The American Revolution

75,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

50,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

Patriots / Continental Army — 25,000 military dead

British & Hessians — 25,000 military dead

Civilian Dead

25,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 25,000

Deadliest Engagements

Yorktown8,476

Valley Forge (winter deaths)2,500

Bunker Hill1,495

Cowpens973

Trenton924

Saratoga (Freeman's Farm)920

Guilford Court House793

Saratoga (Bemis Heights)750

For Perspective

How Revolution's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Revolution — total dead75,000

War of 181215,000

Mexican-American War13,283

U.S. Civil War620,000

World War I (U.S.)116,516

World War II (U.S.)405,399

Milestones of Loss

4,435 dead

~4,435 Americans killed in direct combat — lower than most estimates

8,000 dead

~8,000 American prisoners died on British prison ships in New York Harbor

25,000 dead

~25,000 total American military dead from all causes including disease

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.