# What percentage of US Civil War soldiers were in combat?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-us-civil-war-soldiers-were-in-combat/833555>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 6, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-us-civil-war-soldiers-were-in-combat/833555 "2019-05-06T11:11:10Z")\
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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-us-civil-war-soldiers-were-in-combat/833555/1 "2019-05-06T11:11:10Z")

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There are lots of sites about Civil War casualty rates, but I can’t find the answer to the related question of how many (what percentage) actually saw action.

What was the chance of a being in a battle, in combat, for Civil War soldiers? I assume it was higher for the Confederates. I assume also that for both sides it was higher than in any other conflict involving the US military.

Any estimates?

Thanks,