CWSAC Report battle data: battles

name:cwsac_battles
path:cwsac_battles.csv
format:csv

Civil War Sites Advisory Commission 1993 Report battle data

These data are from the CWSAC Battle Summaries. The unstructured webpages were cleaned and converted into the structured data in these tables.

For more information on the CWSAC data see

Sources: [CWSAC1993], [CWSAC1997], [CWSAC_by_state], [CWSAC_by_campgn]

Schema

battle string Battle
url string url
battle_name string Battle Name
other_names string Other Battle Names
state string State
locations string Locations
campaign string Campaign
start_date date Start Date
end_date date End Date
operation boolean operation
assoc_battles string Associated battles
results_text string Results
result string result
forces_text string forces_text
strength integer strength
casualties_text string casualties_text
casualties integer Casualties
description string Battle summary
preservation string Preservation Priority
significance string Military significance
strength_mean number Strength (mean)
strength_var number Strength (variance)

battle

title:

Battle

type:

string

format:

default

constraints:
minLength:5
maxLength:6
pattern:[A-Z]{2}[0-9]{3}[A-Z]?

CWSAC battle identifier

url

title:url
type:string
format:url

URL of the battle summary

battle_name

title:Battle Name
type:string
format:default

other_names

title:Other Battle Names
type:string
format:default

Secondary or commonly used names, such as Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge), Bull Run (Manassas), and Sharpsburg (Antietam).

state

title:

State

type:

string

format:

default

constraints:
minLength:2
maxLength:2
pattern:[A-Z][A-Z]

2-letter State abbreviation

locations

title:Locations
type:string
format:default

The present day county or city in which the battlefield is located.

campaign

title:Campaign
type:string
format:default

The larger military operation with which the battle is associated.

start_date

title:Start Date
type:date
format:default

end_date

title:End Date
type:date
format:default

operation

title:operation
type:boolean
format:default

Was the battle an operation, a series of several related battles? E.g. Marietta Operations.

assoc_battles

title:Associated battles
type:string
format:default

If the battle was an operation, this contains the names of the battles in that operation.

results_text

title:Results
type:string
format:default

Text description of the battle result

The victor in the battle, if the outcome was definitive. If the outcome was other than definitive, that information is provided.

result

title:

result

type:

string

format:

default

constraints:
enum:[‘Union’, ‘Confederate’, ‘Inconclusive’]

Categorical result of the battle: Union victory, Confederate victory, or a tie.

forces_text

title:forces_text
type:string
format:default

Description of the forces involved in the battle. CWSAC summary

In most summaries, the particular company, regiment, brigade, division, corps, army, garrison, detachment, or ship. Some summaries, however, indicate the number of troops involved. In both cases, the purpose is to provide an idea of the size of the engagement. Most of the forces engaged were found in the U.S. War Department’s Official Records.

strength

title:

strength

type:

integer

format:

default

constraints:
minimum:0

Total personnel involved in the battle. In some cases, CWSAC gives a number for the total personnel in the battle, but does not disaggregate by side.

casualties_text

title:casualties_text
type:string
format:default

Description of the casualties of the battle.

casualties

title:

Casualties

type:

integer

format:

default

constraints:
minimum:0

Total casualties (both sides) of the battle. In some cases, CWSAC gives a number for the total personnel in the battle, but does not disaggregate by side. CWSAC description of casualties

No source exists, either in print or in manuscript, that provides casualty figures for all Civil War battles or even for the 384 principal battles that the CWSAC studied. Some of the casualty figures for the 384 principal battles are unknown; in some instances reliable figures are available for one of the combatants but not for the other. Few casualty figures are definitive; sources often differ in their figures. A variety of sources, both official and commercial, printed and in manuscript, were consulted. All casualty figures were subjected to historical analysis before inclusion in the summaries.

A partial list of sources follows.

Dyer, Frederick. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion . .. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.

Fox, William F. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War 1861-1865: A Treatise on the Extent and Nature of the Mortuary Losses in the United States . . . Albany, NY: Albany Publishing Company,1889.

Johnson, Robert U., and Clarence C. Buell, eds. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War . . . .4 Volumes. New York: The Century Company, 1887-88.

Livermore, Thomas L.Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America 1861-65. Reprint. Dayton, OH: Morningside House, Inc., 1986.

U.S. Surgeon General’s Office. Chronological Summary of Engagements and Battles [Civil War]. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1873.

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation ofthe Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 70 Volumes in 128. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.

description

title:Battle summary
type:string
format:default

Short text summary of the battle. CWSAC documentation

A historical account or summary of the battle. A variety of sources, both general and specific, published and in manuscript, were consultedin the preparation of these accounts. The general sources consulted include those listed below. More specific published and manuscript sources were also consulted and analyzed.

The Conservation Fund. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. Edited by Frances H. Kennedy. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

Great Battles of the Civil War. By the editors of Civil War Times Illustrated. New York: Gallery Books, 1984.

Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. Edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1986.

Johnson, Robert U., and Clarence C. Buell, eds. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War . . . .4 Volumes. New York: The Century Company, 1887-88.

Long, E.B., compiler. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971.

U.S. National Archives. A Guide-Index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Edited and compiled by Dallas Irvine, et al. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1968-1980.

U.S. Naval History Division. Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861-1865. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1971.

U.S. Navy Department. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Multivolumes. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1894-1927.

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation ofthe Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 70 Volumes in 128. Washington, DC: The Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.

preservation

title:Preservation Priority
type:string
format:default

A designation made by the Commission based on the level of historical significance, the integrity of the remaining battlefield features, and the level of threat to the battlefield’s existence. For example, IV.1 (Class D) means that the Commission determined that a particular battlefield site was Priority IV: Fragmented Battlefields, All Military Classes, Poor Integrity. (See Table 7, pages 49-53 in the Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefield, for the preservation priority of all the battlefields studied.) Class A, B, C, or D indicates a battle’s (and associated battlefield’s) level of military importance within its campaign and the war. (See page v of this volume for an explanation of each of the four designations.) N/D indicates that no data is currently available to determine the levelof threat to the site.

significance

title:

Military significance

type:

string

format:

default

constraints:
enum:[‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’]

Four-category classification of the military significance of the battle.

strength_mean

title:

Strength (mean)

type:

number

format:

default

constraints:
minimum:0

Mean of the estimated strength in personnel of the force. See code for how it is calculated.

Sources: [CWSAC1993], [CWSAC1997], [CWSAC_by_state], [CWSAC_by_campgn]

strength_var

title:

Strength (variance)

type:

number

format:

default

constraints:
minimum:0

Variance of the estimated strength in personnel of the force. See code for how it is calculated.

Sources: [CWSAC1993], [CWSAC1997], [CWSAC_by_state], [CWSAC_by_campgn]