1860 Census

[MikeV]

I had a little fun with spreadsheets today. After downloading a PDF of the actual 1860 US Census report, I made a little summary (also attached as a .xls file):
[ATTACH]25602[/ATTACH]

The fun part is the right-most column.

It captures the idea of how many "units" each state could nominally contribute, as a multiple of the "smallest" state.
So, for example: FL has the least population in the Confederacy. Figure it can contribute 1 unit. VA, with a much larger population, could contribute up to 10 over the same time period.

Note, by the way, that the North ended up with three times (336%) the (white) population of the South.
Which is why Shelby Foote noted that the Union fought the war with one hand behind their back (meanwhile expanding Westward, etc).

[PhilThib]

I don't think there is always a proportional correlation between population and number of units raised...some smaller populated areas are known to have raised many more troops than more populous areas, so the ratio can not be made systematic...that would be too simple if that was the case... anyway, the findings are quite interesting indeed

[caranorn]

Yep, I went a step farther in that analysis comparing the 1860 census to known (sometimes difficult to find) numbers of enlistments. You also have to consider that some areas had a low ratio of men to women (New Mexico for instance), or large proportions of colored or indian population etc. Then you should also look at only men of military age (all that data is in the census). Not to forget population growth (expectations can also be found in the census)..

Just grabbing a few examples from my files:

Maine had a total population of 628,279 people, of which 122,238 were military age males (18-45), of which 1,327 were coloured. According to Dyer's Compendium 70,107 (p104 colored) served in the US armed forces (navy included) giving 57,27% of military age people serving (though actual percentage was probably a bit lower as I seem to recall Dyer's used enlistment, not individual people enlisting, so f.i. someone enlisting for the first call for volunteers and reenlisting in July 1861 would count twice).

North Carolina on the other hand had a total population of 992,622, military age male 115,369, colored 361,522 (note, for colored I did not look into military age back then), according to the american civil war research database (not sure how reliable) 135,674 elistents in CS armed forces, giving 117,6% of military age population (explainable through a) multiple enlistments and b) militia service using an extended age group, that is slightly younger and older men being permitted to serve).

Most Union states come out at around 50%, though a few also exceed 100% (District of Columbia f.i. probably had a lot of out of 'state' enlistment falsifying the statistic), most Confederate States well over 100%. But variation is important and therefore no single number can be set which is why in the end I never pled to change the system recruitment works...

[caranorn]

And note, number of units is yet another issue, I was only looking at enlistments. How mny and what type of unit were raised is easy to find too, you just have to look at regimental histories (Confederate are hard to find now, I had to fall back to archived files as the quality internet sites that once existed for that topic are mostly gone now, and Confederate Forces tend to be rather confusing anyhow). Though I only ever completed the US list of regiments and batteries, for the confederates it was a work in progress when I had my two consequent computer crashes including data loss and most importantly loss of all my browser bookmarks...

[Ol' Choctaw]

The 1860 Census is important is some of the details but it was not all that accurate.

The more rural the areas covered and the more scattered the population, the less reliable it was.

Many areas, particularly in the south, were not even surveyed or estimated.

There were also areas that more than doubled in the year that passed before the war began.

States in the west, like Texas and Arkansas seem to have fielded enough units to have accounted for the entire male populations of military age and a few more, just on the Confederate side.

One reason not to doubt those figures, at least in Arkansas were the recruiting methods used by both sides there. It was join or be shot on the spot.