Civil War Missouri: Soldier Ages - rebuttal

Friday, July 22, 2016

Soldier Ages - rebuttal

Before continuing an analysis of the 'soldiers ages', let's acknowledge some issues with them.

1) the 'Adjutant General's Report' is an elusive one. I've not seen an original form. The same text I posted can be found in only 3 or 4 places on the web, but strictly as cut'n'paste. Is it in the official records? Is it the GAR AG or the War Department AG, or someone else?

2) The figures *are* somewhat mind-bending. Most sources use 2.1 million as the number of Union servicemen. The 2.7 million may be double-counting multiple enlistees? Many men would have enlisted for 3 months and then for 3 years.

3) Some numbers are problematic. Only 46,626 servicemen were 25 or over. This number seems way low.

4) many reputable historians use 26 as the average soldiers age. That number is impossible given this data. From where did these writers obtain *their* figure?

No comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Soapbox

"This book is dedicated to my granddaughter, Lydia Kathleen Diebolt, who was born in Kansas but will live to overcome it" - Kathleen White Miles (1971)
"I sit in a chair and read the newspapers. Millions of men go to war, acres of them are buried, guns and ships broken, cities burned, villages sent up in smoke, and children where cows are killed off amid hoarse barbecues vanish like finger-rings of smoke in a north wind. I sit in a chair and read the newspapers." - Carl Sandburg (1878–1967).
I’ve never been a writer and never will be. Even so, writing for 'publication' under *my* name is an interesting experience. Here’s how I do it, so far: 1) find basic information from well-known sources, 2) write a brief narrative, 3) embellish from other sources (magazines, online, etc.) with interesting detail on the politics, forces, results, personalities and weather. 4) Tighten. 5) repeat step 4 until done ;) - HankC

Book Pile

Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by T.J. Stiles (Random House, New York, 2002, pps. 510)
Other Noted Guerillas of the Civil War in Missouri by Larry Wood (Hickory Press, Joplin Mo., 2007, pps. 302)
Bitter Ground - The Civil War in Missouri's Golden Valley - Benton, Henry and St. Clair Counties by Kathleen White Miles (The Printery, Warsaw Mo. - Clinton Mo., 1971, pps. 458) (Mrs. Miles died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007, in Clinton)
In Deadly Earnest - The History of the First Missouri Brigade, CSA by Phil Gottschalk (Columbia, Mo: Missouri River Press, 1991)
Civil War on the Western Border 1854-1865 by Jay Monaghan (Little, Brown and Co., c. 1955, Reprint, pps. 454)
The Battle of Wilson’s Creek by Edwin C. Bearss (Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation, c. 1992, 4th ed., pps. xii, 170)
Memoirs of the Rebellion on the Border, 1863 by Wiley Britton (University of Nebraska Press, c. 1993, pps. 22, 458)
Action before Westport 1864 by Howard N. Monnett (University Press of Colorado, c. 1964, 1995. pps. xxxiv, 190)