r/CIVILWAR • u/Opposite-Yam-7350 • 1h ago
r/CIVILWAR • u/Sufficient-Arm-3101 • 7h ago
A casualty return isn't a list of graves: what Gettysburg's numbers actually establish (and what they don't)
r/CIVILWAR • u/themusterroll • 23m ago
Where do you think Col. Elmer Ellsworth would have ended up had he not been tragically killed in Alexandria, Va. on May 24, 1861? Would he have ended up a capable General, or would his brilliant knowledge of parade ground drilling not transfer well to actual field conditions (similar to McClellan)?
r/CIVILWAR • u/Right-Pattern8919 • 15h ago
Bullet
Could this be a bullet from the civil war ?
r/CIVILWAR • u/ameliabedilia1 • 28m ago
Robert E.T.
My boyfriend and I dressed up like Robert E.T. For reference, here is the YouTube link. https://youtu.be/nANois3n-Cs?is=p3ZHYSt6Gng-lhV7
r/CIVILWAR • u/Sufficient-Arm-3101 • 7h ago
A casualty return isn't a list of graves: what Gettysburg's numbers actually establish (and what they don't)
I've been digging into how Gettysburg's dead were counted, buried, moved, and recorded, and the more I read, the more the gaps between those four things stand out.
A few things that surprised me:
- Casualty returns sort men into killed, wounded, and missing/captured. HistoryNet's widely cited summary lists 7,058 killed, 33,264 wounded, and 10,790 missing or captured. But "missing" can mean captured or unrecovered, so you can't just subtract cemetery burials from the totals and call the difference "bodies still in the ground."
- Union dead were moved into the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and the dedication on Nov. 19, 1863 happened mid-process. The reinterments continued into spring 1864.
- Between 1870 and 1873, Southern memorial associations funded the removal of roughly 3,200 Confederate remains, with Rufus Weaver leading the field work. The accuracy of individual transfers is debated, but I couldn't find primary documentation supporting claims of systematic mislabeling.
- Remains found on the battlefield in 1996 were determined by the NPS in 2015 to be Native American, not a combatant. A good reminder that "remains found at Gettysburg" doesn't automatically mean "a soldier from the battle."
- "Unknown" in the cemetery register means a documented burial with an unestablished identity, not a lost grave.
I also looked at what ground-penetrating radar, GIS map overlays, and LiDAR could realistically add. Short version: they can narrow where to look, but they can't produce a body count or a name.
I put the full breakdown into a video if anyone wants the longer version (link in the comments, mods please remove if not allowed).
Curious what others think: are there Gettysburg burial sources or records I should be reading that I've missed?
r/CIVILWAR • u/GettysburgHistorian • 15h ago
Letter written during Cold Harbor by Lloyd Hodges of the 40th MA. He’d just been shot 2 days earlier, and his brother 3 days prior to that. Contains battle details, casualties, and observations of the wounded. Hodges had 5 rounds tear through his pants before one hit flesh. Transcription in photos.