During the 4 years spanning the secession of the South in 1861 to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865, approximately 620,000 men were killed, and 50,000 were sent home with less than 4 limbs. (1) The Union may have lost more men during battles, but ultimately they won the war due to their vastly superior ability to manufacture a greater amount of high-quality artillery.

Most estimates state the total size of the Union Army to be between 2,500,000 and 2,750,000 men, and the Confederate Army to be between 750,000 and 1,250,000 men. Deaths due directly to battle-related injuries numbered approximately 110,070 for the Union, and 94,000 for the South. (2) At first glance one would assume that these numbers imply that the South must have had more superior weapons, due to their ability to kill more than they lost. However, when observing these casualty statistics with respect to the overall sizes of the according Armies, the Union lost approximately 4% of their overall numbers while the Confederate lost approximately 8%. I believe the Union’s ability to inflict a much higher percentage of casualties is directly related to their ability to manufacture much more accurate weapons, and in greater quantities.

As is commonly known, the North was very much manufacturing oriented, while the South devoted much effort to creating raw materials, corn, wheat, livestock, etc. Although raw materials are the necessities of a nation, it is much harder for farmers to rapidly switch to producing weapons. Therefore, in the time it took the South to build cannons, muskets, etc. the North had factories solely devoted to weapon-making. (3) A Union 12-pounder Napoleon could be built with higher quality and fielded in half the time it took a corresponding Confederate one to be deployed. (4)

The Union’s ability to quickly produce a greater quality of more accurate artillery greatly influenced the outcome of the Civil War. At the onset of a battle, Southern gunners using artillery such as grape-shot (which essentially had the effect of a sawed-off shotgun, projecting massive amounts of bullet-sized fragments into enemy numbers) or gatling-guns (an early form of the machine gun), would be able to deal a great deal of damage on a large Union force. (5) However, Union gunners using similar methods would not be able to equal the damage on a smaller, Confederate force. An artillery form such as the grape-shot is very effective when one is outnumbered, however if one is attempting to hit a smaller, specific target, and avoid one’s own forces, it is much easier to use less devastating, yet more accurate artillery. Therefore, Union forces dealt a higher percentage of damage using rifled guns like the 3-inch Ordnance, and 10-pounder Parrott guns. (6)

In conclusion, the Union’s superior manufacturing ability ultimately cost the Confederates the war. Using methods such as grape-shot, and gatling guns, the Confederates were able to inflict high amounts of casualties on the Union. However, these casualties only amounted to half the percentage of what they themselves were suffering. They simply did not have the manufacturing ability to produce high amounts of these highly-accurate, rifled cannons the Union were employing to inflict twice the degree of damage. Therefore, the Union won the war as a direct result of their ability to produce a greater amount of high-quality artillery.