MASSACHUSETTS

The Bay State had a population of 1,231,057 and 146,730 men, or 11.9%, enlisted for varying lengths of service. 19,983 of them joined the Navy or Marines, evidence of the strong maritime tradition and the unemployment caused when raiders like the CSS Alabama caused American merchantmen to switch to other flags. 2,966 were African-Americans who had two infantry and one cavalry regiments to themselves.

13,942 of the men died during their service (9.5%); 6,115 died in battle or from wounds, while the rest died of disease, accident, or other causes. 1,483 died in prison camps.

Aside from the three Colored regiments (5th Cavalry, 54th and 55th Infantry), there were four cavalry regiments, four heavy artillery regiments, sixteen batteries of light artillery, two companies of sharpshooters, and sixty regiments of ordinary infantry. They fought almost everywhere, either carried by the railroads or the Navy on the various coastal expeditions that encircled the South.

There was no fighting in Massachusetts, although there were some riots in Boston at the same time as the better-known New York Draft Riots. Massachusetts voted strongly Republican in all the wartime elections.

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