Eleven of the fifteen costliest battles of the Civil War were fought in the Eastern Theater (in bold):
battle | date |
casualties |
|
1 |
Gettysburg | July 1-3, 1863 |
51,000 |
2 |
Chickamauga* | Sept. 18-20, 1863 |
35,000 |
3 |
Spotsylvania | May 8-21, 1864 |
30,000 |
4 |
The Wilderness | May 5-7, 1864 |
29,800 |
5 |
Chancellorsville | May 1-3, 1863 |
24,000 |
6 |
Shiloh* | April 6-7, 1862 |
23,700 |
7 |
Stones River* | Dec. 31, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863 |
23,500 |
8 |
Antietam | Sept. 17, 1862 |
22,700 |
9 |
Second Bull Run | Aug. 28-30, 1862 |
22,200 |
10 |
Fredericksburg | Dec. 11-15, 1862 |
17,900 |
11 |
Fort Donelson* | Feb. 11-16, 1862 |
17,400 |
12 |
Cold Harbor | May 31-June 12, 1864 |
15,500 |
13 |
Gaines’ Mill | June 27, 1862 |
15,500 |
14 |
Seven Pines | May 31-June 1, 1862 |
13,700 |
15 |
Harpers Ferry | Sept. 12-15, 1862 |
12,900 |
Notes:
Eastern Theater battles are in bold. Western Theater battles are marked with an asterix.
“Casualties” includes killed, wounded and captured or missing from both sides. Almost all the casualties from Harpers Ferry consisted of the captured Union garrison and 70% of the casualties from Fort Donelson were of the captured Confederate garrison.
Antietam, one of two single day battles in the top 15, was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War and in American military history.