The Gettysburg Carnage
The War records estimate the Union casualties, killed, wounded, and missing, at 23,000 of the 84,000 engaged. The Confederate casualties are estimated at over 20,000 of the 75,000 engaged. Approximately 10,000 bodies were left at Gettysburg for burial, and 21,000 living men to be healed of their wounds.
No words can picture the desolation of the little town. As the soldiers marched away, their places were taken by physicians and surgeons, nurses and orderlies, civilian as well as military, and the ministrations of mercy began. In these the citizens of Gettysburg, especially the women, took an important part. Hither came also a new army of parents and wives and brothers and sisters, seeking, sometimes with success, sometimes with grievous disappointment, for their beloved.