US States With the Highest Casualties in the Civil War

The deadliest and bloodiest battle in American history was the Civil War, a long and hard-fought battle that began on April 12, 1861, and ended almost exactly four years later on April 9, 1865. This war was waged between the North – the Union – and the South – the Confederacy. It resulted in the death of approximately 620,000 soldiers.

At the time of the war, the U.S. consisted of 37 states – 11 of which had seceded from the Union to form their own country, the Confederate States of America, although it was never recognized as a nation. In its four years, the war resulted in a total of 1.5 million casualties including deaths, injuries, illnesses, imprisonments, and missing persons, with some states sustaining more devastating losses than others.

24/7 Tempo reviewed data compiled shortly after the Civil War from the American Battlefield Trust and historical records by William F. Fox and Frederick H. Dyer, to identify the U.S. states with the highest Civil War casualties. When Fox and Dyer began their research, many records had already been lost, leading many historians to claim that Civil War fatalities were substantially underestimated. As a result, we opted to use the highest recorded death toll for each state.

Union forces suffered higher casualties even though most Civil War battles occurred in Southern states. In at least 10 battles, the number of casualties exceeded 19,000. The Battle of Gettysburg alone saw more American soldiers killed or wounded than the combined toll of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. (These are 25 horrifying Civil War images.)

Here are the U.S. states with the highest Civil War casualties:

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 33
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 46
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 500
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 573
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 1,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 1,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Border State

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 1,321
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 2,982
• Allegiance in the conflict: Border State

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 3,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 3,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 3,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 4,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 4,017
• Allegiance in the conflict: Border State

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 4,882
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 5,224
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 5,354
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 5,754
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 6,777
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 7,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 7,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 8,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 9,393
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 10,774
• Allegiance in the conflict: Border State

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 12,301
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 13,001
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 13,885
• Allegiance in the conflict: Border State

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 13,942
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 14,753
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 18,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 26,672
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 27,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 31,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 31,000
• Allegiance in the conflict: Confederacy

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 33,183
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 34,834
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 35,475
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union

• Estimated Civil War casualties: 46,534
• Allegiance in the conflict: Union