I have been curious as to the distribution of troops provided to the armies of both sides by state of origin during the Civil War. Since most troops served in state organized units and with most states giving some sort of post war pension or award, it would seem that this information would be readily available in a centralized way. This assumption did not prove to be correct, at least as far as my limited research skills led me.
At the new(ish) Gettysburg Visitors Center there is a display, located near the entrance to the museum, that provides, by state, the numbers of men who served in both armies. recently I went to the VC and copied the numbers provided. I had some questions about the sources for those numbers and what was or was not included in the listings.
I was not sure how Regular troops were counted nor was I certain about naval personnel and marines were included, if at all.
Also I wanted confirmation that the state totals were not of individuals but strengths of regiments raised by states. For, example, Someone from MD enlisting in a VA regiment would show up in the VA totals and a VA man enlisting in a MD Union Regiment would show up in the MD totals. This was confirmed verbally during my visit.
I also wanted the sources for the figures so I asked a noted NPS historian who worked with the Gettysburg Foundation in setting up displays. Here is his reply to my questions:
“We used several sources to compile these figures. For the Union army the standard source was the summary of troops furnished found in Frederick H.Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, (Reprint, Morningside Bookshop, 1979), page 11. However, we discovered some additional enlistments for Alabama and Arkansas that increased the number of Union enlistments for these states, but unfortunately I cannot determine which source this was taken from. Dyer's figures do include USCT, Sailors and Marines. [my emphasis] It is not clear whether Dyer included white Regular Army soldiers in his state tabulations, or left them out. He includes all USCT that were enlisted in Southern states as part of the Regular Army, but these are the only soldiers that he counts as Regulars. So it is possible that our statistics do not include men serving in Regular Army regiments and batteries. [my emphasis]
For the Confederate figures the primary source was Broadfoot Publishing,
Roster of Confederate Soldiers, which was compiled from the consolidated
index of Confederate soldiers in the National Archives. Broadfoot does not list the number of enlistments from each state in this multi volume work. This information was provided to us by Robert K. Krick, an authority on the Army of Northern Virginia, and who worked closely with Broadfoot as an advisor on the compilation of the Confederate roster. Krick recommended to us that we should reduce Broadfoot's numbers by 25% to account for soldiers who served in multiple units. Also, these numbers do not include Confederate servicemen who did not serve from a particular state, which would include the Navy and Marine Corps.[emphasis mine] So, the Confederate enlistment figures are best estimates and do not include naval and Marine Corps personnel, and they are probably a bit on the low side.
Hope this helps.” Indeed it has and sincere thanks for the reply.
Also, I know CSN commerce raiders recruited much of their crews outside the US and CSA.
The numbers, copied from the display are as follows:
State Name Numbers serving in Union organizations Confederate Units
ALA 7,545 ...................................................................106,803
ARK 13,815 ...................................................................58,000
FL 2,334 ..........................................................................17,535 ,
GA 195 ............................................................................135,774
LA 29,276 ........................................................................69,840
MISS 18,414 ........................................................................95,301
NC 8,191 .............................................................................103,145
SC -- .......................................................................................76,683
TN 51,225 ..........................................................................141,728
TX 2,012 ..............................................................................86,702
VA ---* ...............................................................................160,857
TOT CSA 133,007 ................................................................1,052,212
KY 75,760 ..................................................................................28,038
MD 46,638 ....................................................................................3,324
MO 109,111 ...................................................................................39,750
TOT BDR 231,509 .......................................................................... 71,112
CA 15,725 ---
CO Terr 4,998 ---
CT 55,864 ---
DAKOTA 206 ---
DE 12,284 ---
DC 16,523 ---
IL 259,093 ---
IN 196,363 ---
IOWA 76,242 ---
KS 29,149 ---
ME 70,107 ---
MA 146,730 ---
MI 87,364 ---
MN 24,020 ---
NEB 3,157 ---
NV 1,080 ---
N MEX 6,561 ---
NH 33,937 ---
NJ 76,814 ---
NY 448,850 ---
OH 313,180 ---
ORE 1,810 ---
PA 337,936 ---
RI 22,236 ---
UTAH 96 ---
VT 33,288 ---
WA Terr 964 ---
WV 32,068 ---*
WI 91,327 ---
TOT NORTH 2,397,972 ---
GRND TOT 2,762,488 ..............................................................................1,123,324
Notes: The totals for VA & WV were judgment calls.
Confederate navy had about 130 ships of all sizes with many volunteers from infantry regiments used, so an estimate around 9,000 seems reasonable to me with a number recruited outside US & CSA. The CSMC had an authorized strength of 992, which was never reached, so 1,200 men serving is another guess on my part. This means an additional 10 -11,000 men serving. As noted, USN & USMC are included in totals.
