Editing Union army (section)

{{Short description|Land force that fought for the Union (the North) during the American Civil War}}
{{for|the current active service branch|United States Army}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox military unit
| image                         = U.S. flag (35 stars).svg
| caption                       = [[Flag of the United States]] from 1863 until 1865 (35 states/stars)
| dates                         = 
| unit_name                     = Union army
| country                       = {{Flag|United States|1865}}
| type                          = Army
| size                          = 2,128,948 (700,000 peak)
| command_structure             = [[United States Department of War|U.S. Department of War]]
| colors                        = {{color box|#00008B}} [[Shades of blue#Dark blue|Dark Blue]]
| march                         = "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]"
| battles                       = {{hidden
|''See battles''
|{{tree list}}
'''[[American Indian Wars]]'''
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'''[[American Civil War]]'''
*[[Battle of Fort Sumter|Fort Sumter]]
*[[First Battle of Bull Run|First Bull Run]]
*[[Battle of Wilson's Creek|Wilson's Creek]]
*[[Battle of Fort Henry|Forts Henry]] and [[Battle of Fort Donelson|Donelson]]
*[[Peninsula Campaign|Shenandoah]]
*[[Battle of South Mills|South Mills]]
*[[Battle of Richmond|Richmond]]
*[[Battle of Harpers Ferry|Harpers Ferry]]
*[[Battle of Munfordville|Munfordville]]
*[[Battle of Shepherdstown|Shepherdstown]]
*[[Chambersburg Raid]]
*[[Mississippi River campaigns in the American Civil War|Mississippi River]]
*[[Peninsula Campaign|Peninsula]]
*[[Battle of Shiloh|Shiloh]]
*[[Jackson's Valley Campaign]]
*[[Second Battle of Bull Run|Second Bull Run]]
*[[Battle of South Mountain|South Mountain]]
*[[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]]
*[[Battle of Hartsville|Hartsville]]
*[[Battle of Fredericksburg|Fredericksburg]]
*[[Battle of Stones River|Stones River]]
*[[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]]
*[[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]
*[[Battle of Champion Hill|Champion Hill]]
*[[Siege of Vicksburg|Vicksburg siege]]
*[[Battle of Corydon|Corydon]]
*[[Battle of Chickamauga|Chickamauga]]
*[[Chattanooga Campaign|Chattanooga]]
*[[Battle of the Wilderness|Wilderness]]
*[[Atlanta Campaign|Atlanta]]
*[[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House|Spotsylvania]]
*[[Second Battle of Sabine Pass|Sabine Pass]]
*[[Battle of New Hope Church|New Hope Church]]
*[[Battle of Pickett's Mill|Pickett's Mill]]
*[[Battle of Cold Harbor|Cold Harbor]]
*[[Battle of Plymouth (1864)|Plymouth]]
*[[Battle of Fort Pillow|Fort Pillow]]
*[[Siege of Petersburg|Petersburg siege]]
*[[Battle of Kennesaw Mountain|Kennesaw Mountain]]
*[[Battle of Jonesborough|Jonesborough]]
*[[Battle of Franklin (1864)|Franklin]]
*[[Battle of Nashville|Nashville]]
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'''[[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]]'''
{{tree list/end}}
|-
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}}
<!-- Commanders -->| commander1                    = [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] (1861–1865)<br>President [[Andrew Johnson]] (1865)
| commander1_label              = [[Powers of the president of the United States#Commander-in-chief|Commander-in-Chief]]
| commander2                    = [[Major general (United States)|MG]] [[Winfield Scott]] (1841–1861)<br>MG [[George B. McClellan]] (1861–1862)<br>MG [[Henry W. Halleck]] (1862–1864)<br>[[General of the Army (United States)|GA]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]] (1864–1869)<ref>After the end of the American Civil War, Grant remained Commanding General of the United States Army until March 4, 1869 when he resigned to be sworn in as eighteenth President of the United States.</ref>
| commander2_label              = [[Commanding General of the United States Army|Commanding General]]
| identification_symbol         = 
| identification_symbol_label   = 
}}
During the [[American Civil War]], the [[United States Army]], the land force that fought to preserve the collective [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] of the [[U.S. state|states]], was often referred to as the '''Union army''', the '''federal army''', or the '''northern army'''.  It proved essential to the restoration and preservation of the [[United States]] as a working, viable republic.

The Union army was made up of the permanent [[Regular Army (United States)|regular army of the United States]], but further fortified, augmented, and strengthened by the many temporary units of dedicated [[United States Volunteers|volunteers]], as well as including those who were drafted in to service as [[Conscription in the United States|conscripts]]. To this end, the Union army fought and ultimately triumphed over the efforts of the [[Confederate States Army]].

Over the course of the war, 2,128,948 men enlisted in the Union army,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts |title = Civil War Facts|website = American Battlefield Trust|date = August 16, 2011}}</ref> including 178,895, or about 8.4% being [[United States Colored Troops|colored troops]]; 25% of the white men who served were immigrants, and a further 18% were second-generation Americans.<ref name="McPherson, pp.36–37">McPherson, pp.36–37.</ref> 596,670 Union soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/civil-war-casualties |title = Civil War Casualties|website = American Battlefield Trust|date = 15 September 2023}}</ref> The initial call-up in 1861 was for just three months, after which many of these men chose to reenlist for an additional three years.