How gross was the distortion of sex ratios in the aftermath of the ACW, especially in the White South?
Did this have any visible consequences?
Well, figure some 300,000 plus mostly
young Southron men killed outright, out of a White Southern population of 5,000,000 (1860 Census).
That leaves 4,700,000 people. So, that's 300,000 plus widows and young women without prospective husbands. That's...a lot. And that's assuming every wounded man and surviving bachelor male finds a women outside of the 300,000 plus "without" female grouping. It's not as bad as what's going on in China today, not by a VERY long shot. But finding a Good Man, never easy at any time, must have been nightmarish for Southern women after the ACW. It's small wonder that a good number of them wound up with lonely Yankee soldiers.

At least they had $$$ and better prospects postwar. Economic problems in the South made marriage a difficult prospect even for young Southern couples looking to marry.