Union Army Recruits in White Regiments in the United States, 1861-1865

Principal Investigator(s): Fogel, Robert W.; Engerman, Stanley L.; Pope, Clayne; Wimmer, Larry

Summary: This data collection was designed to analyze the relationships among height, morbidity, and mortality among individuals recruited into the Union Army. Information about each recruit includes date, place, and term of enlistment, place of birth, military ID number, random number assigned to each company, occupation before enlistment, age at enlistment, and height. Population figures for 1850 to 1860 by race, sex, and county of birth also are included by county and town of both recruit'... (more info)

Series: Civil War Veterans Series

This data is freely available.

Dataset

Documentation:

Codebook.pdf

Download:

ASCII All Dataset Files (71,440 KB)
ASCII + SAS Setup SPSS Setup

Fogel, Robert W., Stanley L. Engerman, Clayne Pope, and Larry Wimmer. UNION ARMY RECRUITS IN WHITE REGIMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1861-1865. ICPSR09425-2. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, Center for Population Economics [producer], 1990. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2001. doi:10.3886/ICPSR09425.v2

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09425.v2

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This survey was funded by:

(1) University of Chicago. Graduate School of Business. Center for Population Economics, (2) Walgreen Foundation, and (3) Exxon Foundation.

Summary: This data collection was designed to analyze the relationships among height, morbidity, and mortality among individuals recruited into the Union Army. Information about each recruit includes date, place, and term of enlistment, place of birth, military ID number, random number assigned to each company, occupation before enlistment, age at enlistment, and height. Population figures for 1850 to 1860 by race, sex, and county of birth also are included by county and town of both recruit's birth and enlistment places. In addition, the latitude and longitude of the population centroids of each civil division were also computed.

Subject Terms: aging, American Civil War, body height, causes of death, census data, demographic characteristics, disease, enlistment (military), health status, military recruitment, military service, mortality rates, nineteenth century, occupations, physical characteristics, physical condition, Union Army, veterans

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period:

1861--1865

Date of Collection:

1981

Universe: All recruits mustered into the Union Army.

Data Types: administrative records data, and aggregate data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) These data can be merged using the variable RECIDNUM with the AGING OF VETERANS OF THE UNION ARMY: MILITARY, PENSION, AND MEDICAL RECORDS, 1820-1940 (ICPSR 6837), AGING OF VETERANS OF THE UNION ARMY: UNITED STATES FEDERAL CENSUS RECORDS, 1850, 1860, 1900, 1910 (ICPSR 6836) and CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 1973-1998 (ICPSR 2977). (2) The codebook is provided by the principal investigators as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

Sample: One-stage cluster sampling of white companies in the Union Army. Clusters were companies, with each company having an equal probability of being included.

Data Source:

Regimental Description Books of the Union Army, and POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1860, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1864.

Original ICPSR Release: 1991-03-05

Version History:

2001-06-27 Replacement data have been provided by the principal investigators in logical record length format, and SAS and SPSS data definitions statements were created. Also, the codebook is now available as a PDF file.

View citations for the entire series

1998

A�Hearn, Brian, Komlos, John, Baten, Jorg . The antebellum puzzle revisited: A new look at the physical stature of Union Army recruits during the Civil War. The Biological Standard of Living in Comparative Perspectives: Proceedings of a Conference Held in Munich January 18-23, 1997. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

2010

Costa, Dora L., Kahn, Matthew E. Health, wartime stress, and unit cohesion: Evidence from Union Army veterans. Demography. 47, (1), 45-66.

1997

Costa, Dora L., Steckel, Richard H., Steckel, Richard H., Floud, Roderick . Long-term trends in health, welfare, and economic growth in the United States. Health and Welfare During Industrialization. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

1998

Craig, Lee, Weisss, Thomas, Komlos, John, Baten, Jorg . Nutritional status and agricultural surpluses in the antebellum United States. The Biological Standard of Living in Comparative Perspectives: Proceedings of a Conference Held in Munich January 18-23, 1997. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

2005

Cuff, Timothy . The Hidden Cost of Economic Development: The Biological Standard of Living in Antebellum Pennsylvania. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishers.

1986

Fogel, Robert W., Engerman, Stanley L., Gallman, Robert E. Nutrition and the decline in mortality since 1700: Some preliminary findings. Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1989

Fogel, Robert W. Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery. New York: Norton.

1983

Margo, Robert A., Steckel, Richard . The heights of native-born whites during the antebellum period. Journal of Economic History. 43, (1), 167-174.

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