The Civil War is often referred to as the bloodiest war in American history. Almost 2% of the population died, which was approximately 620,000 soldiers. More than half of the dead died from poor health due to widespread sickness. That is a lot of dead bodies. A lot of dead bodies that needed to be buried.
Elmer E. Ellsworth was the first recorded death during the Civil war.1 Pre-Civil War funerals were a private and intimate event. Families would have time to view the body then place them peacefully in the earth.2 Ellsworth received a honorable burial such as this, with sentiment from his friend in the White House, Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, many of his comrades did not receive this burial let alone identification of their body.
Bodies would pile up during battles. Many solider weren’t identified because there wasn’t any system set up for identification until after the war. 3 The Missing Soldiers Office was set up in 1865 based out of Washington D.C. with the help of Clara Barton. The building is now a museum.
“Digging a Lonely Grave” Miller, T Francis Ohio State University
Death became a burden on the living. It was the military’s job to bury the dead and the Ambulance Corps had not been set up yet. In the image below, soldiers are digging graves for the dead, while an officer is sitting on a horse overseeing. This not only shows the rawness of burial, but also separation of rank. It’s ironic. Social and political classification started the war and continue through war.
1st Mass. Heavy Artillery burying the dead at Mrs. Allsop’s House, Pine Forest near Spottsylvania Court House, after the battle of 19th May, 1864. [Stereograph] New-York Historical Society
Disposing of the bodies was by far the largest issue. If the body was identified it could be shipped home after being injected with an embalming fluid. Dr. Auguste Renouard was a US physician credited with creating the framework for embalming fluids we use today. However, not every camp would have enough for all the dead, let alone any fluid. Ice would also be used to slow down the decaying process. The downside is that ice melts and as is melts it accelerates decomposition. It was a nasty shipment.
The soldiers who were not identified were dragged from the battle field with whatever was available from hooks to makeshift stretchers. It was imperative not to touch the dead. Most died from disease or starvation due to lack of food, water contamination and unsanitary living conditions.5 The soldiers greatest fear was catching typhoid or malaria from his comrade rather than being shot by the enemy. 6
“Monument where Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address was made, Pennsylvania” Library of Congress
The dead were placed in a row and buried next to one another creating mass graves.5 Social prejudice even stretched into death. African Americans were buried separately from whites. Officers oversaw burials while the enlisted would dig graves. If the land had natural trenches or dips in the earth those would be used to the soldiers advantaged and they would pile the bodies within. Graves were often unmarked. Mass graveyards were practical for public health due to time and logistical restraints. The sheer number of dead bodies was beyond the capacity of the military to continue the Pre-Civil War burial ceremonies.
The US suffered from an epidemic loss. The federal government saw the need for federal grave sites and 14 national cemeteries have been established for veterans. Grave sites shifted from being personal families markers to public memorials. Logistical it was impractical to deliver all the dead home. Many families never found out what happened to their loved ones. Financially it meant many had lost their main source of income. The Veterans Administration wasn’t developed until 1930 to support the families who had lost members to war. For the Post-Civil War communities, they had to carry the financial burdens and sorrows on their own. The population had suffered a major loss among young men and it effected the labor force. Many families fell into poverty. General John Logan founded Memorial Day on May 30, 1868 to honor those who died. 7
1 Owen Edwards, April 2011, “The Death Of Colonel Ellsworth”, Simthsonian.com, accessed Aug. 25,2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-death-of-colonel-ellsworth-878695/
2 The Funeral Source, accessed Sep. 25, 2018, http://thefuneralsource.org/hi0301.html
3 Drew Gilpin Faust, 2015, “The Republic Suffering: Death and the American Civil War” Vintage Books, accessed Sep. 18,2018
4 “The Dig Civil War Medicine” (Sep. 2017) PBS accesses Sep.18,2018, https://www.pbs.org/video/the-dig-civil-war-medicine-d5qdvz/
5 Meg Groeling, 2015, “The Aftermath of the Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead” Savas Beaties LLC accessed Sep. 18,2018
6 Scott Laidig, Aug. 1,1998, “The Early Civil War Perspectives of an Illinois Soldier as Reflected in his Letters: Galesburg to Vicksberg”, E History- Ohio State University, accessed 9/18/2018, https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/early-civil-war-perspectives-illinois-soldier-reflected-his-letters-galesburg-vicksburg
7 “Caring for the Civil Wars Dead”, American Experience PBS, accessed Sep. 18,2018, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/death-then-and-now-death/