Civil War Casualties by State

The Civil War began in the United States in 1861 and lasted until 1865. The Civil War was primarily a result of the long-standing controversy over black people’s enslavement, dividing the United States between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy). Thirty-six states were involved in the Civil War.

The Confederacy was 11 states total, all in the South region of the United States, while the Union was made up of free states located in the North, West, and the geographical South. The Confederate States of America was organized in February of 1861 when seven southern slave states seceded from the country. War broke out in April 1861 when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States. After four years of war, the war ended on April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals followed suit, with the last surrender occurring on June 23. The Confederacy no longer existed, slavery was abolished, and 4 million slaves were freed. According to the American Battlefield Trust, of the 3.5 million men who fought in the war, there were 1.5 million casualties, 620,000 of which were deaths, making the Civil War the bloodiest in American History. More men’s lives were lost in the Civil War than World War I and World War II combined. The Battle of Gettysburg alone had 51,000 casualties. Additionally, there were 476,000 wounded and 400,000 captured or missing.

Of the Confederate states, Virginia and North Carolina had the highest number of military deaths, with approximately 31,000 each. Alabama had the second-highest with about 27,000 deaths. Of the Union states, New York has the highest number of military deaths of approximately 39,000, followed by Ohio and Illinois with about 31,000 each. California and Colorado had the lowest number of deaths of any state, given their location to the war’s battles. Military deaths were a combination of both combat deaths and disease deaths. In the table below are the estimated deaths for each state.