Civilian Deaths in the US Civil War

Civil War Talk blog ^ | 2 Sept. 2013 | Ralph Davis

[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.

[BroJoeK]

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

Bingo! We have a winner. ;-)

Washington was a Lieutenant Colonel, in charge of several units of Virginia colonial militia and others, on a mission to stop the French from taking charge of Pittsburg.
Unfortunately, his mission was a failure and Washington disgraced, probably ending any possibility of his ever becoming a regular British Army officer.

By the way, British Prime Minister William Pitt said at the time the war for America was won in Germany.
Can you explain why?

;-)

[Fiji Hill]

The Third Silesian War (or Seven Years War, or French and Indian War) started in Jumonville Canyon, Pennsylvania, not far from Rte. 40, where Washington's men got in a firefight with a French unit and sent them scurrying back to Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Last year, I visited the site--it's about a quarter mile hike from the parking lot. The place probably doesn't look all that different than it did in 1754.

[Sherman Logan]

Frederick the Great, who simultaneously fought the three greatest powers of Europe, Austria, France and Russia (among others), to a stalemate. A truly astonishing feat.

He kept the French busy in Europe. The British, in the meantime, were relatively uninvolved on the Continent, with the exception of financial subsidies to Fred and others. So were able to turn almost their full force to colonial wars in India, North America, etc.

[Sherman Logan]

Washington's men got in a firefight with a French unit and sent them scurrying back to Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh).

Not exactly. Washington picked a truly horrible site for a fort and was soon forced to surrender. He then signed an admission that he had killed a French diplomat, which was of course in French, so he probably didn't realize what he had agreed to.

George's career did not start off with promise.

[Fiji Hill]

You’re thinking of the Battle of Fort Necessity, which took place in July, 1754, about a month after the Jumonville Affair. Fort Necessity is a few miles southeast of Jumonville, along Rte. 40. And it is, indeed, a horrible site for a fort.

[BroJoeK]

Fiji Hill: "The The Spanish Empire, which in 1578 swallowed up the Portuguese Empire..."

Check out the map of Seven Years War (1756-1763) in post #74.
It shows all the countries & lands where military operations or battles took place.
And that's not including naval engagements.
Note the Philippines, India, East & West Africa, South, Central & North America, as well as Europe.

Can you produce a similar map for some previous war?
Or, alternatively, here is a list of 92 specific Seven Year's War battles, in locations shown on the map.

If you can't find a map, can you at least find a similar list of battles, showing world-wide war?

[Fiji Hill]

Thanks for bringing the Ranker site to my attention. It came up with a good list of battles of the Third Silesian War (I call it that because it lasted not seven, but nine years). Here site is its list of battles of the War of the Spanish Succession, and they list the battles of the War of the Austrian Succession here. However, I couldn't find a list of battles for the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697), aka the War of the Palatine Succession or the War of the Grand Alliance.

The site isn't so good for the Thirty Years War, which was actually a series of wars, but battles and contacts in that conflict outside Europe include the sack of Acapulco, Mexico in 1624 and battles at Matanzas, Cuba, in 1638 and Cavite, Philippines, in 1647.

[BroJoeK]

Fiji Hill: "Third Silesian War (I call it that because it lasted not seven, but nine years)."

Of course, this is all so far off topic, it's probably not even funny... However... ;-)

It's called "Seven Years War" only because the name "Nine Years War" (1688–97) was already taken.
And just maybe: a seven years war that took nine years, is about par for government work? ;-)

Anyway, the War of Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714) is listed as taking place in "Europe, North American and West Indies" -- hardly a world-wide war.
No estimates of casualties, but total forces involved were fewer than 500,000.

The War of Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748) is listed as "Europe, North America and India" -- getting closer, but still only three continents.
Total forces involved could approach 1,000,000.

The Seven Years War (1754 - 1763) is listed as "Europe, North America, South America, Africa, India, and the Philippine Islands" -- with total deaths estimated around one million.
I'd say that's approaching the threshold for a true world-wide war.

Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815) are listed as " Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Río de la Plata, French Guiana, West Indies, Indian Ocean, North America, South Caucasus " -- with total deaths estimated around five million.

Now check out the three maps:

War of Austrian Succession (1748):

Seven Years War (1763):

Napoleonic Wars (1815):

Interesting to note here the USA is shown as allied with France.
Who knew?

[Fiji Hill]

I think the war in question was called the Seven Years War because in Europe, it wasn't considered to have started in earnest until fighting broke out between Prussia and Saxony in 1756, two years after hostilities started in the backwoods of Pennsylvania.

By the way, we were not allied with France during the Napoleonic Wars. Our 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France ended with the Treaty of Morfontaine in 1800, and the two countries didn't become allies again until they ratified the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949.