Height / age of CW soldiers

[Mike Ventura]

Found this on another site, attributed to Fox's regimental Losses. The height and age of some 118,000 of 200,000 Indiana Union volunteers was recorded with the results below. Those who have had Statistics 101 will note a "bell curve" created by the raw data for height, averaging about 5' 8". The predominant age is 18, with the numbers descending fairly regularly from there.

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"The age and height of 118,254 Indiana soldiers (out of about 200,000 enlistments) was recorded, with the following interesting result:

No. of men.
Under 5 ft. 1 in.. 501
At 5 ft. 1 in. 263
At 5 ft. 2 in. 971
At 5 ft. 3 in. 2,503
At 5 ft. 4 in. 5,387
At 5 ft. 5 in. 9,171
At 5 ft. 6 in. 14,373
At 5 ft. 7 in. 15,328
At 5 ft. 8 in. 19, 140
At 5 ft. 9 in. 15,472
At 5 ft. 10 in. 15,047
At 5 ft. 11 in. 8,706
At 6 ft. -- in. 6,679
At 6 ft. 1 in. 2,614
At 6 ft. 2 in. 1,357
At 6 ft. 3 in. 406
Over 6 ft. 3 in. 336
Total: 118,254

Age # Men
Under 17 years 270
At 17 years 634
At 18 years 21,935
At 19 years 10,519
At 20 years 9,435
At 21 years 9,705
At 22 years 7,835
At 23 years 6,789
At 24 years 6,013
At 25 years 4,891
At 26 years 4,283
At 27 years 3,758
At 28 years 3,929
At 29 years 2,769
At 30 years 3,001
At 31 to 34 years 8,361
At 35 years and over 14,127
Total recorded, 118,254

From the foregoing it will be seen that an entire division of stalwart Indianians could have been formed, in which every man would have been six feet or more in height.

Over 80,000 Indiana soldiers, however, were enlisted without preserving any record of their age and height. These figures approximate closely the ages and heights of the American volunteers of the same classes. "

[ScottCross]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Thanks for posting this Mike. It helps dispell the myth that soldiers were only in the 5' range. I had three uncles who served in Iowa regiments, all three were over 6' in height, and two were in the color guard of the 33rd Iowa. The third was a Captain in the 2nd Iowa.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Here's the chapter it was taken from, Chapter 12. I'd never noticed that about the Indiana soldiers' heights before:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/chapt12.htm

The next sentence after the part you quoted is interesting, and fits with the usual party line that western soldiers were taller:

"Dr. Gould, however, thinks that the figures show "that the Indiana men are the tallest of all natives of the United States, and these latter the tallest of all civilized countries."

The usual chapter in Fox's Regimental losses talking about height is Chapter 7:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/chapt7.htm

The bell curve of the Indiana figures certainly tops out close to the overall average given in Chapter Seven: 5' 8 1/4" I actually get just a smidge less than that when averaging the Indiana soldiers' heights, just a little under 5' 8 1/8".

So if that Indiana regiment is average for the state, it contradicts the claim later in Fox's, and that I've seen elsewhere, that western soldiers/citizens averaged taller (almost an inch taller according to Fox's) than the average of soldiers overall.

Edited to add:

Since I see this data as dispelling a different myth than the one Scott is referring to, here are some examples of westerners being considered taller:

"Kentucky and Tennessee probably furnishes the largest number of men above the average height of any State or Territory in the Union." (1857)

"So far as we could distinguish the native Westerner from the human intermixture around him, his physical development struck us as an improvement on that of his Eastern brethren. He is usually taller and stouter about the chest, though his climate gives him a more bilious, if not more cadaverous aspect." (1853)

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[Mike Ventura]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Hank --

I chose to edit out the statement by Dr. Gould for my post as I assumed that it was another example of "state" posturing that was common in the era, and, out of context, added nothing to the data. Since the Indiana sample is about 60&% of all Indiana soldiers who served, it would qualify as representative.

