United States military casualties of war

Template:Short description The following is a tabulation of United States military casualties of war.

OverviewEdit

Note: "Total casualties" includes wounded, combat and non-combat deaths but not missing in action. "Deaths – other" includes all non-combat deaths including those from bombing, massacres, disease, suicide, and murder.

War or conflict	Date	Total U.S. deaths			Wounded	Total U.S. casualties	Missing	Sources and notes	Deaths as percentage of total population
War or conflict	Date	Combat	Other	Total	Wounded	Total U.S. casualties	Missing	Sources and notes	Deaths as percentage of total population
American Revolutionary War	1775–1783	6,800	17,000	23,800	8,500+	32300+
Northwest Indian War	1785–1796	1,056+		1,056+	825+	1,881+		<ref>John Grenier The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier (Cambridge University Press) pp. 195–200</ref><ref name=Rajitar>Rajitar 33–36, 71–73</ref><ref>Konstantin 11–14, 111</ref>
Quasi-War	1798–1800	20	494<ref name="Michael A Palmer 1987 pp. 119, 208">Michael A Palmer Stoddert's War: Naval Operations During the Quasi-War with France 1798–1801 (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1987) pp. 119, 208, 218, 228</ref>	514	42	556		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
First Barbary War	1801–1805	35	39	74	64	138		<ref>Joseph Wheelan Jefferson's War, (Carol and Graph Publishers, 2003) pp. 208–28</ref><ref name="Boot"/>Template:Rp<ref>Gregory Fremont-Barnes Wars of the Barbary Coast: To the Shores of Tripoli (Osprey Publishing 2006)</ref><ref>John Randolph Spears David G Farragut (Cornell University Press, 2009) p. 39</ref>
Other actions against pirates	1800–1900	36	158+<ref name="Boot" />Template:Rp	194+	100+	294+		<ref name="history.navy.mil"/><ref>Edgar Stanton Maclay, A History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1894 pp. 120–27</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Ref label
Chesapeake–Leopard affair	1807	3	0	3	18	21		<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>
War of 1812	1812–1815	2,260	12,740~	15,000~	4,505	20,000~		<ref>The "other" deaths were primarily from disease. Donald R. Hickey, Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812t (University of Illinois Press, 2006), 297.</ref>	0.21%
Nuku Hiva Campaign	1813–1814	5	0	5	11	16		<ref name="Boot">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Creek War	1813–1814			575		575		<ref name="US Mil">Richard Blackmon, The Creek War, 1813–1814 (Center of Military History, 2014), 40.</ref>
Second Barbary War	1815	4	134<ref>Joseph Wheelan Jefferson's War p. 357</ref>	138~	10	148		<ref>Joseph Wheelan Jefferson's War (Carol and Graf 2003), pp. 354, 357</ref>
First Seminole War	1817–1818	47	0	47	36	83		<ref>Colonel Raymond K Bluhm US Army A Complete History (The Army Historical Foundation) p. 154</ref>
First Sumatran expedition	1832	2		2	11	13		<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>
Black Hawk War	1832	47	258<ref>Bluhm 166</ref><ref>Kerry A Trask Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America (Henry Holt and Co, 2006) pp. 271–76</ref>	305	85	390		<ref>Patrick Jung The Black Hawk War of 1832 (University of Oklahoma Press) pp. 170–172</ref>
Second Seminole War	1835–1842	328	1,207	1,535		1,535
Mexican–American War	1846–1848	1,733	11,550	13,283	4,152	17,435		<ref name="Oxford">John W. Chambers, II, ed. in chief, The Oxford Companion to American Military History. (Oxford University Press, 1999, Template:ISBN), 849.</ref>	0.06%
Cayuse War	1847–1856	40	1	41	74	115		<ref name="Victor">Frances Fuller Victor, The Cayuse Wars (The Early Indian Wars of Oregon, Pt 1). (Taxus Baccata Books, 2006, Template:ISBN), 211.</ref>
Rogue River Wars	1851–1856	190	6	196	293	489		<ref name="Henry">AG Henry, Rogue River War. (YE Galleon Press, 1996, Template:ISBN), 39.</ref>
Yakima War	1855–1856	32	2	34	92	126		<ref name="Cornell"/>
Third Seminole War	1855–1858	26		26	27	53		<ref>Joe Knetscii Florida's Seminole Wars: 1817–1858 (Florida Historical Society) p. 152</ref>
Second Opium War	1856–1860	12		12	39	51		<ref name="Boot"/>
Coeur d'Alene War	1858	36		36	60	96		<ref>Ray Hoard Glassley Pacific Northwest Indian Wars (Binford and Mort, 1953) 244.</ref>
