Alan,

With regards to the weapons counts, I can see detached men still being armed doing whatever it is that they are detached for, and even wounded men retaining their weapons if the wound is not serious. Men arrested I can see their arms being taken away.

With that, there is a discrepancy in the amount of weapons from the inspection reports versus the manpower figures you cite that does not add up and, to me, this can only mean that the inspections count only those weapons with men standing in the ranks ready for battle.

Secondly, the June 10th reports also do not add up even with Livermore's deduction of 15 per cent off the aggregate figures. From June 4 through the end of the month the AOT was on the first and second Kennesaw Lines, with the bulk of the heavy fighting taking place on June 27th. Recall that I cited a commissary officer's report from the Kennesaw Line that is in the park's library that stated that 75,000 rations were served on one day, which I take to mean as the combat strength of the army in line of battle. Now I do not have the actual date of this report so I don't know what time frame we are dealing with but it is within the June time frame of 90,000 men.

The casualty rates of the 28 days of fighting on these two lines do not add up to 15,000 Confederate casualties - or even close to that. The three biggest battles of the campaign barely add up to 15,000 Confederates.

.So what's wrong with the figures?

Greg Biggs