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| Franz Friederich Groth Fought with the GAR Dec 10, 1842 - Sept (?) 18, 1863 Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery Freistadt, WI |
The following excerpt is not intended to diminish the horror of 9.11.01 nor be a forum for politics. It is intended to give a perspective of a time in our American history that is difficult for us to "wrap our contemporary heads around". Most of us hold vivid memories of that fateful day 10 years ago that served to change our world as we know it. With that said, I let the following stand on its own....
More Americans died in the Civil War than in all other American wars combined through Vietnam. The Union side lost more that 360,000 lives. The figure for the Confederacy is less certain because of incomplete record-keeping, but at least 260,000 rebels died, for a total of more than 620,000. It is estimated that approximately 2% of the adult population of this country lost their lives (1). The equivalent figure in terms of today's population would be 5 million people. In terms of life lost as a proportion of the population, the losses of the Civil War were as though an event equivalent to September 11, 2001 occurred every day for nearly four years. 96,000 Wisconsinites served in the [American Civil] war, and 12, 216 died, about 13% of the men of the state who marched off to war.
--Jacob Conrad, Interpreting the Civil War through its Impact on a Wisconsin Community (Old World Wisconsin Research Files), August 2002
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| Colonel Hans C. Heg Fought for the GAR Dec. 21 1829 - Sept. 19, 1863 Norway Lutheran Cemetery Wind Lake, WI |
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