American Civil War: total	1861–1865	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	450,000~	655,000~				Template:Ref label<ref>America's Wars, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, November 2011</ref>	2.1%
American Civil War: Union casualties		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> to 140,414<ref name="va.gov"/>	224,097	364,511	281,881	646,392		<ref>DCAS Reports – Principal Wars, 1775–1991 Template:Webarchive, U.S. Department of Defense, May 2015</ref>
American Civil War: Confederate casualties		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	195,000+	290,000+	194,026	483,026
Dakota War of 1862	1862	70–113		70–113	150	220–263		<ref>Yenne pp. 95–99</ref><ref>Jerry Keenan The Great Sioux Uprising(Da Capo Press)</ref><ref>Alvin Josephy jr Civil War in the American West (Vintage Press 1993)</ref>
Shimonoseki campaign	1863	4–5<ref name="history.navy.mil" /><ref name="Long p. 386">Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac p. 386</ref>	0	4–5	6<ref name="history.navy.mil" />	10		<ref name="history.navy.mil" /><ref name="Long p. 386" />
Snake War	1864–1868	30		30	128	158		<ref name="Cornell">CW. Cornell, Deadliest Indian War in the West: The Snake Conflict 1864–1868 (Caxton Press, 2007)</ref>
American Indian Wars	1865–1898	919		919~	1,025	1,944		<ref name="Oxford"/>
Red Cloud's War	1866–1868	126		126	100	226		<ref>Yenne pp. 117–24</ref><ref name=Rajitar/><ref name="Konstantin"/>
United States expedition to Korea	1871	3		3	9	12		<ref>Dispatch from Commodore John Rodgers to the Secretary of the Navy, Corea, June 23, 1871</ref>
Modoc War	1872–1873	56		56	88	144		<ref>Yenne 151–56</ref><ref>Rajtar 46–48</ref>
Great Sioux War	1875–1877	314		314	211	525		<ref>Yenne pp. 175–211</ref><ref>Rajtar pp. 88–91</ref>
Nez Perce War	1877	134		134	157	291		<ref name="Nelson">Kurt Nelson, Fighting for Paradise: A Military History of the Pacific Northwest (Westholme, 2008) p. 277</ref><ref>Yenne 239–44</ref>
Bannock War	1878	12	0	12	22	34		<ref name="Konstantin">Phil Konstantin, This Day in North American Indian History (Da Capo, 2002)</ref><ref>Yenne 245–48</ref>
Ute War	1879	15	0	15	52	67		<ref name="Konstantin"/><ref>Yenne p. 250</ref>
Sheepeater Indian War	1879	1		1	10	11		<ref name="Konstantin"/>
Samoan crisis	1887–1889	0	62	62		62		<ref>Ryden, George Herbert. The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa. New York: Octagon Books, 1975. (Reprint by special arrangement with Yale University Press. Originally published at New Haven: Yale University Press, 1928. pg.449</ref>
Ghost Dance War	1890–1891	35		35	64	99		<ref name="Rajtar">Steve Rajtar, Indian War Sites (McFarland, 1999), pp. 230–32</ref><ref>Yenne 286–94</ref>
Battle of Sugar Point	1898	7	0	7	16	23		<ref name="Yenne">Bill Yenne, Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. (Westholme Publishing, 2008) 296.</ref>
Spanish–American War	1898	385	2,061	2,446	1,622	4,068		<ref name="Oxford"/>
Philippine–American War and Moro Rebellion	1899–1913	1,020	3,176	4,196	2,930	7,126		<ref name="Oxford"/>
Boxer Rebellion	1900–1901	68	63	131	204	335		<ref>Journal of the Military Service Institution of The United States Vol 38 p. 572 [1]</ref>
Santo Domingo Affair	1904	1	0	1	1	2		<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>
United States occupation of Nicaragua	1912–1933	90	69	159	290	449		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Keith B Bickel Mars Learning: the Marine Corps development of small wars doctrine 1915–1940 (Westview Press) p. 119</ref>
Mexican Revolution	1914–1919	120	61	181	319	500		<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
United States occupation of Haiti	1915–1934	10	138	148	26+	184+		<ref name="history.navy.mil" /><ref>Keith B Bickel Mars Learning: the Marine Corps development of small wars doctrine 1915–1940 (Westview Press) p. 91</ref>
World War I	1914–1918	53,402	63,114	116,516	204,002	320,518	3,350	<ref name="Oxford"/>Template:Ref label	0.11%
North Russia intervention: total	1918–1920			424		424		<ref>Hudson, Miles (2004). Intervention in Russia 1918–1920: A Cautionary Tale. Pen and Sword. Template:ISBN.</ref>
North Russia intervention: American Expeditionary Force, Siberia casualties	1918–1920	160	168	328	52+	380+		<ref name="Boot" />Template:Rp
Warlord Era Chinese Civil War	1918; 1921; 1926–1927; 1930; 1937	5			78	83		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
