The American Civil War, which prevented the permanent seceding of 11 Confederate states from those of the Union, saw some of the deadliest fighting in areas which now make up the eastern and southern United States. Thousands perished from wounds received in combat, or the deadly diseases brought about by harsh and unsanitary living conditions.
Through this time of bitter fighting and deprivation, one group stands out as dramatized in later tales of their reckless charges across the fields of battle. Calvarymen on both the Union and Confederate sides have been held
