A New Dataset to Understand Civil War Military Service

Doug Atkinson, Brigham Young University
Sven E. Wilson, Brigham Young University

Scholars have long debated the determinants of military service during the United States Civil War. While existing datasets provide detailed information on the names and companies of individuals who served, far less is known about those who faced the pressures of enlistment but were ultimately rejected by the military. In this paper, we introduce a new dataset capturing the outcomes of Civil War–era medical examinations. The data include information on 78,000 enlistees and record occupation, enlistment type, place of residence, race, height, weight, and marital status at the time of examination. Covering the years 1864–1865, these records offer a rare glimpse into the selection process at the point of potential entry into military service. By combining these medical examination records with linked data from the 1860 census, we are able to examine how socio-political and economic factors influenced military service decisions at the individual, familial, and community levels. This approach allows us to move beyond simply identifying who served to understanding the broader social dynamics that shaped enlistment and rejection during the Civil War.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 144. Beyond the Census II