Fox's Regimental losses, Chapter 3

        The loss sustained by a regiment in any battle can be properly estimated, only when the number of men engaged is known and taken into consideration The small battalion in which fifty men were killed must not be classed, in point of loss, with the large regiment losing the same number. The 31 men killed in the One Hundred and Forty-first New York, at Peach Tree Creek, was as severe a loss as the 102 killed in the Eleventh Illinois at Fort Donelson. The percentage of loss in each case was the same, and the one faced as hot a fire as the other.
        In proportion to the number engaged, the greatest loss sustained by any regiment, during the war, was that of the First Minnesota at Gettysburg. This regiment was then in Harrow's Brigade, Gibbon's Division, Second Corps. On the afternoon of the second day at Gettysburg, the Union line was driven back in confusion from its position along the Emmettsburg road. While Hancock was "patching" up a second line, he perceived a column of the enemy (Willcox's Brigade) emerging suddenly from a clump of trees near an unprotected portion of his line. The First Minnesota, alone and unsupported, was in position near by, and Hancock, desirous of gaining time until reenforcements could be brought forward, rode up to Colonel Colville and ordered him to take the enemy's colors. A desperate fight ensued, in which the enemy was forced back, leaving their colors in the hands of the First Minnesota. Speaking of this affair afterwards, General Hancock is reported to have said:
        "There is no more gallant deed recorded in history. I ordered those men in there because I saw that I must gain five minutes' time. Reenforcements were coming on the run, but I knew that before they could reach the threatened point the Confederates, unless checked, would seize the position. I would have ordered that regiment in if I had known every man would be killed. It had to be done, and I was glad to find such a gallant body of men at at hand, willing to make the terrible sacrifice that the occasion demanded."
        The regiment took 262 officers and men into this affair. It lost 50 killed and 174 wounded, total, 224 casualties, nearly all of which occurred in this fight. A remarkable feature of this loss is that none were missing. Seventeen officers were killed or wounded, the latter including the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, and Adjutant. The killed, with those who died of their wounds, numbered 75, or over 28 per cent. of those engaged-- a percentage of killed unequalled in military statistics.
        The next largest percentage of killed occurred at Spotsylvania, in the Fifteenth New Jersey. This regiment belonged to the First Jersey Brigade, Wright's Division, Sixth Corps, and lost 116 killed or mortally wounded at Spotsylvania. Unlike the sudden loss of the First Minnesota at Gettysburg, its casualties occurred in three different actions: 31 were lost on May 8th, 5 on May 10th, and 80 on May 12th, at the Bloody Angle. It may be urged that, these being three different affairs, the losses should not be consolidated. If they had occurred at different places, as, for instance, South Mountain and Antietam, the criticism would hold good; but this fighting was done at one place, and the continuous nervous strain made it as heroic as if the loss had occurred in one brief charge. This regiment crossed the Rapidan May 5th, with 444 effective men.   It sustained but a slight loss at the Wilderness, and took 432 officers and men into action at Spotsylvania, of whom 116 were killed or died of wounds-- a loss of 26 per cent. Within nine days after breaking camp, it was reduced to 5 officers and 136 men available for action.
        Next, in percentage of killed in particular engagements, is the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts at Cold Harbor, then in Stannard's Brigade, Martindale's Division, Eighteenth Corps. This loss occurred in the assault on the earthworks at Cold Harbor, where it was subjected to a terrible fire. A Confederate officer, describing the advance of the Twenty-fifth against his works, writes that the heroic regiment struggled forward under a fire which seemed to literally annihilate them; that the whole line seemed to disappear; and he expresses wonder that any could have survived. The loss was 53 killed, 139 wounded, and 28 missing, "out of 310 reported for duty that morning. "On the following day there were only 4 officers and 62 men left on duty. Many of the missing were killed. The muster-out rolls of the Twenty-fifth bear the names of 74 officers and men who were killed or mortally wounded during the quarter of an hour which covered that assault; a loss of 24 per cent. in killed, and over two-thirds in killed and wounded. The small number taken into this action was owing to the heavy losses which the regiment had just sustained, a few days previous, in the Drewry's Bluff campaign. The Confederate officer just referred to, states further that his men were massed five ranks deep behind their breastworks; that the front rank alone fired, while the others passed up loaded rifles, which were discharged as rapidly as they could be fired; that, in addition to this, the artillery posted in the salients, poured a flanking fire of canister into the ranks of the doomed regiment.
