The Soldier, the Battle,
The Losses
"There's many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell."
—WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
Of the 2.3 million men enlisted in the Union Army, seventy per cent were under 23 years of age. Approximately 100,000 were 16 and an equal number 15. Three hundred lads were 13 or less, and the records show that there were 25 no older than 10 years.
The average infantry regiment of 10 companies consisted of 30 line officers and 1300 men. However, by the time a new regiment reached the battlefield, it would often have less than 800 men available for combat duty. Sickness and details as cooks, teamsters, servants, and clerks accounted for the greatly reduced numbers. Actually, in many of the large battles the regimental fighting strength averaged no more than 480 men.
In 1864 the basic daily ration for a Union soldier was (in ounces): 20—beef, 18—flour, 2.56—dry beans, 1.6—green coffee, 2.4—sugar, .64—salt, and smaller amounts of pepper, yeast powder, soap, candles, and vinegar. While campaigning, soldiers seldom obtained their full ration and many had to forage for subsistence.
In the Army of Northern Virginia in 1863 the rations available for every 100 Confederate soldiers over a 30-day period consisted of 1/4 lb. of bacon, 18 oz. of flour, 10 lbs. of rice, and a small amount of peas and dried fruit—when they could be obtained. (It is little wonder that Lee elected to carry the war into Pennsylvania—if for no other reason than to obtain food for an undernourished army.)
During the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862 "Stonewall" Jackson marched his force of 16,000 men more than 600 miles in 35 days. Five major battles were fought and four separate Union armies, totaling 63,000, were defeated.
In June 1864, the U.S.S. Kearsarge sank the C.S.S. Alabama in a fierce engagement in the English Channel off Cherbourg, France. Frenchmen gathered along the beach to witness the hour-long duel, which inspired a young French artist, Edouard Manet, to paint the battle scene that now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Confederate cruiser Shenandoah sailed completely around the world raiding Union commerce vessels and whalers. The ship and crew surrendered to British authorities at Liverpool in November 1865, seven months after Lee's surrender at Appomattox.