World War II	1939–1945	291,557	113,842	405,399	670,846	1,076,245	72,491	<ref name="Oxford" />See Note DA below	0.39%
Greek Civil War	1944–1949	1	5	6		6		<ref name="VFW" />
Chinese Civil War	1945–1950	14	150	164	51	215		<ref name="VFW" />
Berlin Blockade	1948–1949		31	31		31		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Korean War	1950–1953	33,686	2,835	36,574	103,284	139,858	7,564	See Note E below
Cold War with the Soviet Union	1947–1991	32		32	12	44	126	<ref name="autogenerated1" />
Cold War with China	1950–1972	16		16		16		<ref name="autogenerated1" />
Vietnam War	1955–1975	47,434	10,786	58,220	153,303	211,454	1,584	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="USarchives">{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }} (generated from the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files (as of April 29, 2008))</ref>
1958 Lebanon crisis	1958	1	5	6	1+	7+		<ref>Beirut 1958: How America's Wars in the Middle East Began, Bruce Riedel, Brookings Institution Press, Oct 29, 2019: "Sergeant James R. Nettles was shot by a sniper on August 2, 1958."</ref>
Bay of Pigs Invasion	1961	5	20 <ref>[2], "Congressional Bill amending title 36. January 3, 2019."</ref>	25 <ref>[3], "Biography of Nels Benson, killed during training of Cuban rebels for the Bay of Pigs Invasion – CIA.</ref>		25		<ref>John Padros, Safe For Democracy:The Secret Wars of the CIA(Ivan R Lee Publishers Chicago 2006) p. 263</ref>
Cuban Missile Crisis	1962	1	19	20		20		<ref name="VFW"/>
Dominican Civil War	1965–1966	27	20	47	283	330		<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref name="VFW">Richard K Kolb, Cold War Clashes: Confronting Communism, 1945–1991 (VFW Publications, Kansas City MO, 2004) p. 129</ref><ref>Operation Power Pack Template:Webarchive</ref>
Korean DMZ Conflict	1966–1969	75	6	81	120	201
USS Liberty incident	1967	0	34	34	171	205
Operation Eagle Claw	1980	0	8	8	4	12		<ref>Peter Huchthausen, America's Splendid Little Wars p. 37</ref>
Salvadoran Civil War	1980–1992	22	15	37	35	72		<ref>Bradley Graham, Medals Granted After Acknowledgement of US Role in El Salvador, Washington Post; 5/6/1996 1A</ref><ref>Miami Herald Copter Crash kills 5 near San Salvador, 2/26/1991. 4A</ref><ref>Ted Gup Star Agents: The anonymous stars in the CIA Book of Honor, Washington Post; 9/7/1997 WO6</ref><ref>Army Air Crews Line of Duty Deaths http://www.armyaircrews.com/</ref>
1982 Lebanon War	1982–1984	256	10	266	169	435		<ref name="SAID">Table 13, Worldwide U.S. Active Duty Military Deaths, Selected Military Operations, {{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}, SAID, U.S. Department of Defense</ref>
Operation Earnest Will	1987–1988	39	0	39	31	100
United States invasion of Grenada	1983	18	1	19	119	138		<ref name="SAID"/>
1986 United States bombing of Libya	1986	2	0	2	0		1	<ref name="Huchthausen">Peter Huchthausen, America's Splendid Little Wars: A Short History of U.S. Military Engagements 1975–2000. (Viking Press, 2003) p. 96.</ref>
United States invasion of Panama	1989	23		23	324	347		<ref name="SAID"/>
Gulf War	1990–1991	149	145	294	849	1,143	2<ref>Initials may offer clue to missing Gulf War pilot Note: ID and found August 2009</ref>	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Operation Provide Comfort	1991–1996	1	18	19	4	23		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Operation Restore Hope	1992–1993	29	14	43	153	196		<ref name="SAID"/>
Operation Uphold Democracy	1994–1995	1	3	4	3	7		<ref name="SAID"/>
Colombian conflict	1994–present	0	8<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	8		8		<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Bosnian War	1992–1995	1	11	12		12		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Kosovo War	1999Template:Efn	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3	0	<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
War in Afghanistan	2001–2021	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=defenselink />	2,325	20,093<ref name=defenselink />	22,311		Template:Ref label<ref name=defenselink /><ref name=OEF-US />
Iraq War	2003–2011	3,519	973	4,492	32,222	36,710	3	<ref name=defenselink />
Operation Inherent Resolve	2014–present	16	60	76	81	157		<ref name=defenselink />
Raid on Yakla	2017	1		1	3	4		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Total	1775–2019	666,441+	673,929+	1,308,464+	1,452,040+	2,852,901+	40,031+

