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Maps of Allatoona Pass The Battle Then and Now |
Order of Battle
Trying to piece together the strength of units that fought in a Civil War battle is a puzzle. A puzzle with pieces that are missing, don’t match, and there are even multiple pieces that are supposed to fit in the same place. Great battles such as Gettysburg, where the numbers are supposedly set in stone, are still open to interpretation. Even for a small battle such as Allatoona Pass, it’s not as easy as just opening a book and finding the exact numbers. In order to compare “apples to apples” for the two opposing forces you have to do some digging, and use a few mathematical equations and guesswork. Don’t let the last phrase scare you though. Even the most revered studies such as Livermore’s Numbers and Losses in the Civil War, that we take for granted with citing battle strengths, are a product of guesswork and mathematics when you actually look at the process behind it, not hard numbers gleaned from the Official Records. A short description of each column is included in the respective Union and Confederate pages. The two armies had different methods of counting soldiers, but the closest that match are the Present For Duty numbers, or PFD. The equations I have used to get these numbers are in Steven Newton’s Lost for the Cause Also, you can click on the name of the individual regiment for more information such as the unit commander, battle flags, sometimes more detailed soldier and casualty lists, as well as the sources for the information provided. Union Order of Battle Confederate Order of Battle |
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They work better for brigade level units and higher, but are still a good measure for regiments when nothing else is available.