Military casualties

Casualty (person)

A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...

 suffered by the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

 or deployments

Overview

War or conflict	Date	Deaths			Wounded	Total dead and wounded	Missing Missing in action Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...	Sources/ notes
		combat Killed in action Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...	other	total
American Revolutionary War American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...	1775–1783	8,000	17,000	25,000	25,000	50,000
Northwest Indian War Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...	1785–1795	1056+		1056+	825+	1881+
Quasi-War Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War.-Background:The Kingdom of France had been a...	1798–1800	20	494	514	42	556
First Barbary War First Barbary War The First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...	1801–1805	35	39	74	64	138
Other actions against pirates	1800–1900	36	158+	194+	100+	294+
Chesapeake–Leopard Affair Chesapeake–Leopard Affair The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair was a naval engagement which occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia on June 22, 1807, between the British warship HMS Leopard and the American frigate, the USS Chesapeake, when the crew of the Leopard pursued, attacked and boarded the American frigate looking for...	1807	3	0	3	18	21
War of 1812 War of 1812 The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...	1812–1815	2,260	~17,000	~20,000	4,505	~25,000
Marquesas Expedition	1813–1814	4		4	3	7
Second Barbary War Second Barbary War The Second Barbary War , also known as the Algerine or Algerian War, was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria known collectively as the Barbary states. The war between the Barbary States and the U.S...	1815	4	134	138	10	148
First Seminole War	1817–1818	47		47	36	83
First Sumatran Expedition	1832	2		2	11	13
Black Hawk War Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....	1832	47	258	305	85	390
Second Seminole War Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...	1835–1842	328	1207	1535
Mexican–American War Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...	1846–1848	1,733	11,550	13,283	4,152	17,435
Third Seminole War	1855–1858	26		26	27	53
Civil War American Civil War The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25... : total	1861–1865	212,938		~625,000
Union Union (American Civil War) During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...		140,414	224,097	364,511	281,881	646,392
Confederate Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...		72,524		~260,000
Dakota War of 1862 Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota... (Little Crow's War)	1862	70–113		70–113	150	220–263
Shimonoseki Straits	1863	4–5	0	4–5	6	10
Snake Indian War Snake War The Snake War was a war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians", the settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and western Shoshone bands who lived along the Snake River. Fighting took place in the states of Oregon, Nevada, and California, and in Idaho Territory...	1864–1868	30		30	128	158
Indian Wars Indian Wars American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...	1865–1898	919			1,025
Red Cloud's War Red Cloud's War Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...	1866–1868	126		126	100	226
Korea (Shinmiyangyo)	1871	3		3	9	12
Modoc War Modoc War The Modoc War, or Modoc Campaign , was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army in southern Oregon and northern California from 1872–1873. The Modoc War was the last of the Indian Wars to occur in California or Oregon...	1872–1873	56		56	88	144
Great Sioux War	1875–1877	314		314	211	525
Nez Perce War Nez Perce War The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between the Nez Perce and the United States government fought in 1877 as part of the American Indian Wars. After a series of battles in which both the U.S. Army and native people sustained significant casualties, the Nez Perce surrendered and were relocated...	1877	134		134	157	291
Bannock War Bannock War The Bannock War was a series of conflicts in 1878 between various Bannock, Northern Shoshone and Paiute tribes against the United States.- Background :...	1878	12	0	12	22	34
Ute War Ute War The Ute Wars may refer to a number of conflicts between the Ute people and the United States which began in 1849 and ended in 1923.-Wars:*Jicarilla War 1849-1855*Provo War 1850*Walker War 1853-1854*Tintic War 1856*Black Hawk War 1865-1872...	1879	15	0	15	52	67
Ghost Dance War Ghost Dance War The Ghost Dance War was an armed conflict in the United States which occurred between Native Americans and the United States government from 1890 until 1891. It involved the Wounded Knee Massacre wherein the 7th U.S. Cavalry massacred 153 Lakota Sioux, including women, children, and other...	1890–1891	35		35	64	99
Sugar Point Battle of Sugar Point The Battle of Sugar Point, or the Battle of Leech Lake, was fought on October 5, 1898 between the 3rd U.S. Infantry and members of the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians in a failed attempt to apprehend Pillager Ojibwe Bugonaygeshig , as the result of a dispute with Indian Service officials on the... Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians are a historical band of Chippewa , originally living at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Their name "Pillagers" is a translation of Makandwewininiwag, which literally means "Pillaging Men"...	1898	7	0	7	16	23	0
Spanish–American War	1898	385	2,061	2,446	1,622	4,068
Philippine–American War	1898–1913	1,020	3,176	4,196	2,930	7,126
Boxer Rebellion Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...	1900–1901	68	63	131	204	335	0
Mexican Revolution Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...	1914–1919	35+			70
Occupation of Haiti	1915–1934	10	138	148	26+	184+
World War I World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...	1917–1918	53,402	63,114	116,516	204,002	320,518	3,350
North Russia Campaign North Russia Campaign The North Russia Intervention, also known as the Northern Russian Expedition, was part of the Allied Intervention in Russia after the October Revolution. The intervention brought about the involvement of foreign troops in the Russian Civil War on the side of the White movement...	1918–1920			424
American Expeditionary Force Siberia American Expeditionary Force Siberia The American Expeditionary Force Siberia was a United States Army force that was involved in the Russian Civil War in Vladivostok, Russian Empire, during the tail end of World War I after the October Revolution, from 1918 to 1920....	1918–1920	160	168	328	52+	380+
China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1918; 1921; 1926–1927; 1930; 1937	5			78	83
US occupation of Nicaragua	1927–1933	48			68	116
World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...	1941–1945	291,557	113,842	405,399	670,846	1,076,245	30,314	See Note DA below
China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1945–1947	13			43	56
Berlin Blockade Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...	1948–1949		31
Korean War Korean War The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...	1950–1953	33,686	2,830	36,516	92,134	128,650	4,759	Note: 4,759 MIA-See Note E below
U.S.S.R. Cold War Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...	1947–1991	32			12	44
China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...  Cold War Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...	1950–1972	16				16
Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...	1955–1975	47,424	10,785	58,209	153,303	211,454	2,489
1958 Lebanon crisis	1958	1	5	6	1+	7+
Bay of Pigs Invasion Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...	1961	4		4		4
Dominican Republic	1965–1966	13			200	213
Iran	1980	0	8	8	4	12	0
El Salvador Civil War El Salvador Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War was a conflict in El Salvador between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing militias. Significant tensions and violence had already existed, before the civil...	1980–1992	22	15	37	35
Beirut deployment Multinational Force in Lebanon The Multinational Force in Lebanon was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982 and sent to Lebanon to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization...	1982–1984	256		266	169
Persian Gulf escorts Operation Earnest Will Operation Earnest Will was the U.S. military protection of Kuwaiti owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.The U.S. Navy warships that escorted the tankers, part of...	1987–1988	39	0	39	31
Invasion of Grenada Invasion of Grenada The Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located north of Venezuela. Triggered by a military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion...	1983	18	1	19	119
1986 Bombing of Libya	1986	2	0	2	0	2
Invasion of Panama	1989	23		40	324
Gulf War Gulf War The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...	1990–1991	113	148	258	849	1,231	0
Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations by the United States and some of its Gulf War allies, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War and deliver humanitarian aid to them.-Operation...	1991-1996	1	18	19	4	23
Somalia	1992–1993	29	14	43	153
Haiti Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...	1994–1995	1		4	3
Colombia Colombian Armed Conflict The Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in Colombia that has existed since approximately 1964 or 1966, between the Colombian government and peasant guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed...	1994–present	0	8	8
Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnian War The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...	1995–2004	1		12	6
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...	1999	1	19	20	2+	22+	0
War on Terror War on Terror The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries... : total	2001–present	4,977	1,303	6,280	41,221	47,017	3
Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–present) The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...	2001–present	1,435	368	1,803	9,971	12,035	1
Iraq War	2003–2011	3,542	935	4,477	31,965	36,395	2
Grand Total	1775–present	848,163	437,421	1,343,812	1,529,230	2,489,335	38,159

