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Civilian Deaths in the US Civil War
Civil War Talk blog ^ | 2 Sept. 2013 | Ralph Davis

Posted on 09/02/2013 12:49:27 PM PDT by AnalogReigns

Relating to Syria:

Not a blog or article authored by me (see link above), however, it puts into perspective the USA's own 4 year civil war....where experts estimate (and no one really knows, or can know...) 100,000 to 250,000 CIVILIAN DEATHS were caused by the war--the vast majority being in the South.

Some historians estimate that as many as 50,000 civilians died of starvation as a result of Sherman's march to the sea alone.


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans; Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: civilwar; deathtoll; dixie; greatestpresident; military; obama; sevenyearswar; syria; thirdsilesianwar; whinywhinygirl
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To: aumrl

Actually the title of this (two year old) blog entry is “Civilian Deaths in the US Civil War”. What does that have to do with Syria?


61 posted on 09/03/2013 7:58:52 AM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: aumrl

I would agree that some (say infants) were unable to take care of themselves. I would also agree that white infants were unable to provide any management of the putative slaves.

The comment to which I responded asserted that the black slaves required care from the putative ownters for their livelihood. My point that the reality was the opposite stands.


62 posted on 09/03/2013 8:06:30 AM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: Sherman Logan

The destruction caused by southern deserters in Georgia was more severe. It widened the zone of destruction significantly.


63 posted on 09/03/2013 8:09:41 AM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: BroJoeK

Thanks for the information. I wonder if a “World War” status needs to include fighting on different fronts as well, rather than just being aligned with others?

“Of course, hopefully your kids are home-schooled, otherwise government teachers may not smile so kindly at their precociousness. ;-)”

No, but my wife and I are very involved in their academics. (Grade school saw mom at the school at least an hour a day helping all the kids with reading and math, and breaking the school district policy on math as she was using “flash cards” to teach them the basic math facts).

My one daughter had to read a book over the summer, and just finished her “compare and contrast” report of a book on the Holocaust with our government under Obama. She found Palin and Ayn Rand quotes all on her own!

“So dad - do you think the teacher will figure out that I’m a conservative?”


64 posted on 09/03/2013 8:45:41 AM PDT by 21twelve ("We've got the guns, and we got the numbers" adapted and revised from Jim M.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

France invaded Mexico during the war.

Their failure resulted in our celebration of cinco de Mayo.


65 posted on 09/03/2013 8:48:47 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: 21twelve

The Seven Years War was fought on six continents — Europe, North America, South America, Africa, West Asia (India) and East Asia (Philiplines).
That’s why it’s called the First World-wide war.
Yes, I mentioned Britain and Germany allied against France, but there were many other powers involved, which are listed in the link I included.

Now, for a test bonus question, who do you think started the First World-wide War — yes, it was inadvertant?


66 posted on 09/03/2013 10:03:49 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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To: I cannot think of a name

Just like the first battle of bull run.

67 posted on 09/03/2013 10:13:07 AM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: aumrl

Subject was civilian deaths in civil war.

Application of that to Syria is nugatory.

Most military deaths in civil war were due to disease, in an age of little ability to sterilize water (bad water leads to dysentary) and no antibiotics.

Malnutrition as an issue in a time with no internal combustion engines is not applicable to current times.

Civilian deaths in Syria are often due to terrorists who do not use a uniform recognizable at a distance, and do not separate themselves from the noncombatant population, and do not follow the laws of war. When such illegal combatants are targeted, the civilian deaths are the fault of the illegal combatants.

At this time, rather than intervene I would pray that evil Assad regime would damage and be damaged by the evil Al Queda terrorists. After one wins is the time to intervene and destroy the evil that won.


68 posted on 09/03/2013 11:12:09 AM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: BroJoeK

“World War I” could also have been the Thirty Years War, especially after it merged with the Eighty Years War between Holland and Spain after those countries resumed fighting when a 12-year truce expired. The Dutch and Spaniards clashed in Asia, Mexico and Cuba as well as in Europe, where just about every country from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean was involved.

“World War II” could have been the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697); WWIII the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714); WWIV the War of the Aurstian Succesion (1740-1748), followed by WWV, the Third Silesian War, Seven Years War, or French and Indian War. In each of these conflicts, fighting took place outside Europe.


