The most carefully prepared statistics of the Civil War give the following facts: Number of men in the Union army furnished by each State and Territory, from April 15, 1861, to close of war, 2,778,304, which, reduced to a three years' standing, was 2,326,168. The number of casualties in the volunteer and regular armies of the United States, according to a statement prepared by the adjutant-general's office, was: Killed in battle, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease, 199,720; other causes, such as accidents, murder, Confederate prisons, etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; total deserted, 199,105. Number of soldiers in the Confederate service, who died of wounds or disease (partial statement), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement), 104,428. Number of United States troops captured during the war, 212,508; Confederate troops captured, 476,169. Number of United States troops paroled on the field, 16,431; Confederate troops paroled on the field, 248,599. Number of United States troops who died while prisoners, 30,156; Confederate troops who died while prisoners, 30,152. It is safe to say that the number of men killed and disabled on both sides during the War for the Union was fully one million. The public debt of the United States, July 1, 1866, was $2,773,236,173.69, which on the 1st of November, 1897, had been reduced to $1,808,777,643.40.
Mention has been made of the frightful brutalities of Captain Wirz, the keeper of Andersonville prison. He richly merited the hanging which he suffered on the 10th of November, 1865. As has been stated, he was the only person executed for his part in the Civil War.
England, upon receiving news of the arrest of Jefferson Davis, declared all ports, harbors, and waters belonging to Great Britain closed against every vessel bearing the Confederate flag. The French government took the same action a few days later.
More than a generation has passed since the close of the great Civil War, which resulted in the cementing of the Union so firmly that the bonds can never again be broken. Whatever resentment may have been felt lasted but a brief while, and the late war with Spain removed the last vestige.
HORACE GREELEY.
(1811-1872.)
A little incident may serve as one of the thousand similar occurrences which prove how perfectly the North and South fraternized long ago. The officer who did the most effective work for the Union in the South during the closing months of the war was General James H. Wilson, a detachment of whose cavalry captured the fugitive Jefferson Davis. It was General Wilson, who, on the 21st of April, 1865, rode into Macon, Georgia, and took possession of the city. In the month of December, 1898, while on a visit to Macon, he made an address to the citizens, from which the following extract is given:
THIRTY-THREE YEARS LATER.
Fellow-Citizens: It is with infinite pleasure that I address myself in words of peace to a Macon audience. [Cheers.] Thirty-odd years ago I came into this town with 15,000 cavalry thundering at my heels. [Laughter and shouts.] I was met with the roaring of cannon and the firing of musketry. [Cheers.] I was greeted by the burning of warehouses and the destruction of property, which I now profoundly regret. [Cheers.] The welcome that was extended to me then was of the silent quality. [Laughter.] An illustrious citizen, then your chief magistrate, the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, after a four-hours' interview, speaking of me then, said to another gathering of illustrious citizens, at the head of which was Howell Cobb: "He is a clever young man, but, gentlemen, he takes the military view of the situation." [Laughter.] That was a fact then, but now I come among you and I receive a different welcome. I was then a victor; to-day I am a captive. [Cheers.] I must say I am a willing captive of your city. The fair women and the brave and excellent gentlemen of your town have, by their open and generous hospitality, imprisoned me deep down in their hearts, and I would be recreant to every feeling of my own if I desired release from such pleasing bondage.