Wars ranked by U.S. battle deathsEdit

The following is a list of wars caught by number of U.S. battle deaths suffered by military forces; deaths from disease and other non-battle causes are not included. Although the Confederate States of America did not consider itself part of the United States, and its forces were not part of the U.S. Army, its battle deaths are included with the losses of the Union (American Civil War).

Rank	War	Years	Deaths
1	World War II	1941–1945	291,557
2	American Civil War	1861–1865	204,100
3	World War I	1917–1918	53,402
4	Vietnam War	1955–1975	47,434
5	Korean War	1950–1953	33,686
6	American Revolutionary War	1775–1783	6,800
7	Iraq War	2003–2011	4,424
8	War of 1812	1812–1815	2,260
9	War in Afghanistan	2001–2021	1,833
10	Mexican–American War	1846–1848	1,733
11	Gulf War	1990–1991	288

Template:Bar box

Wars ranked by total number of U.S. military deathsEdit

Rank	War	Years	Deaths	Deaths per day	U.S. population in first year of war	Deaths as percentage of population
1	American Civil War	1861–1865	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>\|\| 449 \|\| 31,443,000 \|\| 2.083% (1860)
2	World War II	1941–1945	405,399	297	133,402,000	0.307% (1940)
3	World War I	1917–1918	116,516	200	103,268,000	0.110% (1920)
4	Vietnam War	1961–1975	58,209	11	179,323,175	0.032% (1970)
5	Korean War	1950–1953	36,574	30	151,325,000	0.024% (1950)
6	American Revolutionary War	1775–1783	25,000	11	2,500,000	1.00% (1780)
7	War of 1812	1812–1815	15,000	15	8,000,000	0.207% (1810)
8	Mexican–American War	1846–1848	13,283	29	21,406,000	0.057% (1850)
9	Iraq War	2003–2011	4,576	2	294,043,000	0.002% (2010)
10	Philippine–American War	1899–1902	4,196	3.8	72,129,001	0.006% (1900)
11	War in Afghanistan	2001–2021	2,432	0.3	294,043,000	0.001% (2010)
12	Spanish–American War	1898	2,246	9.6	62,022,250	0.004% (1890)

"Deaths per day" is the total number of Americans killed in military service, divided by the number of days between the commencement and end of hostilities. "Deaths per population" is the total number of deaths in military service, divided by the U.S. population of the year indicated.

NotesEdit

a. Template:Note label Revolutionary War: All figures from the Revolutionary War are rounded estimates. Commonly cited casualty figures provided by the Department of Defense are 4,435 killed and 6,188 wounded, although the original government report that generated these numbers warned that the totals were incomplete and far too low.<ref>Howard H. Peckham, ed., The Toll of Independence: Engagements & Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), xii.</ref> In 1974, historian Howard Peckham and a team of researchers came up with a total of 6,824 killed in action and 8,445 wounded. Because of incomplete records, Peckham estimated that this new total number of killed in action was still about 1,000 too low.<ref>Peckham, Toll of Independence, 131.</ref> Military historian John Shy subsequently estimated the total killed in action at 8,000, and argued that the number of wounded was probably far higher, about 25,000.<ref>John Shy, A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence (revised edition, University of Michigan Press, 1990, Template:ISBN), 249–50.</ref> The "other" deaths are primarily from disease, including prisoners who died on British prison ships.

