The American Civil War, fought between the North's Union Army and the South's Confederate Army, began in 1861 and ended in 1865. It was the costliest American war and resulted in the deaths of 620,000 men. You may be aware that the Union Army was stronger in terms of enlistment strength. But exactly how much bigger was the Union Army than the Confederate Army in the Civil War? Although complete demographics for the Confederate Army are not available, it is estimated that the Union Army enlisted more than twice the number of soldiers in the Confederate Army, totaling over 2 million men.
The two armies actually started off with nearly the same number of troops; at the start of the war, they each had fewer than 200,000 soldiers. By 1863, however, the Union Army outnumbered the Confederate Army about 2 to 1. By 1865, the number of troops on the Confederate side had reduced even further, to about 200,000 soldiers, whereas the Union Army had more than triple that number, with over 600,000 troops.
More about the American Civil War:
- Disease was a major cause of death during the American Civil War. About 224,000 Union troops and 164,000 Confederate troops died from disease.
- In total, over 600,000 soldiers became prisoners of war during the Civil War, the majority being Confederate soldiers.
- One of the biggest advantages the Union states had during the Civil War was finances. The Union states had about $230 million in funds, whereas the Confederate states had about $74 million.