100 Interesting American Civil War Facts

You might have heard stories and read about the American Civil War. It falls under the list of major American wars that you need to know. There are lots of lessons to be learned from this war. And, there are several facts about this war that you might not know. We have come up with this blog containing 100 interesting American Civil War facts so that you can know all the things you don’t and also refresh your mind on the stuff you already know!

Let’s now start with the Civil War historical facts right away!

1. The Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865.
2. The Civil War is considered the bloodiest war in American history.
3. The war was fought between the Northern and the Southern states.
4. The Confederacy was a union of 11 states that supported slavery.
5. They’d gathered 100,000 troops before the war started.
6. Abraham Lincoln was the President of America when the war was fought. This is one of the fascinating Civil War data that you might already know!

7. Nearly 2% of Americans lost their lives during the Civil War.
8. The Northern US states were more powerful than the Southern states.
9. The Northern states won the Civil War.
10. An average of 600 people were killed in a day during the war.

11. Here is a Civil War history trivia news! A 9-year-old boy was the youngest soldier who took part in the war.
12. The oldest person who fought in the war was an 80-year-old man.
13. The Siege of Vicksburg is the longest-fought battle in the Civil War.
14. This is one of the Civil War lesser-known facts! Diarrhea and dysentery were the main causes of casualties during the war.
15. 66% of the casualties were due to various other diseases.
16. Here’s a shocking Civil War fact! Approximately, 618, 222 men died during the Civil War.

17. John Jefferson Williams was the last soldier killed during the war.
18. The divorce rate rose to 150% after the Civil War.
19. Black Union soldiers refused their salaries because the white soldiers were getting paid more.
20. Abraham Lincoln, one of the top 5 most influential people in American history, ended slavery in America.
21. Another one of the American Civil War details is that 1522 Medal of Honors were presented to the Northern soldiers during and after the war.
22. The Civil War facts and figures state that there were totally 50 major battles fought during the war.
23. Gettysburg faced the highest casualty rate with over 51,000 men dead.
24. The North and the South also fought naval battles.
25. Here’s one of the Civil War fun facts for those interested in photography! Though photography wasn’t very popular at those times, there were a few photographs taken on the battlefields.
26. According to the Civil War Battles list, the first battle to be photographed was the Battle of Antietam.
27. It is said that the white soldiers were paid $13 a month whereas the black soldiers were paid only $10.
28. The soldiers who died during the war were buried on the battlefield itself.

29. Nearly 400,000 soldiers were held captive during the war.
30. The impact of the Civil War was so huge that several books were written on the happenings of the war.
31. One of the lesser-known Civil War facts is that the number of orphans increased due to the casualties during the war.
32. An average Civil War soldier was 25 years old.
33. An average Civil War soldier was 5 ft 8”.
34. 10,455 military events took place during the war.
35. 800 soldiers were burned to death in the Battle of Wilderness.
36. After Abraham Lincoln’s death, a $5 Confederate bill was found in his wallet.
37. Lincoln was shot two years before his assassination.
38. President Lincoln didn’t want his wife to know about this.
39. The Civil War was known by 25 other names. This is what some notable Civil War statistics say.
40. Nearly 10,000 Civil War soldiers were below 18.
41. The government drafted an order that all men should participate in the war.
42. But there was a rule that said a man can actually let someone else fight in his place by paying $300.
43. Lincoln himself hired a substitute in place of him for $500.
44. Lincoln hired John Summerfield to fight in place of him.
45. There was a rule at that time that said that one cannot shoot an opponent soldier while he was pooping.
46. The Civil War rules didn’t permit women to fight in the war.
47. Several women dressed as men to take part in the war.
48. 250-400 women disguised as men to fight in the war. These are some of the tidbits you must know about women in the Civil War.
49. Memorial Day is observed in remembrance of the Union soldiers who lost their lives fighting for slavery.
50. Nearly 1 million horses were used during the Civil War.
51. 850,000 men fled to Canada.
52. The men who fled were caught and brought back to fight in the war.
53. The number of black prisoners today is more than the number of black men who were held as slaves during the war.

54. Albert Woolson, one of the notable Civil War figures, was the last living Civil War veteran.
55. He died in 1956.
56. A slave conquered a Confederate ship and gave it to the North Union.
57. Soldiers were supposed to have opposing front teeth to open gunpowder pouches.
58. Several took out their teeth to avoid being in the war.
59. Snowball fights also happened during the war.
60. Confederate soldiers fled to Brazil to not serve in the war.
61. After the Southerners lost the Civil War, several fled and formed colonies in Mexico and South America. This is one of the lesser known facts about US history.
62. Dr. Mary Edwards was the first woman doctor in the US military.

63. She is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor to date.
64. Here’s another one of those Civil War interesting tidbits for you! Both the North and South armies stopped fighting to watch a fistfight between two soldiers.
65. The generals led the army to the battlefields during the war.
66. The generals were more likely to die in the battle.
67. Most of the soldiers who fought in the war were volunteers.
68. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was once again elected as the President of the United States.
69. Only 1% of the total number of men who fought in the war belonged to the army.
70. Most of the soldiers who died on the battlefield were not returned home for the last rites.
71. Abraham Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth.
72. A few days before his death, Lincoln dreamed of being assassinated.
73. Southern farmers owned most of the slaves.
74. One of the interesting American Civil War facts is that there was no proper uniform in the early days of the war.
75. It was hard to differentiate between the North and Southern soldiers.
76. Later, the Northern soldiers wore blue and the Confederates wore gray.
77. Due to a lack of uniforms, people would get shot by their own army.
78. As per several Civil War history facts, most casualties in the war were due to bullet shots.
79. There were only a few hundred fatalities because of cannon bombing.
80. The Southern people were brilliant in the shooting.
81. The Northern soldiers mostly worked in factories and were new to firing a gun.
82. Poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse in the war.
83. Most of the Southern people didn’t own slaves.
84. There were no anesthetics to treat soldiers who were wounded.
85. Nurses used chloroform instead of anesthetics.
86. But there are also contradictory statements that say amputations were done using anesthetics.
87. Quaker guns were used on the battlefield to confuse opponents.
88. A Quaker gun is a deceptive weapon that doesn’t shoot.
89. A Quaker gun is simply a log of wood painted in black to resemble a cannon.
90. Though the Northern people were powerful, the Southerners had more chances of winning.
91. The Southerners were proficient in hunting and horse riding.
92. The only animals slaves were allowed to raise were chickens.
93. The University of Mississippi’s students and faculty participated in the war supporting the Southerners and lost their lives.
94. The Gatling gun was invented during the Civil War.
95. The public had to pay 15 cents to look at the inmates inside the observation towers.
96. The slaves were diagnosed with a disease called drapetomania.
97. Drapetomania is a psychiatric condition in which a man has an irrational desire to escape.
98. A man named Cooter Brown stayed drunk all the while the war was fought.
99. He did this so that he needn’t fight in the war.
100. The Kingdom of Hawaii declared itself neutral and didn’t want to participate in the war.

We hope you enjoyed all these amazing American Civil War facts! Refresh all the facts by answering the Quiz on this page.

Also Read: Rosa Parks Bus That Sparked Civil Rights Movements