        A smaller loss as to the number killed, but equally remarkable as to percentage, is found in the record of the One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. This regiment was, at that time, in Graham's Brigade, Birney's Division, Third Corps. It had already lost at Chancellorsville 235 (killed, wounded, and missing) out of 417 engaged there. At Gettysburg, only 198 answered to the morning roll call, of whom 25 were killed, 103 wounded, and 21 missing; total, 149. The killed, with those who died of wounds, numbered 49, or 24 per cent. of those engaged. The One Hundred and Forty-first fought at Gettysburg in the famous Peach Orchard.
        One of the most remarkable losses in the war, both in numbers and percentage, occurred at Manassas, in Gen. Fitz John Porter's Corps, in the celebrated Duryeé Zouaves (Fifth New York), of Warren's Brigade, Sykes' Division. General Sykes, in his official report, states that the regiment took 490 into action. It lost 79 killed, 170 wounded, and 48 missing; total, 297. Many of the missing were killed. The deaths from wounds increased the number killed to 117, or 23 per cent. of those engaged, the greatest loss of life in any infantry regiment during the war, in any one battle. The regiment held an exposed position, and Gen. Warren states that when he endeavored to extricate them, "they were unwilling to make a backward movement." This is the regiment which, at Gaines' Mill, having been badly thinned, closed up its ranks and counted off anew "with great coolness while exposed to a most terrific fire !"-- (Official Report.)
        The following list of percentages will indicate fairly the extent of loss in killed, to which a regiment is liable in battle. The number engaged is, in most cases, taken from the official reports. In some instances, however, the number given was ascertained from statements in regimental histories.

Regiment	Battle	Division	Engaged	Killed	Per Ct
5th Connecticut	Cedar Mountain	Williams's	424	48	11+
7th Connecticut	Fort Wagner	Seymour's	191	28	14+
17th Connecticut	Gettysburg	Barlow's	369	39	10+
27th Connecticut	Gettysburg	Caldwell's	74	13	17+
7th Illinois	Allatoona Pass	Corse's	291	48	16+
8th Illinois	Fort Donelson	McClernand's	613	81	13+
9th Illinois	Shiloh	W H Wallace's	578	103	17+
11th Illinois	Fort Donelson	McClernand's	500	102	20+
11th Illinois	Shiloh	McClernand's	239	24	10+
12th Illinois	Allatoona Pass	Corse's	161	17	10+
22d Illinois	Stone's River	Sheridan's	342	43	12+
22d Illinois	Chickamauga	Sheridan's	297	42	14+
28th Illinois	Shiloh	Hurlbut's	558	58	10+
34th Illinois	Stone's River	Johnson's	354	36	10+
35th Illinois	Chickamauga	Davis's	299	34	11+
38th Illinois	Chickamauga	Davis's	301	33	10+
41st Illinois	Jackson	Lauman's	338	44	13+
43d Illinois	Shiloh	McClernand's	500	78	15+
51st Illinois	Chickamauga	Sheridan's	209	26	12+
53d Illinois	Jackson	Lauman's	219	33	15+
55th Illinois	Shiloh	Sherman's	512	83	16+
75th Illinois	Chaplin Hills	Mitchell's	709	71	10+
79th Illinois	Stone's River	Johnson's	437	44	10+
82d Illinois	Chancellorsville	Schurz's	359	47	13+
84th Illinois	Stone's River	Palmer's	357	67	18+
93d Illinois	Alatoona Pass	Corse's	290	34	11+
14th Indiana	Antietam	French's	320	49	15+
15th Indiana	Stone's River	T J Wood's	440	52	11+
Regiment	Battle	Division	Engaged	Killed	Per Ct
15th Indiana	Mission Ridge	Sheridan's	334	45	13+
