Scourge of War Boards

Hi.

I'm a dope when it comes to the American Civilwar, so I'm hoping I can get you folks to list between 20 to 30 cities which were most notable in the American Civilwar?

We all know Gettysburg is one, but what are the other 29?

Cheers...

Do you actually want cities, or battle locations?

There weren't that many cities of importance during the Civil War. Now it you mean towns then you will get quite a few. And Gettysburg was more of a town then a city, in fact it's still more town the city today even with all the tourists.

Cities I can think of off hand though are:

Washington, Richmond, New Orleans and Charleston. Large town would be Atlanta, Vicksburg, Wilmington, Savanna, Nashville and a few others. Small town are too numerous to list off the top of my head. You have to remember that except for in the north, there were few big cities in the country at the time and with most of the fighting in the South, most of the towns were small fewer then 1500 people in them.

Just did a check on Gettysburg and as of the 1860 census, Gettysburg had 2400 residents and it didn't grow much from then until the battle in 1863. So you see that it was definitely not a city by any stretch of the imagination.

Great post Shirkon. It's true their weren't a lot of cities, but several towns of strategic importance.

To name a few more towns/cities:

Memphis, St. Louis, Norfolk, Mobile, Philadelphia, New York, Louisville, Little Rock.

Realistically, you're going to be naming every "city" that was considered such in the entire US/CS. I can't say as there were more than 10 or so (I want to say 13 for some reason) in the South as a whole, and even still, in the North, there weren't a ton. West Coast might add a few, but they're going to be of relatively less importance. Southwest is arguable (west of Texas).

There weren't that many cities of importance during the Civil War. Now it you mean towns then you will get quite a few. And Gettysburg was more of a town then a city, in fact it's still more town the city today even with all the tourists.

Cities I can think of off hand though are:

Washington, Richmond, New Orleans and Charleston. Large town would be Atlanta, Vicksburg, Wilmington, Savanna, Nashville and a few others. Small town are too numerous to list off the top of my head. You have to remember that except for in the north, there were few big cities in the country at the time and with most of the fighting in the South, most of the towns were small fewer then 1500 people in them.

Just did a check on Gettysburg and as of the 1860 census, Gettysburg had 2400 residents and it didn't grow much from then until the battle in 1863. So you see that it was definitely not a city by any stretch of the imagination.

Hi Shirkon.

Hmmm, good thinking. I would be more interested in towns which were more involved in the war such as Gettysburg etc... Was Richmond a town, or a City by chance?

Thanks Shirkon.

Hi Shirkon.

Hmmm, good thinking. I would be more interested in towns which were more involved in the war such as Gettysburg etc... Was Richmond a town, or a City by chance?

Thanks Shirkon.

Well, in the 1860 census Richmond had a population of 37,910 so it would qualify as a city, as of 2010 it was 204,214. Not a big one by todays standards but by the standards of the day a fairly good sized one. Washington on the other hand had about twice the population at 75,080 so was much larger, while as of 2010 it was 601,723. For comparison look at Atlanta at the same time. It's population was 9,554 while as of 2010 it was 420,003. The largest city in the Confederacy was New Orleans with a population of 168,675 while as of 2010 it was 343,829. Compare that with New York City which had a population of 1,174,779 in 1860 while in 2010 it was 8,175,133. That should give you an idea of how small the towns/cities were as compared to today.

Richmond would qualify as a city, I would think. But Atlanta, for instance, was the 99th largest "city" in the top 15 in the CSA.

1860 Census:
Rank City State Population Notes
1 New York New York 813,669
2 Philadelphia Pennsylvania 565,529 The large jump in population between the seventh and eighth censuses is due to the 1854 Act of Consolidation, which merged the County and City of Philadelphia into a single government entity and abolished all other local governments.
3 Brooklyn New York 266,661 Brooklyn would cease to be a city in its own right in 1898. It is now a borough of New York City.
4 Baltimore Maryland 212,418
5 Boston Massachusetts 177,840
6 New Orleans Louisiana 168,675
7 Cincinnati Ohio 161,044
8 St. Louis Missouri 160,773
9 Chicago Illinois 112,172 First appearance on top 10. In the previous census, it was the 24th largest American city with a population of 29,963. Chicago would be the world's fastest growing city during the entire 19th century.
10 Buffalo New York 81,129 First appearance on top 10. Would disappear from list by next census and not re-appear until 1900.

Here's a more complete list: http://www.amartcivilwar.org/Largest_Cities_1860.htm

Now, your criteria still needs to be clarified: Gettysburg really wasn't "involved" in the war save for 3+ days where the armies happened to meet.
As far as involvement being "Importance", there again you'd be looking at those larger cities because they contributed more men and materiel.
That is also not strategic importance, because then you'd need to include all major southern ports, including those on the Mississippi River and elsewhere. Gettysburg could arguably be on that list due to the large road junction, but it was never important in and of itself (as a strategic or tactical target).