How did the Union and Confederate cost their armed forces? Did they budget well or were there significant over runs?
Would it be possible to work out what the annual cost (training, upkeep, food, medical care, weapons, etc) of a union versus a rebel infantryman was? Cavalry would, I presume, be more costly.
Has anyone done this ?
I found a wikipedia source for the expense of a cavalry regiment during the US civil war.
The claim is that it cost $300,000 to set up an cavalry regiment, and $100,000 per year to maintain it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry_in_the_American_Civil_War
Comparing costs is fraught with difficulties, however that cost in 2010 dollars might be estimated at $6.5 million to set up a Cavalry Regiment, and $2.2m per year to maintain it.
http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/Documents/dollar/index.php?cyear=2010&=Submit+Year
How these costs were calculated is unclear. A cavalry regiment was theoretically 1000 men (10 companies of 100 each - Note: the 12 company regiment, standard in Indian wars on the Great Plains was introduced after the Civil War), but most cavalry regiments were habitually under-strength throughout the war, so if these costs are derived from averages, then the cost of a proper full strength regiment would presumably be somewhat higher.
At the start of the war in 1860, cavalry horses in the North cost $119 a head. Prices went up during the war, and by 1865, horses cost $190 each.
(Same source)
By the end of the war, the Union had formed 272 cavalry regiments (137 in the Confederacy).