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American War Deaths Throughout History From the War of Independence to 2017

by Bill Haverly

The following is a listing of US casualties in the various conflicts that have been a part of the country’s history. The following numbers reflect only reported war deaths and exclude those wounded and/or missing. The Civil War maintains the highest American casualty total of any conflict. In its first 100 years of America’s existence, over 683,000 Americans lost their lives, with the Civil War accounting for the highest number of casualties. Comparatively, in the next 100 years, a further 626,000 Americans died through two World Wars and several more regional conflicts (World War 2 representing 65% of that total). Using this comparison, the Civil War becomes the costliest war that America has ever fought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

War or conflict

 Date Total U.S. deaths Wounded Total U.S. casualties Missing Sources and notes
Combat Other Total
American Revolutionary War 1775–1783 8,000 17,000 25,000 25,000 50,000
Northwest Indian War 1785–1796 1,056+ 1,056+ 825+ 1,881+ [1][2][3]
Quasi-War 1798–1800 20 494[4] 514 42 556 [4][5]
First Barbary War 1801–1805 35 39 74 64 138 [6][7]:25–27[8][9]
Other actions against pirates 1800–1900 36 158+[7]:42 194+ 100+ 294+ [5][10][11][b]
Chesapeake–Leopard Affair 1807 3 0 3 18 21 [5]
War of 1812 1812–1815 2,260 12,740~ 15,000~ 4,505 20,000~ [12]
Nuka Hiva Campaign 1813–1814 5 0 5 11 16 [7]:34–38
Creek War 1813–1814 575 575 [13]
Second Barbary War 1815 4 134[14] 10 148 [15]
First Seminole War 1817–1818 47 0 47 36 83 [16]
First Sumatran Expedition 1832 2 2 11 13 [5]
Black Hawk War 1832 47 258[17][18] 305 85 390 [19]
Second Seminole War 1835–1842 328 1,207 1,535 1535
Mexican–American War 1846–1848 1,733 11,550 13,283 4,152 17,435 [20]
Cayuse War 1847–1856 40 1 41 74 115 [21]
Rogue River Wars 1851–1856 190 6 196 293 489 [22]
Yakima War 1855–1856 32 2 34 92 126 [23]
Third Seminole War 1855–1858 26 26 27 53 [24]
Second Opium War 1856–1860 12 12 39 51 [7]
Coeur d’Alene War 1858 36 36 60 96 [25]
Civil War: total 1861–1865 214,938[26] ~ 450,000 ~ 655,000 [c][27]
U.S. Army 140,414[28] 224,097 364,511 281,881 1,031,881 [29]
Confederate army 74,524[30] + 225,000 + 290,000
Dakota War of 1862
(Little Crow’s War)		 1862 70–113 70–113 150 220–263 [31][32][33]
Shimonoseki Straits 1863 4–5[5][34] 0 4–5 6[5] 10 [5][34]
Snake Indian War 1864–1868 30 30 128 158 [23]
Indian Wars 1865–1898 919 1,025 1944 [20]
Red Cloud’s War 1866–1868 126 126 100 226 [35][36][37]
Korea (Shinmiyangyo) 1871 3 3 9 12 [38]
Modoc War 1872–1873 56 56 88 144 [39][40]
Great Sioux War 1875–1877 314 314 211 525 [41][42]
Nez Perce War 1877 134 134 157 291 [43][44]
Bannock War 1878 12 0 12 22 34 [45][46]
Ute War 1879 15 0 15 52 67 [45][47]
Sheepeater Indian War 1879 1 1 10 11 [45]
Samoan crisis 1887–1889 0 62 62 62 [48]
Ghost Dance War 1890–1891 35 35 64 99 [49][50]
Sugar Point
Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians		 1898 7 0 7 16 23 0 [51]
Spanish–American War 1898 385 2,061 2,446 1,622 4,068 [20]
Philippine–American War 1898–1913 1,020 3,176 4,196 2,930 7,126 [20]
Boxer Rebellion 1900–1901 68 63 131 204 335 0 [52]
Santo Domingo Affair 1904 1 0 1 2 3 [5]
United States occupation of Nicaragua 1910, 1912–1925, 1927–1933 90 69 159 290 449 [53][54][55]
Mexican Revolution 1914–1919 120 61 181 319 500 [56]
Occupation of Haiti 1915–1934 10 138 148 26+ 184+ [5][57]
World War I 1917–1918 53,402 63,114 116,516 204,002 320,518 3,350 [20][d]
North Russia Campaign 1918–1920 424 424 [58]
American Expeditionary Force Siberia 1918–1920 160 168 328 52+ 380+ [7]:228
China 1918; 1921; 1926–1927; 1930; 1937 5 78 83 [53]
World War II 1941–1945 291,557 113,842 405,399 670,846 1,076,245 30,314 [20]See Note DA below
Greek Civil War 1944–1949 1 5 6 6 [59]
Chinese Civil War 1945–1950 14 150 164 51 215 [59]
Berlin Blockade 1948–1949 31 31 [60]
Korean War 1950–1953 33,686 2,830 36,516 92,134 128,650 4,759 Note: 4,759 MIA-See Note E below
U.S.S.R. Cold War 1947–1991 32 12 44 [53]
China Cold War 1950–1972 16 16 [53]
Vietnam War 1955–1975 47,424 10,785 58,209 153,303 211,454 1,603 [20][61] Note as of 1 September 2017 Vietnam MIA Are 1,603
1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 1 5 6 1+ 7+
Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961 4 4 4 [62]
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 1 19 20 20 [59]
Dominican Republic 1965–1966 27 20 47 283 330 [53][59][63]
USS Liberty incident 1967 34 34 171 205
Iran 1980 0 8 8 4 12 0 [64]
El Salvador Civil War 1980–1992 22 15 37 35 72 [65][66][67][68]
Beirut deployment 1982–1984 256 10 266 169 435 [69]
Persian Gulf escorts 1987–1988 39 0 39 31 100
Invasion of Grenada 1983 18 1 19 119 138 [69]
1986 Bombing of Libya 1986 2 0 2 0 2 [70]
Invasion of Panama 1989 23 40 324 364 [69]
Gulf War 1990–1991 149 145 294 849 1,143 0[71] [72]
Operation Provide Comfort 1991–1996 1 18 19 4 23 [73][74]
Somalia 1992–1993 29 14 43 153 196 [69]
Haiti 1994–1995 1 3 4 3 7 [69]
Colombia 1994–present 0 8[75][76] 8 8 [77]
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1995–2004 1 11 12 12 [78]
Kosovo War 1998–1999 4 14 18 N/A 18+ 2 [79]
War in Afghanistan 2001–present 1,833 [80] 383 [81] 2,216 20,050[82] 22,266 0 [f][83][81]
Iraq War 2003–2011 3,836* 961 4,497 32,222 36,710 2 [83]
Operation Inherent Resolve 2014– 14 47 61 64 125 1 [82]
Raid on Yemen 2017 1 1 3 4 [84]
Total 1775–present 666,441+ 673,929+ 1,354,664+ 1,498,240+ 2,852,901+ 40,031+
Sources: U.S. Army Military History Institute; iCasualties.org; Wikipedia

Published on 2018-05-30 10:16:44

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