The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead

The clash of armies in the American Civil War left hundreds of thousands of men dead, wounded, or permanently damaged. Skirmishes and battles could result in casualty numbers as low as one or two and as high as tens of thousands. When the dust settled and the living armies moved on, the burial of the dead was a horrific task often left to the communities. In the short-term action, bodies were hastily buried to avoid the stench and health concerns of massive death; in the long-term, families struggled to reclaim loved ones and properly reinter them in established cemeteries.