I had two g-g-grandfathers who served in Indiana regiments (43rd Inf and 71st Inf / later 6th Cav) One was 5'9" and the other 5'7" according to their war records. The second was 37 years olod on the date of his enlistment and was (supposedly) motivated by the $300 bounty offered. Both survived the war.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

I chose to edit out the statement by Dr. Gould for my post as I assumed that it was another example of "state" posturing that was common in the era, and, out of context, added nothing to the data.

That's true, but it's still useful for understanding the time period, since height isn't something that every state was bragging about. It seems to be reserved for rural and/or western states. Even Fox's in Chapter 7 claims that the tallest soldiers were from Maine and several western states, including Indiana.

So I think it's a useful fact for someone portraying a person in the 1860s to know that he or she should probably believe westerners are taller, whether they are or not. The fact that the data shows they weren't is pretty fascinating, because it makes me wonder how the notion got started--or what exception is causing the Indiana soldier figures to be lower than the overall average population in the west.

Here's another example where the author goes overboard in posturing about how tall Americans are, but mentions only Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, neglecting any of the eastern states.

This author credits it to Scotch-Irish heritage: "The Scotch-Irish, as we have said, were a tall and muscular race, well adapted by their physical qualities to become the pioneers of new settlements, and the founders of a new people. The whole population of the mountain and valley districts of Virginia were distinguished for their noble stature [he gives an 18th century example]... Such were the people who formed one of the advanced columns in the great army of pioneers, that conquered and settled the west."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[Pennvolunteer]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

All,
I'm not sure where they got the data, and I'd have to do a little research, but when you enter the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe, there is a full length cutout in plexiglas of a CW soldier, and it says that the average soldier was 5'6" and 140 lbs. It is related to the explanation of why the ceilings are so low throughout the fort in the casemates. Now obviously Fortress Monroe pre-dates the war, but this particular exhibit is specific to the CW.
I'm going to check and see what is the source of that data for that exhibit. I know it is in relation overall averages, and I know there are characters like Bull Nelson and others who were well over 6 feet and very big men, so sizes varied significantly. However, I have used the Fort Monroe exhibit as a reference for some time on average sizes during living history discussions, so now I'm going to have to go do more research!

[Blair]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Check out the celling height in the case mates at Fort Pulaski in Ga. Or Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortuga's. Both also pre war fortifications.
Does that mean the peoples manning these Forts were Giants?
Brick and stone structures offer support to the Fortification, not to the convenient height of the men.

[Clsinclair]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

For my ancestors where height was listed they averaged 5'10". The average age of my 9 ggg grandfathers that fought was 42 with the youngest being 35 and the oldest being 58. The 58 year old had a son age 22 in the 7th SC Battalion, Co A.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Hallo!

Does anyone recognuze this chart:



It is connected to a document that explains its source that is trapped in my dead hard-drive. IIRC, it was for Missouri soldiers??

As an aside, what can drive heights and weights is ethnicity. Different folks due to countries of origin or the make up and mix of certain ethnicities living on one state may reflect a different range than those from another.

Curt

[Blair]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

All very cool documentation. And I might add not much different than what you will find in Modern stats after 150 years.
But, this does not account for low overheads and passageways in masonry fortifications due to the smaller stature of persons in that time period.
This is a complete docent/interpretive Farbisum.

[Pennvolunteer]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Blair,
As one who works with the Army Museum System under the Center of Military History, I can attest there is no docent interpretation. All exhibits are researched and documented thoroughly by the staff curators. That is a requirement of this very professional organization, full of professional historians and museum folks. Thus, why I said I'm going to research where they got that data. There is an explanation somewhere, but hardly something made-up in an accredited Army museum.

[Blair]

Re: Height / age of CW soldiers

Frank,

Keep up the good work.
Historical sites, Museums and fortifications are full of myths and misconceptions. Whether promoted by docents, or posted misinformation.

,"but when you enter the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe, there is a full length cutout in plexiglas of a CW soldier, and it says that the average soldier was 5'6" and 140 lbs. It is related to the explanation of why the ceilings are so low throughout the fort in the casemates. Now obviously Fortress Monroe pre-dates the war, but this particular exhibit is specific to the CW."
This is a prime example, and has not been checked into or changed for at least 30 years, that I am aware of.