19th Indiana	Manassas	Hatch's	423	62	14+
19th Indiana	Antietam	Doubleday's	202	28	13+
19th Indiana	Gettysburg	Wadsworth's	288	41	14+
22d Indiana	Chaplin Hills	Mitchell's	303	57	18+
26th Indiana	Prairie Grove	Huston's	445	52	11+
27th Indiana	Antietam	Williams's	409	41	10+
27th Indiana	Gettysburg	Williams's	339	40	11+
48th Indiana	Iuka	Hamilton's	434	48	11 +
73d Indiana	Stone's River	T J Wood's	331	38	11+
87th Indiana	Chickamauga	Brannan's	380	61	16+
3d Iowa (Cavalry)	Pea Ridge	---------	235	27	11+
3d Iowa (Inf)	Jackson	Lauman's	241	36	14+
5th Iowa	Iuka	Hamilton's	482	62	12+
7th Iowa (8 Cos)	Belmont	Grant's	410	74	18+
9th Iowa	Pea Ridge	E A Carr's	560	74	13+
13th Iowa	Atlanta (July 22)	Gresham's	410	55	13+
32d Iowa	Pleasant Hill	Mower's	420	86	20+
39th Iowa	Allatoona Pass	Corse's	280	43	15+
1st Kansas	Wilson's Creek	Lyon's	644	106	16+
8th Kansas	Chickamauga	Davis's	406	61	15 +
8th Kansas	Nashville	Beatty's	140	16	11+
5th Kentucky	Stone's River	Johnson's	320	32	10+
17th Kentucky	Shiloh	Hurlbut's	250	27	10+
1st Maine (H A)	Petersburg	Birney's	950	210	22+
3d Maine	Gettysburg	Birney's	214	30	14+
4th Maine	Fredericksburg	Birney's	211	33	15+
4th Maine	Gettysburg	Birney's	202	27	13+
6th Maine	Rappahannock Sta	Wright's	321	56	17+
7th Maine	Antietam	W F Smith's	181	25	13+
8th Maine	Ware Bottom Ch	Ames's	190	19	10+
9th Maine	Petersburg	Ames's	102	20	19 +
16th Maine	Fredericksburg	Gibbon's	427	76	17+
16th Maine	Gettysburg	Robinson's	248	27	10+
17th Maine	Wilderness	Birney's	507	54	10+
19th Maine	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	440	68	15+
20th Maine	Gettysburg	Barnes's	386	41	10 +
2d Massachusetts	Cedar Mountain	Williams's	474	56	12+
2d Massachusetts	Gettysburg	Williams's	316	45	14+
10th Massachusetts	Spotsylvania	Getty's	210	26	12+
12th Massachusetts	Antietam	Ricketts's	334	74	22+
15th Massachusetts	Antietam	Sedgwick's	606	108	17+
15th Massachusetts	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	239	38	15+
Regiment	Battle	Division	Engaged	Killed	Per Ct
18th Massachusetts	Manassas	Morell's	421	54	12 +
19th Massachusetts	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	141	17	12+
20th Massachusetts	Fredericksburg	Howard's	238	48	20 +
25th Massachusetts	Cold Harbor	Martindale's	310	74	23+
57th Massachusetts	Wilderness	Stevenson's	545	94	17 +
9th Massachusetts Bat'y	Gettysburg	Reserve Artillery	104	11	10 +
5th Michigan (Cavalry)	Hawes' Shop	Torbert's	150	15	10+
6th Michigan (Cavalry)	Hawes' Shop	Torbert's	140	17	12+
1st Michigan (Infantry)	Manassas	Morell's	320	55	17+
2d Michigan	Knoxville	Ferrero's	150	28	18+
3d Michigan	Manassas	Kearny's	260	41	15+
4th Michigan	Gettysburg	Barnes' s	342	40	11 +
5th Michigan	Fair Oaks	Kearny's	330	43	13+
7th Michigan	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	165	27	16 +
8th Michigan	James' Island	Stevens's	534	61	11+
13th Michigan	Stone's River	T J Wood's	225	32	14+
13th Michigan	Chickamauga	T J Wood's	217	26	11+
16th Michigan	Gettysburg	Barnes's	218	29	13 +
17th Michigan	Spotsylvania	Willcox's	226	30	13+
22d Michigan	Chickamauga	Steedman's	584	88	15+
24th Michigan	Gettysburg	Wadsworth's	496	94	18+
1st Minnesota	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	262	75	28+
12th Missouri	Vicksburg (May 22)	Steele's	360	39	10+
2d New Hampshire	Manassas	Hooker's	332	37	11+
2d New Hampshire	Gettysburg	Humphreys's	354	48	13+
3d New Hampshire	Deep Bottom	Terry's	198	28	14+
