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Battles and Diseases in the U.S. Civil War

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  • Guillaume Vandenbroucke

Abstract

Wars create short-term fluctuations in mortality. Belligerents might mitigate their own casualties with larger armies that hinder their opponent’s fighting ability. But diseases are frequent in wars and, thus, may reduce the benefits of larger armies. First, I analyze these competing mechanisms in a dynamic model of wartime attrition. Second, I calibrate the model using U.S. Civil War data and find that if the Union had fielded a 50%-larger army in 1861, Union casualties would have been marginally lower. The theory provides the insight for this quantitative result.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2024. "Battles and Diseases in the U.S. Civil War," Working Papers 2024-032, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:98887
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2024.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Goldin, Claudia D. & Lewis, Frank D., 1975. "The Economic Cost of the American Civil War: Estimates and Implications," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 299-326, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    war; attrition; diseases;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation

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