Campaign | May 31 – June 12, 1864 | Mechanicsville, Virginia | 108,000 | 59,000 | 167,000 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 12,737 | 4,595 | 17,332 | 11.79% | 7.79% | 10.38% |
2nd Petersburg | Richmond–Petersburg campaign | June 15–18, 1864 | Petersburg, Virginia | 62,000 | 38,000 | 100,000 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 11,386 | 4,000 | 15,386 | 18.36% | 10.53% | 15.39% |
Gaines's Mill | Peninsula campaign | June 27, 1862 | Mechanicsville, Virginia | 34,214 | 57,018 | 91,232 | George B. McClellan | Robert E. Lee | 6,837 | 7,993 | 14,830 | 19.98% | 14.02% | 16.26% |
Missionary Ridge | Chattanooga campaign | November 25, 1863 | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 56,359 | 44,010 | 100,369 | Ulysses S. Grant | Braxton Bragg | 5,824 | 6,667 | 12,491 | 10.33% | 15.15% | 12.45% |
Atlanta | Atlanta campaign | July 22, 1864 | Atlanta, Georgia | 34,863 | 40,438 | 75,301 | William T. Sherman | John Bell Hood | 3,641 | 8,499 | 12,140 | 10.44% | 21.02% | 16.12% |
Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) |
Peninsula campaign | May 31 – June 1, 1862 | Mechanicsville, Virginia | 34,000 | 39,000 | 73,000 | George B. McClellan | Joseph E. Johnston | 5,031 | 6,134 | 11,165 | 14.80% | 15.73% | 15.29% |
Nashville | Franklin–Nashville campaign | December 15–16, 1864 | Nashville, Tennessee | 55,000 | 30,000 | 85,000 | George H. Thomas | John Bell Hood | 3,061 | 6,000 | 9,061 | 5.57% | 20.00% | 10.66% |
Opequon (3rd Winchester) | Sheridan's Valley campaign | September 19, 1864 | Winchester, Virginia | 40,000 | 15,514 | 55,514 | Philip Sheridan | Jubal Early | 5,020 | 4,015 | 9,035 | 12.55% | 25.88% | 16.28% |
Cedar Creek | Sheridan's Valley campaign | October 19, 1864 | Middletown, Virginia | 31,610 | 21,102 | 52,712 | Philip Sheridan | Jubal Early | 5,764 | 2,910 | 8,674 | 18.23% | 13.79% | 16.46% |
Franklin | Franklin–Nashville campaign | November 30, 1864 | Franklin, Tennessee | 27,000 | 27,000 | 54,000 | John M. Schofield | John Bell Hood | 2,326 | 6,252 | 8,578 | 8.61% | 23.16% | 15.89% |
Malvern Hill | Peninsula campaign | July 1, 1862 | Varina, Virginia | 54,000 | 55,000 | 109,000 | George B. McClellan | Robert E. Lee | 2,100 | 5,650 | 7,750 | 3.89% | 10.27% | 7.11% |
3rd Petersburg | Richmond-Petersburg campaign | April 2, 1865 | Petersburg, Virginia | 76,113 | 58,400 | 134,513 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 3,500 | 4,250 | 7,750 | 4.60% | 7.28% | 5.76% |
Perryville | Kentucky campaign | October 8, 1862 | Perryville, Kentucky | 22,000 | 16,000 | 38,000 | Don Carlos Buell | Braxton Bragg | 4,276 | 3,401 | 7,677 | 19.44% | 21.26% | 20.20% |
Glendale | Peninsula campaign | June 30, 1862 | Varina, Virginia | 40,000 | 45,000 | 85,000 | George B. McClellan | Robert E. Lee | 3,797 | 3,673 | 7,470 | 9.49% | 8.16% | 8.79% |
2nd Corinth | Iuka and Corinth Operations | October 3–4, 1862 | Corinth, Mississippi | 23,000 | 22,000 | 45,000 | William S. Rosecrans | Earl Van Dorn | 2,520 | 4,233 | 6,753 | 10.96% | 19.24% | 15.01% |
Peachtree Creek | Atlanta campaign | July 20, 1864 | Atlanta, Georgia | 21,655 | 20,250 | 41,905 | George H. Thomas | John Bell Hood | 1,710 | 4,796 | 6,506 | 7.90% | 23.68% | 15.53% |
Champion Hill | Vicksburg campaign | May 16, 1863 | Edwards, Mississippi | 32,000 | 22,000 | 54,000 | Ulysses S. Grant | John C. Pemberton | 2,457 | 3,840 | 6,297 | 7.68% | 17.45% | 11.66% |
The Crater | Richmond-Petersburg campaign | July 30, 1864 | Petersburg, Virginia | 8,500 | 6,100 | 14,600 | Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | 3,798 | 1,491 | 5,289 | 44.68% | 24.44% | 36.23% |
Fort Stedman | Richmond-Petersburg campaign | March 25, 1865 | Petersburg, Virginia | 14,898 | 10,000 | 24,898 | John G. Parke | John B. Gordon | 1,044 | 4,000 | 5,044 | 7.01% | 40.00% | 20.26% |
South Mountain | Maryland campaign | September 14, 1862 | Boonsboro, Maryland | 28,000 | 18,000 | 46,000 | George B. McClellan | Robert E. Lee | 2,325 | 2,685 | 5,010 | 8.30% | 14.92% | 10.89% |
1st Bull Run (1st Manassas) |
Manassas campaign | July 21, 1861 | Manassas, Virginia | 35,000 | 34,000 | 69,000 | Irvin McDowell | P. G. T. Beauregard | 2,896 | 1,982 | 4,878 | 8.27% | 5.83% | 7.07% |
See also
- List of American Civil War battles
- Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War
- Bibliography of the American Civil War
- Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant
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