Special Report

This State Sent the Most Troops to Fight in the Civil War

24/7 Wall St. Staff

Published: May 12, 2023 1:10 pm

This article was written with the assistance of A.I. technology, and has been edited and fact-checked by Melly Alazraki.

The American Civil War began in 1861, pitting the Union against the Confederacy, which consisted of 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union largely over the issue of slavery. The Union included 20 free states and was fighting to preserve a united America. Five so-called border states were slave states that did not secede from the Union. The war resulted in huge numbers of casualties, with an estimated 642,000 Union troops and 483,000 Confederate troops casualties- killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

One of the key aspects of the Civil War was the involvement of troops from different states. New York sent the most troops of any state to fight in the war, with an estimated 448,850 troops fighting for the Union, according to data from “A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion” by Civil War statistician Frederick H. Dyer, first published in 1908, as well as The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database maintained by the National Park Service.

Of the troops New York sent, 46,534, or 10.4%, were killed, though, notably, no major Civil War battles were fought within New York’s borders.

Virginia, meanwhile, sent an estimated 282,400 troops into battle, the most of any Confederate state. Virginia was also the site of over 100 major battles in the war.

The Civil War was a significant event in American history, and it had a major impact on the country, which has lasting implications till today. The war resulted in the abolition of slavery and had a significant impact on the states that were involved in the conflict. New York, Virginia, and other states that sent tens of thousands of troops to fight, suffered a large number of casualties.

Click here to see all the states where the most civil war soldiers were from.