UNION ARMY RECRUITS IN BLACK REGIMENTS
IN THE UNITED STATES, 1862-1865
(ICPSR 9426)
Jacob Metzer and Robert A. Margo
UNION ARMY RECRUITS IN BLACK REGIMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES,
1862-1865 (ICPSR 9426)
SUMMARY: This data collection was designed to examine the
characteristics of free Blacks and ex-slaves mustered into the Union
Army between 1862 and the end of the Civil War. In addition to
variables on personal characteristics, such as skin, eye, and hair
color, height, age, birthplace, and occupation before enlistment, the
data also contain Army-related variables, such as regiment and company
number, rank, enlistment date and place, changes in rank, and date and
cause of end of service. CLASS IV
UNIVERSE: All Black regiments in the Union Army.
SAMPLING: Judgmental sample of eight Black infantry regiments in the
Union Army. The sample represents slightly under 5 percent of all
Black troops and has wide regional coverage within the Southern
states.
Cases: 8,592
Variables: 28
1. CODE (1-5)
2. REGT (6-8
3. CO (9-10)
company number. This is how the company number is coded:
company number company name
01 A 02 B
03 C 04 D
05 E 06 F
07 G 08 H
09, 10 I 11 J
12 K
4. RANK (11-12)
rank of soldier.
01 private 02 corporal
03 1st sergeant 04 2nd sergeant
05 3rd sergeant 06 4th sergeant
07 5th sergeant 08 1st corporal
10 2nd corporal 11 3rd corporal
12 4th corporal 13 5th corporal
14 6th corporal 15 7th corporal
16 8th corporal 20 sergeant
30 lieutenant 31 1st lieutenant
32 2nd lieutenant 33 sergeant major
5. AGE (13-14)
age in years
6. COMPLEX (15-16)
skin color
01 black 02 brown
03 yellow 04 mulatto
05 dark 06 light
07 fair 08 copper
10 negro 11 dark brown
12 mahogany 13 chestnut
14 light brown 15 white
16 flesh 17 light black
7. EYE (17)
eye color
1 black 2 brown
3 blue 4 dark
5 light 6 grey
7 hazel
8. HAIR (18)
hair color
1 black 2 brown
3 copper 4 dark
5 light 6 grey
9. BRTPLC (19-23)
state and county of birth. First 2 digits are state codes
and the last 3 digits are county codes.
State Codes
01 Alabama 02 Arkansas
03 Florida 04 Georgia
05 Kentucky 06 Louisiana
07 Maryland 08 Mississippi
10 Missouri 11 N. Carolina
12 S. Carolina 13 Tennessee
14 Texas 15 Virginia
16 Illinois 17 D.C.
18 Iowa 19 Ohio
20 Pennsylvania 21 New Jersey
25 New York 26 Massachusetts
10. OCC (24-25)
occupation code
01 carpenter 02 farmer
03 shoemaker 04 laborer
05 servant 06 body servant
07 boatman 08 barber
10 wagonmaker 11 mason
12 oster/hustler 13 wagoner
14 teamster 15 bricklayer
16 engineer 17 coachman, driver
18 blacksmith 19 weaver
20 waiter 21 gardener
22 cook 23 miner
24 tailor 25 minister
26 butler 27 plowman
28 carter 29 mechanic
30 railroad worker 31 miller
32 stock mender 33 cooper
34 saddler 35 painter
36 fireman 37 musician
38 ferryman 39 pastry cook
40 distiller 41 ropemaker
42 harness maker 43 farm hand
44 potter 45 courier
46 sailor 47 student
48 tobacconist 49 schoolteacher
50 bookkeeper 51 clerk
52 photographer 53 plasterer
54 cabin boy 55 butcher
56 riverman 57 fieldhand
58 baker 59 cigarmaker
60 woodchopper 61 foreman
62 cotton picker 63 bagmaker
64 furnace man 65 brick molder
66 overseer 67 steward
68 housekeeper
11. ENLDATE (26-30)
date of enlistment. The variable consists of month, day,
year, with year having only one digit (e.g., 1863 is 3).
12. ENLPLC (31-35)
state and county of enlistment. State occupies first two
digits and county last 3 digits. For state codes, see
above.
13. PROMRED (36)
changes in rank
1 promoted once 2 promoted twice
3 promoted thrice 4 promoted once and reduced once
5 promoted twice and reduced once 6 promoted twice and reduced twice
7 promoted thrice and reduced once 8 reduced once
14. HIRANK (37-38)
highest rank attained
15. APPOINT (39)
appointed officer
16. ENDSERV (40)
end of service code
1 honorable discharge 2 discharge
3 deserted 4 captured
5 died 6 missing in action
17. DATEND (41-45)
date left (month, day, year)
18. DESERTRC (46)
19. DESERTS (47)
not much is known for the above two variables.
20. CAUSE (48-49)
if died, cause of death
01 fever 02 dysentery
03 diarrhea 04 measles
05 small pox 06 consumption
07 gunshot 08 typhoid fever
10 bilious fever 11 pneumonia
12 dropsy 13 palpitation of heart
14 anemia 15 scurvy
16 cholera 17 wounds
18 disease 19 accidental falling
20 lightening 21 nervous disability
22 killed in action 23 remittent fever
24 drowned 25 heart disease
26 fevers self-alouse 27 general debility
28 typhoid pneumonia 29 inflammation of lungs
50 typhoid malarial fever 51 malarial fever
52 congestive chills 53 hanged
54 erysipelas 55 jaundice
56 inflammation of bowels 57 exhaustion
58 choice rheumatism 59 secondary mannegitis
60 typhus fever 61 killed (not in action)
62 organic heart disease 63 chronic ulcers
64 pleuria 65 neurologic
66 rheumatic fever 67 apoplexy
68 hypertrophy of heart 69 froze to death
70 phthisis 71 ascites
72 inflammation of spinal cord 73 inflammation of bladder
74 brain disease 75 lung fever
76 convulsive fits 77 bronchitis
78 congestion 79 ague
80 flux 81 over-eating
82 diphtheria 83 hernia
84 tetanus 85 hepatitis
86 inflammation of stomach 87 congestive intermittent fever
88 flux 89 black tongue
90 cancer of the face 91 paralysis
92 cancer 93 epilepsy
94 laryngitis 95 varioloid
96 hemorrhage of bowels 97 pleurisy
21. HTCORR (50-55)
height in inches
22. BRTST (56-57)
state of birth (see the state code above)
23. ENLST (58-59)
state of enlistment (see the state code above)
24. SAME (60)
dummy: 1 if BRTST and ENLST are the same, 0 otherwise
25. DATEND1 (61-63)
month and year left. Month occupies first two digits, and
year the last one digit.
26. ENLDATE1 (64-66)
month and year of enlistment. Month occupies first two
digits, and year the last one digit.
27. OCCUP (67)
occupation categories
1 fieldhand 2 domestic
3 semi-skilled 4 skilled
28. ENDSERV1 (68)
end of service code constructed from ENDSERV and CAUSE.
1 if ENDSERV is 5 and CAUSE is not equal to 7, 19,
20, 22, 24, 31, 53, and 61
2 if ENDSERV is 2
3 if ENDSERV is 3
4 if ENDSERV is 0
5 if ENDSERV is 5 and ENDSERV1 does not equal to 1