Silent but Deadly: the Death Toll of Illness in the Civil War

The Civil War is famed for the incredible loss of life on both sides of the conflict, both Union and Confederate. The battles of Chickamaunga and Gettysburg alone conjure images of death and carnage, but yet of the numbers that are listed only those killed or wounded in action are mentioned when the true bringer of death is casually ignored. Though battles certainly took there toll upon both competing armies, close to twice the number of men killed in combat died of illness and "other causes." The combat Diaries of Union Sergeant Hamlin Alexander Coe describe, unintentionally, the effects of sickness and spread of disease amongst himself and his fellow commrads in his years as a soldier and prisoner of war and lead one to the assumption that bullets and bayonets were far from the most deadly thing on the battle field.

The idea that disease is common place in war, while obvious in the modern school of thought, was relatively unknown in the 1860's. The concept that bacteria and unseen germs were all around them and covering their hands, tools, and clothing would have been seen as a radical view if not out right lunacy during the civil war era. In his diaries Coe describes his several bouts of sickness and the many friends that did not survive their run in with disease. The primary illness Coe describes is typhoid fever and pneumonia which was no doubt regular amongst soldiers because of their weakened condition from combat and marching, this combined with cold and wet weather with little to no shelter would leave the stoutest immune system in tatters. Coe's first run in with pneumonia occurred shortly after his friend, known only as Charlie, came down with the same illness, this demonstrates the ease that disease can spread when a large group of people are gathered together, though Coe recovered a month later after having to remain bed fast for several weeks, his friend Charlie did not survive his bout of sickness. Though the prevalence of illness and its toll was frequent in a soldiers every day life, the true death toll mounted when such soldiers were forced to endure prison camps and fort sieges.

The Diary entries of Hamlin Coe are fairly regular with rarely more then one or two days passing without an entry, but his stay in Libby Prison held only one entry for his three month stay at the facility, which is perhaps a flattering term as the prison was merely an old tobacco warehouse with locks installed. Coe was amongst those Union troops which were traded for Confederate ones shortly before such practices broke down and he describes himself as barely able to walk and his friend Jim did not survive long after his release due to illness from his stay at the prison and there were no doubt countless others who shared the same fate. The terrible state that was prison war camps and make shift prisons resulted in the deaths of thousands from disease. The causes for such high death tolls, for those that were no longer even in harms way, were most likely lack of food, unsanitary conditions and overcrowded facilities and that is not even taking into account the brutality that often went on in such places, but that's a separate issue, leading one to the conclusion that disease may have been common in the general army camps, but was rampant when soldiers were confined in close quarters.  

War is an environment in which death and injury are common but the most deadly element of war is often times over looked and thus not appreciated for its deadliness. Disease and illness prove that though mankind is capable of causing great death in the civil war era with firearms and canon fire, the germ and virus still stand unmatched as the executioners of the battle field, the true silent but deadly killer in the civil war.

Coe, Alexander. Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: Combat Diaries of Union Sergeant Hamlin Alexander Coe. Rutherford, N. J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975.