Major Battles of the Civil War

Battlefield at Gettysburg, PA; 1907

The American Civil War raged for five long years, turning cities and countrysides, North, South, and even the frontier West into battlefields.

It is estimated that somewhere around 10,000 battles were fought during the Civil War, battles that engaged anywhere from a handful of men to hundreds of thousands. Documentation for the great majority of these battles is scant or nonexistent; it is possible that for as many battles that are detailed on record, there are many more that the particulars of have been lost to history.
From the time that Confederate forces fired upon the Federal Fort Sumter, battles small and large were waged throughout the country. A number of these battles are memorable, unfortunately, not only for the number of men engaged, but for the number wounded, captured, or lost.

The four major battles of the Civil War, in terms of casualties, include:

General Stonewall Jackson

The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Although the Union forces at Chancellorsville outnumbered the Confederate forces 133,868 to 60,892, the victory went to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. During the first days of May, 1863, approximately 30,500 men were captured, lost or killed on the battlefield. Union Army Major General Joseph Hooker lost 17,197 men; General Robert E. Lee lost 13,303. The Confederate victory was bittersweet, however; Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson perished at Chancellorsville, a devastating loss both to his good friend and comrade Lee, and to the entire Confederate army.

Body of a Confederate soldier near Mrs. Alsop’s house; Spotsylvania Court House, Va.

The Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. Almost a year to the date after Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia met the Union Army of the Potomac at Spotslyvania Courthouse May 8 – May 21, 1864. The Union forces numbered approximately 100,000, almost double that of the Confederate 52,000. However, unlike at Chancellorsville, Lee could not declare a victory against the Union forces led by Lieutenant. General Ulysses S. Grant and Major General George G. Meade; according to the National Park Service, which keeps statistics for battlefields now considered historic sites, 30,000 men perished at Spotsylvania, in a battle that is largely considered a draw, with neither side emerging victorious. Of the 30,000 men lost, the Union losses were estimated at 18,000, while the Confederate losses were estimated at 12,000.

Transport “Chickamauga”; TN River; 1863

The Battle of Chickamauga, Tennessee. Between September 18 – September 20, 1863, Union Major General William S. Rosencrans met Confederate General Braxton Bragg in the mountains of southern Tennessee for one of the most important battles on what was considered the western front of the war. General Rosencrans Army of the Cumberland numbered almost 57,000, compared to Bragg’s Army of Tennessee’s 70,000. Although the Army of Tennessee lost approximately 18,500 men, while the Army of the Cumberland lost approximately 16,200, Bragg’s forces won the battle, but not before almost 35,000 men were dead.

Headquarters of Gen. George G. Meade on Cemetery Ridge; Gettysburg, PA

The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Perhaps the most well-known battle of the Civil War, Gettysburg’s reputation is due mostly to the fact that over 40,000 men were wounded, captured, or killed during the days of July 1 – July 3, 1863 when the battle was being fought. The battle of Gettysburg is widely considered to be the turning point of the war; Union Major General George Meade effectively ended Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from advancing any farther into Union territory. Strategically, Gettysburg is said to have gone to Meade and the Union forces; however, Lee’s Confederate forces suffered only slightly fewer losses than the Union army. Of the approximately 165,620 men who fought at Gettysburg, 93,921 were Confederate, while 71,700 were Union.

The four major battles discussed above resulted in almost 140,000 men either wounded, captured, or perished. To put this in perspective, during the nearly 16 years of active involvement in Vietnam, approximately 58,209 American men died, 2,000 went missing, and 305,000 were wounded. In 16 years of fighting in Vietnam, just more than twice the number of casualties were reported than during the four major battles of the Civil War.

The Civil War is one of the bloodiest, most destructive chapters in American history. These four battles represent only a tiny fraction of the battles fought and the casualties counted during this era.