69 posted on 09/03/2013 11:35:28 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: 21twelve
Thanks for that info. I was just talking with my kids about World War I, and quipped that I wonder if the Revolutionary War might have been close to being considered a “world war.”

The fact that the War of the American Revolution spread far beyond the US is widely overlooked. Battles were fought in Spain, the Caribbean, off the coast of Africa and in India. How many Americans could tell you that the last battle of the war was the Battle of Cuddalore, fought in India?

I have looked through the indexes of many books on the war for references to the Battle of Pensacola, aka Fort George, in 1782 but have often come up empty. Although it was a significant battle, it was fought between British and Spanish troops, with no US forces involved.

70 posted on 09/03/2013 11:46:48 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill
A French unit did join the Confederates in the Battle of Palmito Ranch in 1865—the only time that an organized military force from a foreign country intervened in the war.

I don't know that I'd call that an "intervention." The story seems to be this: An idiotic desk jockey of an officer, newly assigned to the US unit and desperate for some glory before the war ended, violated an informal truce as everyone waited for news from the east that it was all over (Lee had surrendered a month earlier). His "sneaky" move along the Rio Grande was spotted by French border troops, who tipped off the confederates. The US forces--who could see the French watching them across the river and should have known that the surprise was blown, walked into a trap, and in trying to escape, some tried to swim the river. The French troops fired, probably over their heads, to keep them back. It's unlikely that they hit any of them, since only four men were killed and dozen wounded in the whole battle.

After the war the US commander then tried to blame his subordinate, bringing him up for a court-martial. The subordinate called the confederate commander as witness, who blew apart the prosecution and put the blame squarely on the commander, revealing that he'd fled the battlefield.

71 posted on 09/03/2013 11:50:24 AM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: Travis McGee

Especially if the dictatorship has the intent of starving people.
/sarc


72 posted on 09/03/2013 1:58:56 PM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: AnalogReigns

The weapon of mass destruction during the War of the Rebellion was dysentery. Drinking water downstream from where any portion of the army was bivouaced was very hazardous.

Civilians drank water too, but usually knew where the highest local springs were, and so suffered less.


73 posted on 09/03/2013 2:01:55 PM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: Fiji Hill
Fiji Hill: "“World War I” could also have been the Thirty Years War..."

You are someone after my own heart.
I would happily debate this subject, and wouldn't mind losing! ;-)

So, here is my opening argument in favor of the Seven Years War (1756 to 1763) being classified as "World War One":

If you can produce a similar looking map for some previous war, I'd like to see it...

74 posted on 09/03/2013 3:27:54 PM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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To: Sherman Logan
For some reason Marching through Georgia has caught people’s attention ever since. Marching through South Carolina has fallen into a memory hole.

Too many syllables to fit into one line of a song?

75 posted on 09/03/2013 3:38:43 PM PDT by x
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To: AnalogReigns
"Caused by the war" is a tricky phrase. War brings large numbers of people into motion and spreads disease. Smallpox was rampant during the war. Slave populations in particular hadn't been immunized, but given the competence of many practitioners, immunization often only spread the disease. Much the same thing happened during the American Revolution.
76 posted on 09/03/2013 3:49:04 PM PDT by x
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To: x

Yup. lol


77 posted on 09/03/2013 3:49:40 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: BroJoeK

In an irony of truly boggling proportions, one G. Washington started the Seven Years War, by (probably unintentionally) murdering a French diplomat.


78 posted on 09/03/2013 3:51:55 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: x

There was no vaccine for smallpox (or anything else) at the time.

During the Revolution Washington inoculated the Army, and the same procedure was available in the 1860s, but this procedure was a LOT riskier than true vaccination. It actually gave you the disease, just hopefully a less virulent case.


79 posted on 09/03/2013 3:56:59 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: BroJoeK
The The Spanish Empire, which in 1578 swallowed up the Portuguese Empire with its holdings in South America, Africa and Asia would have made the Thirty/Eighty Years War a global conflict (Portugal and its empire won back its independence from Spain in 1640 as a result of the war). Spain and its empire were involved in most of the later wars as well.

However, one non-European actor--the Principality of Bengal--was involved in the Third Silesian (Seven Years) War. I'm not sure if any others were involved in the earlier wars.

80 posted on 09/03/2013 4:04:59 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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