The Wounded and the Dead

In the three days at Gettysburg, 7,708 soldiers were killed and 26,856 were wounded, producing unprecedented numbers of dead, dying, and maimed on an American battlefield and a monumental task of caring for the wounded and burying the dead. Schools, churches, homes, and farm buildings, including John Slyder's farm, were converted into emergency shelters and field hospitals, where clothing and sheets were ripped for bandages, barn doors became operating tables, army surgeons labored until they collapsed, and amputated arms and legs accumulated in piles. Doctors, nurses, and volunteers remained at Gettysburg four months to care for the wounded, while citizens responded with donations of money, food, letters, and gifts. Few civilians were injured during the battle, but many, including the Slyders, lost property, livestock, and crops. A trooper of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry on picket duty at the Slyder farm the night after the battle recalled the house filled with wounded as surgeons worked, while bodies of men who died were carried into the rain and left there temporarily. Union casualties totaled 22,807, including 3,149 killed, 14,501 wounded, and 5,157 missing or captured, while Confederate casualties totaled 22,557, including 4,559 killed, 12,355 wounded, and 5,643 missing or captured; these figures are based on incomplete records, and Confederate losses may have been as high as 28,000.

Freedom Township, Pennsylvania · United States