An estimated three-and-a-half million men fought in the American Civil War and approximately 620,000 perished, which is more than all of America's combined combat fatalities.

There are various reasons why there is not an exact fatality and casualty count for the American Civil War: incomplete, inaccurate, and destroyed records; casualty exaggerations; several died from disease after the war; missing-in-action (MIA), which is an implication since the soldier may have deserted, been captured, or been completely blown to pieces in battle. The general consensus (best estimates) is 618,000 to 700,000 fatalities. Sadly, however, there is no record or research tracking and studying how many wounded and diseased soldiers died during what is commonly referred to as the "Aftermath."

Diseases and Napoleonic Linear Tactics, consequently, were the contributing factors for the high casualties during the American Civil War. (See Total Union and Confederate Civil War Killed and Mortally Wounded (Dead), With Numbers for Each Northern and Southern State.)

The tendency to exaggerate enemy desertions and casualties, while minimizing their own, was characteristic of Union and Confederate armies in their respective reports of the many skirmishes and battles of the American Civil War. Each side was also eager to enhance its own morale by writing favorable reports. According to Lt. Col. Walter Clark's Regiments: An Extended Index to the Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865, p. 5: "The majority of troop rosters and official military records had been forcibly confiscated by Lincoln’s hordes or wantonly destroyed.”

Casualty Does Not Equal Dead

Casualties include three categories: 1) dead (aka fatalities, killed-in-action and mortally wounded); 2) wounded; and 3) missing or captured. In general terms, casualties of Civil War battles included 20% dead and 80% wounded. Of the soldiers who were wounded, about one out of seven died from his wounds. Over 2/3 of the estimated 620,000 men who gave their lives in the Civil War died from disease, not from battle.

When one totals the Americans that died in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican American War, Spanish American War, World War One, World War Two, Korean War and Vietnam War, it is less than the total American Civil War casualties. (See Civil War Killed : A History.)

Union Casualty (Fatality) Estimates:

Battle Deaths: 110,070
Disease, etc.: 250,152
Total Deaths: 360,222

Confederate Estimated Losses (Fatalities):

Battle Deaths: 94,000
Disease, etc.: 164,000
Total Deaths: 258,000