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 (1861-1865) Civil War Battles (Western Theater)
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Larry Purtell
Little Meadows PA USA
Posts: 1743
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/12/2022 8:05:10 AM
From the Courier Journal, Louisville Kentucky. January 12, 1863





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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
Phil Andrade
London  UK
Posts: 6388
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/12/2022 10:46:33 AM
Informative and interesting, Larry, thanks.

Only five confirmed as killed, but forty wounded, of whom ten are noted as " severe".

This was a " partial" list, according to the dispatch : I wonder what the complete tally turned out to be.

Regards, Phil
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"Egad, sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox!" "That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress." Earl of Sandwich and John Wilkes
Larry Purtell
Little Meadows PA USA
Posts: 1743
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/12/2022 6:39:00 PM
Hi Phil. Had an error with the 6th's report. Should be visible now. I plan on checking the numbers reported against the official loss and see how accurate the newspapers were.

Best regards, Larry
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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
Phil Andrade
London  UK
Posts: 6388
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/13/2022 6:17:27 AM
Thanks again, Larry. I feel very fortunate having your input to assist me in my attempts to survey and interpret the data in these casualty lists. The immediate impact when comparing the casualty returns of the two regiments is the difference in the number of killed : thirteen in the 6th, compared with five in the 23rd. But even within the 6th, it's apparent that a single company - Company G - bore a disproportionate share of fatality, losing six, or nearly half, of all the men posted as killed in action for the entire regiment. Note the loss of two men by the name of Mans. I wonder if Joseph and Adam were brothers. The total list of wounded for the 6th is obscured because it doesn't extend below the first two for Company G, which is clearly the hardest hit. I might try and extrapolate the proportion of the wounded who were reported as " severe". In the case of the 23rd, one quarter were described as such. I will be interested to see what your foray into the official reports shows about how the accuracy of this journalist's account stacks up.


Regards, Phil
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"Egad, sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox!" "That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress." Earl of Sandwich and John Wilkes
Larry Purtell
Little Meadows PA USA
Posts: 1743
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/13/2022 10:05:36 AM
Hi Phil. Here is the rest of the company casualties for the 6th Kentucky.


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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
Phil Andrade
London  UK
Posts: 6388
Joined: 2004
Casualties of the 6th and 23rd Kentucky (Union) infantry at Murfreesboro an
1/13/2022 11:08:55 AM
Good of you to do that, Larry.

It tells a grim story of how one unit takes a terrible blast of lethal fire, whilst others escape with a lower proportion of lethal hits : Company G, 6 killed and 9 wounded ; the rest of the regiment, 8 killed and 89 wounded.

I wonder if any of the regiment's 14 missing perished in the battle ; since the Union held the field, it's reasonable to assume that they were taken prisoner, but subsequent investigation might have revealed otherwise.

Regards, Phil
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"Egad, sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox!" "That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress." Earl of Sandwich and John Wilkes

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