Wars ranked by total American deaths

Rank	War	Years	Deaths	Deaths per Day	US Population in First Year of War	Deaths per Population
1	American Civil War American Civil War The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...	1861–1865	625,000	599	31,443,000	1.988% (1860)
2	World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...	1941–1945	405,399	416	133,402,000	0.307% (1940)
3	World War I World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...	1917–1918	116,516	279	103,268,000	0.110% (1920)
4	Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...	1955–1975	58,151	26		0.03% (1970)
5	Korean War Korean War The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...	1950–1953	36,516	45	151,325,000	0.02% (1950)
6	American Revolutionary War American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...	1775–1783	25,000	11	2,500,000	0.899% (1780)
7	War of 1812 War of 1812 The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...	1812–1815	20,000	31	8,000,000	0.345% (1810)
8	Mexican–American War Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...	1846–1848	13,283	29	21,406,000	0.057% (1850)
9	War on Terror War on Terror The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...	2001–present	6,280	1.72	294,043,000	0.002% (2010)
10	Philippine–American War	1899–1913	4,196	1	72,129,000	0.006% (1900)

"Deaths per day" are the total number of US military deaths, divided by the number of days between the dates of the commencement and end of hostilities, or until 25 February 2010 in the case of the Iraq War. "Deaths per population" are the total number of US military deaths, divided by the US population of the year indicated.

Wars ranked by combat deaths

Rank	War	Years	Deaths
1	World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...	1937–1945	291,557
2	American Civil War American Civil War The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...	1861–1865	212,938
3	World War I World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...	1917–1918	53,402
4	Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...	1955–1975	47,355
5	Korean War Korean War The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...	1950–1953	33,746
6	American Revolutionary War American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...	1775–1783	8,000
7	War on Terror War on Terror The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...	2001–present	4,977
8	War of 1812 War of 1812 The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...	1812–1815	2,260
9	Mexican–American War Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...	1846–1848	1,733
10	Northwest Indian War Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...	1785–1795	1,221+

External links

• Louisiana State University's statistical summary of major American wars
• Washington Post database of all U.S. service-member casualties
• CNN list of U.S. Casualties in Iraq since 2003.
• Complete list of U.S. Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.
• Fact Sheet on American Wars from the VA
  United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
  
  
• DoD historical death tolls
• Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls
• Iraq Casualties
• Navy and Marine death tolls
• Iraq and Afghanistan Casualty Count
• The McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Franklin, TN