The largest battles of the civil war where approximately the same size as Waterloo (about 200,000), but that doesn’t even make it into the top ten European battles of the century. The major clashes of the Napoleonic wars and the Franco-Prussian war were all significantly larger than any battle in the American Civil war. The battle of Sadowa (Königgrätz) for instance, the decisive engagement of the Austro-Prussian war fought less than a year after the Civil War had 430,000 combatants; that makes it bigger than the Seven Days and Chancellorsville put together. The conflict’s best known battle, Gettysburg, had 170,000 combatants and so was the same size as Austerlitz – although Gettysburg lasted longer, three days whereas Bonaparte needed only eight hours to annihilate Kutuzov in 1805.
Ten Biggest Battles of the Civil War
| Location | Year | Troops | Loss % | Result |
| The Seven Days, VA | 1862 | 196,000 | 18.4% | CS Victory |
| Chancellorsville, VA | 1863 | 195,000 | 15.5% | CS Victory |
| Fredericksburg, VA | 1862 | 188,000 | 9.5% | CS Victory |
| Cold Harbor, VA | 1864 | 167,000 | 10.4% | CS Victory |
| Gettysburg, PA | 1863 | 166,000 | 27.7% | US Victory |
| Wilderness, VA | 1864 | 163,000 | 17.6% | Draw |
| Spotsylvania CH, VA | 1864 | 152,000 | 20.9% | Draw |
| Chickamauga, GA | 1863 | 130,000 | 27.2% | CS Victory |
| Sharpsburg, MD | 1862 | 114,000 | 19.9% | Draw |
| 2nd Manassas, VA | 1862 | 112,000 | 16.3% | CS Victory |
Ive classified the battles by the total number of combatants, and while this is a reasonable enough guide, it can sometimes be misleading. For instance the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi in 1862 had 185,000 combatants, which would have made it fourth on this list, but the majority of these never fired a shot and consequently the casualties were very small (about 1,000 on each side). Ive only included battles were the majority of the forces deployed were actually engaged. Therefore battles like Resaca, Georgia in 1864 and Yorktown, Virginia in 1862 which would have been seventh and eighth on this list, and 3rd Petersburg (tenth) have also been excluded.
Ten Bloodiest Battles by Attrition Rate
| Battle | Year | Combatants | Attrition % | Outcome |
| 2nd Murfreesboro (Stones River), TN | 1863 |
76,000 |
32.89% |
US Victory |
| Gettysburg, PA | 1863 |
166,000 |
27.71% |
US Victory |
| Chickamauga, GA | 1863 |
130,000 |
27.15% |
CS Victory |
| Shiloh, TN | 1862 |
112,000 |
21.07% |
US Victory |
| Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA | 1864 |
155,000 |
20.86% |
US Victory |
| Perryville, KY | 1862 |
38,000 |
20.00% |
CS Victory |
| Fort Steadman, VA | 1865 |
25,000 |
20.00% |
US Victory |
| Sharpsburg (Antietam), MD | 1862 |
114,000 |
19.91% |
Draw |
| Wilderness, Virginia | 1864 |
163,000 |
17.55% |
Draw |
| 3rd Winchester (Opequon), VA | 1864 |
52,000 |
16.54% |
US Victory |
This table shows the ten costliest battles by attrition rate, that is total casualties / total combatants. Ive excluded sieges and other battles where there were instances of mass surrender, ie where most of the “casulaties” were POW’s. Therefore Grant’s victories at Fort Donaldson and Vicksburg, and Stonewall’s capture of Harper’s Ferry are all excluded. On this measure, Rosecran’s victory over Bragg at 2nd Murfreesboro was the costliest battle on this measure, with nearly a third of those engaged as casualties; with Gettysburg and Chickamauga not far behind.
Copyright ©2012 Savereo John
Savereo John History 