I wish to apologize for any errors I may have made in adding up the totals
At the new(ish) Gettysburg Visitors Center there is a display, located near the entrance to the museum, that provides, by state, the numbers of men who served in both armies. recently I went to the VC and copied the numbers provided. I had some questions about the sources for those numbers and what was or was not included in the listings.
I was not sure how Regular troops were counted nor was I certain about naval personnel and marines were included, if at all.
Also I wanted confirmation that the state totals were not of individuals but strengths of regiments raised by states. For, example, Someone from MD enlisting in a VA regiment would show up in the VA totals and a VA man enlisting in a MD Union Regiment would show up in the MD totals. This was confirmed verbally during my visit.
I also wanted the sources for the figures so I asked a noted NPS historian who worked with the Gettysburg Foundation in setting up displays. Here is his reply to my questions:
“We used several sources to compile these figures. For the Union army the standard source was the summary of troops furnished found in Frederick H.Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, (Reprint, Morningside Bookshop, 1979), page 11. However, we discovered some additional enlistments for Alabama and Arkansas that increased the number of Union enlistments for these states, but unfortunately I cannot determine which source this was taken from. Dyer's figures do include USCT, Sailors and Marines. [my emphasis] It is not clear whether Dyer included white Regular Army soldiers in his state tabulations, or left them out. He includes all USCT that were enlisted in Southern states as part of the Regular Army, but these are the only soldiers that he counts as Regulars. So it is possible that our statistics do not include men serving in Regular Army regiments and batteries. [my emphasis]
For the Confederate figures the primary source was Broadfoot Publishing,
Roster of Confederate Soldiers, which was compiled from the consolidated
index of Confederate soldiers in the National Archives. Broadfoot does not list the number of enlistments from each state in this multi volume work. This information was provided to us by Robert K. Krick, an authority on the Army of Northern Virginia, and who worked closely with Broadfoot as an advisor on the compilation of the Confederate roster. Krick recommended to us that we should reduce Broadfoot's numbers by 25% to account for soldiers who served in multiple units. Also, these numbers do not include Confederate servicemen who did not serve from a particular state, which would include the Navy and Marine Corps.[emphasis mine] So, the Confederate enlistment figures are best estimates and do not include naval and Marine Corps personnel, and they are probably a bit on the low side.
Hope this helps.” Indeed it has and sincere thanks for the reply.
Also, I know CSN commerce raiders recruited much of their crews outside the US and CSA.
The numbers, copied from the display are as follows:
State Name Numbers serving in Union organizations Confederate Units
ALA 7,545 ...................................................................106,803
ARK 13,815 ...................................................................58,000
FL 2,334 ..........................................................................17,535 ,
GA 195 ............................................................................135,774
LA 29,276 ........................................................................69,840
MISS 18,414 ........................................................................95,301
NC 8,191 .............................................................................103,145
SC -- .......................................................................................76,683
TN 51,225 ..........................................................................141,728
TX 2,012 ..............................................................................86,702
VA ---* ...............................................................................160,857
TOT CSA 133,007 ................................................................1,052,212
KY 75,760 ..................................................................................28,038
MD 46,638 ....................................................................................3,324
MO 109,111 ...................................................................................39,750
TOT BDR 231,509 .......................................................................... 71,112
CA 15,725 ---
CO Terr 4,998 ---
CT 55,864 ---
DAKOTA 206 ---
DE 12,284 ---
DC 16,523 ---
IL 259,093 ---
IN 196,363 ---
IOWA 76,242 ---
KS 29,149 ---
ME 70,107 ---
MA 146,730 ---
MI 87,364 ---
MN 24,020 ---
NEB 3,157 ---
NV 1,080 ---
N MEX 6,561 ---
NH 33,937 ---
NJ 76,814 ---
NY 448,850 ---
OH 313,180 ---
ORE 1,810 ---
PA 337,936 ---
RI 22,236 ---
UTAH 96 ---
VT 33,288 ---
WA Terr 964 ---
WV 32,068 ---*
WI 91,327 ---
TOT NORTH 2,397,972 ---
GRND TOT 2,762,488 ..............................................................................1,123,324
Notes: The totals for VA & WV were judgment calls.
Confederate navy had about 130 ships of all sizes with many volunteers from infantry regiments used, so an estimate around 9,000 seems reasonable to me with a number recruited outside US & CSA. The CSMC had an authorized strength of 992, which was never reached, so 1,200 men serving is another guess on my part. This means an additional 10 -11,000 men serving. As noted, USN & USMC are included in totals.
I wish to apologize for any errors I may have made in adding up the totals