This is coolbert: The battles of the American Civil War were indeed intensely fought. Casualties per day for the combatants would be around 15 % for each side. This was very high, even by modern standards. During both World Wars, casualties were about 4 % per day for the combatants. Some historians often describe Grant as a "butcher". De Puy feels this is an unfair appraisal. This label of "butcher" was the result of the action at Cold Harbor, where 10,000 Union casualties were sustained in 10 minutes!!! It is to the credit of Grant that he did not repeat this mistake. Other Civil War generals, Lee at Malvern Hill and Gettysburg [10,000 casualties in 50 minutes], Burnside at Fredericksburg [7,000 casualties], Hood at Franklin [7,000 casualties], also sent their troops to horrendous slaughter. Casualties of this magnitude were not confined to the American Civil War during this period. Five years later, during the Franco-Prussian war, the Prussians suffered 5,000 dead in thirty minutes at a place called the Mars-la-Tour. More later on the significance of American Civil War casualties to the current U.S. military.

coolbert.