Civil War Facts – Facts You Should Know About the Civil War

Facts About War

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union on December 20, 1860.

The four million slaves living in the South by 1860 had as estimated worth of more than 2 billion dollars at that time.

Seven future Presidents of U.S. served in Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Chester A. Arthur, and Andrew Johnson.

The personal copy of the President Lincoln’ Emancipation Proclamation would be worth million if it existed. It was donated to the Chicago Historical Society in 1864, but destroyed in the Great fire of 1871.

About 470,000 soldiers were help prisoners during the Civil War. And approximately 56,000 died in prison camps.

During the Civil War the number of orphans in the United States more than doubled.

The Civil War prison camp Elmira has two observation towers for onlookers. Citizen paid 15 cents to look at the inmates. Concession stands by the towers sold cakes, peanuts and lemonade while the men inside starved.

Of the 3 million soldiers of the Civil War, 1% of them were regular army, 9% were draftees and the rest were volunteers.

The Civil War costs southern half of its wealth, its position of political preeminence in the U.S. and lost quarter of its military age men. While the North emerged as an industrial powerhouse and the central government became the overriding power of the land.

Ulyssess S. Grant was called a “butcher” by some critics because of his high casualty rates in the battle.