5th New Hampshire	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	308	51	16+
5th New Hampshire	Gettysburg	Caldwell's	177	34	19+
5th New Hampshire	Cold Harbor	Barlow's	577	69	11 +
6th New Hampshire	Manassas	Reno's	450	68	15+
7th New Hampshire	Fort Wagner	Seymour's	480	77	16+
9th New Hampshire	Spotsylvannia	Potter's	502	68	13+
12th New Hampshire	Chancellorsville	Whipple's	558	72	12+
12th New Hampshire	Cold Harbor	Brooks's	301	66	21+
2d New Jersey (5 Cos)	Gaines' Mill	Slocum's	261	34	13+
8th New Jersey	Chancellorsville	Berry's	258	32	12 +
11th New Jersey	Gettysburg	Humphreys's	275	40	14+
14th New Jersey	Monocacy	Ricketts's	350	40	11 +
15th New Jersey	Spotsylvania	Russell's	432	116	26+
Regiment	Battle	Division	Engaged	Killed	Per Ct
4th New York	Antietam	French's	540	64	11+
5th New York	Gaines' Mill	Sykes's	450	55	12+
5th New York	Manassas	Sykes's	490	117	23+
7th New York	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	488	56	11 +
8th New York	Cross Keys	Blenker's	548	63	11 +
9th New York	Antietam	Rodman's	373	54	14+
13th New York	Manassas	Morell's	240	45	18 +
22d New York	Manassas	Hatch's	379	46	12+
25th New York	Hanover C H	Morell's	349	41	11 +
26th New York	Fredericksburg	Gibbon's	300	51	17 +
28th New York	Cedar Mountain	Williams's	33	41	12+
30th New York	Manassas	Hatch's	341	66	19 +
34th New York	Antietam	Sedgwick's	311	41	13 +
38th New York	Fredericksburg	Birney's	374	41	10+
40th New York (5 Cos)	Fair Oaks	Kearny's	231	24	10+
40th New York	Manassas	Kearny's	244	37	15+
42d New York	Antietam	Sedgwick's	345	58	16+
44th New York	Malvern Hill	Morell's	225	23	10+
48th New York	Fort Wagner	Seymour's	516	83	16+
49th New York	Wilderness	Getty's	384	39	10+
49th New York	Spotsylvania	Getty's	284	52	l8+
57th New York	Antietam	Richardson's	309	53	10+
57th New York	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	192	20	10+
59th New York	Antietam	Sedgwick's	381	71	18+
61st New York	Fair Oaks	Richardson's	435	44	10+
63d New York	Antietam	Richardson's	341	59	17+
64th New York	Gettysburg	Caldwell's	205	31	15+
66th New York	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	238	24	10+
67th New York	Wilderness	Wright's	270	28	10+
69th New York	Antietam	Richardson's	317	71	22 +
69th New York	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	238	34	14+
70th New York	Williamsburg	Hooker's	700	97	13+
71st New York	Manassas	Hooker's	250	37	14+
73d New York	Manassas	Hooker's	107	17	15+
76th New York	Gettysburg	Wadsworth's	374	48	12+
80th New York	Gettysburg	Doubleday's	287	47	16+
82d New York	Antietam	Sedgwick's	339	41	12+
82d New York	Gettysburg	Gibbon's	461	65	14+
83d New York	Fredericksburg	Gibbon's	292	35	11 +
88th New York	Antietam	Richardson's	302	38	12+
88th New York	Fredericksburg	Hancock's	252	38	14+
93d New York	Wilderness	Birney's	433	72	16+
96th New York	Fort Harrison	Stannard's	167	33	13+
100th New York	Fort Wagner	Seymour's	478	66	13+
101st New York	Manassas	Kearny's	168	26	15+
105th New York	Fredericksburg	Gibbon's	177	22	12+
107th New York	New Hope Church	Williams's	358	47	13+
111th New York (8 Cos)	Gettysburg	Alex Hays's	390	88	22+
Regiment	Battle	Division	Engaged	Killed	Per Ct
111th New York	Wilderness	Barlow's	386	59	15+
114th New York	Opequon	Dwight's	315	44	13+
114th New York	Cedar Creek	Dwight's	250	39	15+
121st New York	Salem Heights	Brooks's	453	97	21+
121st New York	Spotsylvania	Russell's	346	60	17 +