b. Template:Note label Other actions against pirates: Includes actions fought in the West Indies, the Greek isles, off of Louisiana, China and Vietnam. Other deaths resulted from disease and accidents.

c. Template:Note label Civil War: All Union casualty figures, and Confederate killed in action, from The Oxford Companion to American Military History except where noted (NPS figures).<ref name="Oxford"/> estimate of total Confederate dead from James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1988), 854. Newer estimates place the total death toll at 650,000 to 850,000.<ref name="Gugliotta"/> 148 of the Union dead were U.S. Marines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ca. Template:Note label Civil War April 2, 2012, Doctor David Hacker after extensive research offered new casualty rates higher by 20%; his work has been accepted by the academic community and is represented here.

d. Template:Note label World War I figures include expeditions in North Russia and Siberia. See also World War I casualties

da.Template:Note label World War II Note: as of March 31, 1946, there were an estimated 286,959 dead of whom 246,492 were identified; of 40,467 who were unidentified 18,641 were located {10,986 reposed in military cemeteries and 7,655 in isolated graves} and 21,826 were reported not located. As of April 6, 1946, there were 539 American Military Cemeteries which contained 241,500 dead. Note the American Battle Monuments Commission database for the World War II reports that in 18 ABMC Cemeteries total of 93,238 buried and 78,979 missing and that "The World War II database on this web site contains the names of those buried at our cemeteries, or listed as Missing in Action, buried or lost at sea. It does not contain the names of the 233,174 Americans returned to the United States for burial..." Similarly, the ABMC Records do not cover inter-war deaths such as the Port Chicago disaster in which 320 died. As of June 2018 total of US World War II casualties listed as MIA is 72,823<ref name="dpaa.mil">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

e. Template:Note label Korean War: Note:<ref name="Oxford" /> gives Dead as 33,746 and Wounded as 103, 284 and MIA as 8,177. The American Battle Monuments Commission database for the Korean War reports that "The Department of Defense reports that 54,246 American service men and women lost their lives during the Korean War. This includes all losses worldwide. Since the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., honors all U.S. Military who lost their lives during the War, we have tried to obtain the names of those who died in other areas besides Korea during the period June 27, 1950, to July 27, 1954, one year after the Korean Armistice...". {For a breakdown of Worldwide casualties of 54,246 see The Korean War educator at <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> gives figures as In-theatre/non theater} After their retreat in 1950, dead Marines and soldiers were buried at a temporary gravesite near Hungnam, North Korea. During "Operation Glory" which occurred from July to November 1954 the dead of each side were exchanged; remains of 4,167 US soldiers/Marines were exchanged for 13,528 North Korean/Chinese dead.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After "Operation Glory" 416 Korean War "unknowns" were buried in the Punchbowl Cemetery. According to a DPMO white paper.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 1,394 names were also transmitted during "Operation Glory" from the Chinese and North Koreans, of whom 858 names proved to be correct; of the 4,167 returned remains were found to be 4,219 individuals of whom 2,944 were found to be Americans of whom all but 416 were identified by name. Of 239 Korean War unaccounted for: 186 not associated with Punchbowl unknowns (176 were identified and of the remaining 10 cases 4 were non-Americans of Asiatic descent; one was British; 3 were identified and 2 cases unconfirmed); Of 10 Korean War "Punchbowl Unknowns" 6 were identified. The W.A. Johnson listing of 496 POWsTemplate:Sndincluding 25 civilians<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sndwho died in North Korea can be found here and there<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Listed as MIA: 7,683<ref name="dpaa.mil"/>

ea. Template:Note label Cold War – Korea and Vietnam and Middle East-additional US Casualties:

North Korea {Cold War} 1959: 1968–69; 1976; 1984 killed 41; Wounded 5; 82 captured/released.<ref>List of border incidents involving North Korea</ref>
USS Liberty incident 1967 killed 34; Wounded 173 by Israeli armed forces
Vietnam War prior to 1964-US Casualties were Laos – 2 killed in 1954; and Vietnam 1946–1954 – 2 killed see;<ref>Vietnam War casualties</ref>

f. Template:Note label Iraq War. See also Casualties of the Iraq War. Sources: .<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

g. Template:Note label Afghanistan. Casualties include those that occurred in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.