Spawned when the American colonies rejected British Parliament as a suitable government and formed the Continental Army, this revolution was the apex of the colonial up-rise. Originally a conflict between Great Britain and thirteen former British colonies in North America, the war escalated into a global affair and eventually resulted in the independence of the United States of America.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 6,188
DEATH: approx 8,000 in battle plus 17,000 due to disease fallout.

(1812 – 1815) War of 1812

While Britain was already at war with France, they attempted the enforcement of a number of trade restrictions between the US and France, as well as, enacted forceful recruitment of US citizens into the Royal Navy. In addition to these annoyances, the Brits also offered military assistance to the Native Americans to impede colonial expansion into the West. As a response by the United States to stand up against what they believed to be “British insults,” the War of 1812 was fought between the US and the British Empire primarily on the Atlantic Ocean and the coasts of North America.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 4,505
DEATH: 2,260 plus 17,000 due to disease fallout.

(1817 – 1898) Indian Wars

The Indian Wars is a term used to refer to a series of conflicts between numerous Native American tribes and the United States federal government in North America. Though early American settlers boasted peaceful relationships with the Natives, they eventually had to side with their government as it forcefully expanded into the West and encroached on Native territories. The series of land wars fought over the century resulted in roughly 1,000 American deaths – not to mention the Natives.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: N/A
DEATH: N/A

(1846 – 1848) Mexican-American War

Even though the state of Texas was officially annexed from Mexico in the Texas Revolution of 1836, the Mexican government remained unconvinced of the true boundary line. When President Polk’s agenda to expand the Pacific boundaries even further arose, a second conflict between the United States and Mexico resulted in a war that the Mexicans refer to as The First American Intervention in Mexico.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 4,152
DEATH: 1,733 in battle plus 11,550 due to disease fallout.

(1861 – 1865) U.S. Civil War

Also known as the War Between the States, this internal US conflict arose when the South declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate Army. A bitter conflict between eleven southern states (The Confederacy) and the remaining free states from the north (The Union, in cahoots with five border slave states), this war is known as the deadliest American war to date, having resulted in the death of 620,000 Americans.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED:
North = approx 280,000
South= 137,000+
DEATH:
North= 360,000
South = 260,000

(1898) Spanish-American War

Sparked by the rising turmoil in the Spanish colonies at the time, this conflict between the United States and the Spanish Empire took place in the name of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippians. Considered a war for Cuban independence, the United States was the victor as Spain released Cuba and conceded Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippians as US territories.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: approx 1,600
DEATH: 345 in battle plus 2,565 due to disease fallout.

(1914 – 1918) World War I

Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, this was a global conflict between the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary) and the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) over preexisting disagreements in imperialistic foreign policy. Alliances were soon called to action and though the war as already under way, the United States joined forces with the Triple Entente in 1917.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 204,002
DEATH: 53,402 in battle plus 63,114 due to disease fallout.

(1939 – 1945) World War II

Accounting for more than 70 million human lives worldwide, the Second World War is widely known as the deadliest conflict in human history. Initiated on September 1st, 1939 by the Nazi invasion of Poland, this conflict between the Axis of Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) and the Major Allied Powers (United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia) reverberated world wide and caused an international blur between military and civilian resources.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 671,846
DEATH: 291,557 in battle plus 113,842 due to disease fallout.

(1950 – 1953) Korean War

When communist Russia took occupancy of the Northern peninsula in the mid 1940s and the US held strong to the South, Korea remained politically divided in its wake. As a result, the big players in the Cold War held a proxy war between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North) in an attempt to work out the bigger issues on a smaller scale. After years of trench wars, The United States in cahoots with the UN and South Korea managed to gain little ground on communism and in a stalemate, the lines between the Koreans remained.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 103,284
DEATH: 33,686 in battle plus 20,560 due to disease fallout.

(1959 – 1975) Vietnam War

Reminiscent of the Korean War, this war took place between the United States in alliance with the government of South Vietnam against a communist North Vietnam and its allies. Though the North Vietnamese government fought a more traditional war, the greatest opposition was found in the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong – a sparsely armed communist militia from South Vietnam. Fought in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, this war escalated greatly in 1961 and the US’s involvement exceeded its expectations.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 303,635
DEATH: 58,159 in battle plus 1,724 that went missing.

(1990 – 1991) Persian Gulf War

When Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in August of 1990, the United States received authorization from a coalition force of 34 other nations to intervene and forcefully remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Commonly referred to as Desert Storm, the US was joined by other nations such as Saudi Arabia, The United Kingdom and Egypt to lead the charge against Iraq and therefore complete Kuwait’s annexation from Saddam Hussein and his regime.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: 776
DEATH: Of the 379 killed, 148 were American.

(2001) Invasion of Afghanistan

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the United States in alliance with Coalition Forces launched Operation Enduring Freedom against the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and its Taliban supporters for their use of Afghan resources for terrorist activities. Though it appeared to be a quick and clean victory, a late wave of counterinsurgencies has caused this conflict to be ongoing.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

DEATH: appox 1,509 as of 2003 … this is ongoing.

(2003) Invasion of Iraq

Led by the United States and supported by the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain, the initial mission was to enter Iraq to disarm their Weapons of Mass Destruction and remove Saddam Hussein from power in an effort to free the Iraqi people. Though claims state that no weapons were found (excluding the remnants from pre-1991 production), forces remained in Iraq in attempt to gain order and establish an Iraqi government.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

WOUNDED: approx 31,100 as of April, 2009 … this is ongoing.
DEATH: approx 4,345 as of September, 2009 … this is ongoing.

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