virginia provided the most soldiers for the confederate army.
virginia provided the most soldiers for the confederate army.
which state provided the most soldiers for the confederate army?
virginia
some soldiers also deserted from ideological motivations. a growing threat to the solidarity of the confederacy was dissatisfaction in the appalachian mountain districts caused by lingering unionism and a distrust of the slave power. many of their soldiers deserted, returned home, and formed a military force that fought off regular army units trying to punish them. north carolina lost 23% of its soldiers (24,122) to desertion. the state provided more soldiers per capita than any other confederate state, and had more deserters as well.
confederate states army
it is a misconception that the south held an advantage because of the large percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the confederate army. at the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the u.s. military academy on the active list; of these, 296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became confederate officers. of the approximately 900 west point graduates who were then civilians, 400 returned to the union army and 99 to the confederate. therefore, the ratio of union to confederate professional officers was 642 to 283. (one of the resigning officers was robert e. lee, who had initially been offered the assignment as commander of a field army to suppress the rebellion. lee disapproved of secession, but refused to bear arms against his native state, virginia, and resigned to accept the position as commander of virginian c.s. forces. he eventually became the commander of the confederate army.) the south did have the advantage of other military colleges, such as the citadel and virginia military institute, but they produced fewer officers. though officers were able to resign, enlisted soldiers did not have this right; which meant that they usually had to either desert or wait until their enlistment term was over in order to join the confederate states army. while the total number of those is unknown, only 26 enlisted men and non-commissioned officers of the regular army are known to have legally left the army to join the confederate army when the war began.
union army