Second
Manassas: Order of Battle
The
basic unit of military organization in the 1860's was the company,
comprised of 100 officers and enlisted men. A total of ten companies
formed a regiment; five regiments a brigade; three brigades a division;
and three divisions a corps. Casualties, desertions, expired enlistments,
and other factors frequently caused drastic reductions in the sizes
of all organizations. Often, for example, a division fielded fewer
men than a single regiment at full strength.
The
largest operational unit, armies, were named for the department
in which they operated. A total of 16 separate armies were formed
by the Union, and 23 in the Confederacy.
Nearly
3,000,000 men served in Union armies during the Civil War. Northerners
raised 1,696 infantry regiments, 272 cavalry regiments, and 72 artillery
regiments. Definitive statistics for Confederate armies are lacking,
but estimates place the total number of men under arms between 600,000
and 900,000.
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