The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
so. 200 Original invalid' claims were on tn g

10000 Original invalid" claims were on the
num bers include those who have heen pensioned
for service in the regular army and navy since
or abandoned claims on hle. and some dupli.
cations In that class Of claims. Making Ger
Penn Pensi oo'f Bureas i IL Tfit co ahd' ACCOUNT eeosnt for tnss oa .ne
1s4 survivors on June 80. 1895. At that date
Col. Ainsworth estimated them at l .154.s1O:a
Inference of only 100. GIG: or. without the de-
ductions. a difference of 2lo.626. which, we
ACCEPT his estimates. represents the number of
ex-soldiers who. up TO. June 80. 1890. have
never made application for a pension.
1t Is the Judgment OF this ex oert that the
made such application is Considerably larger
han is supposed by those who have not studied
the subject. These veterans include first;
and probably most largely. those who are yet
Gus, and ahie.bodied. and are free from
for the performance OF manual, labor. or the
discharge OF their accustomed duties. 1t must
be taken into consideration that the average
ls95. was only 81 years. and consequently be-
f fss 20 OF or Inc ss prep9nderahse OF =, e thnm nr more se
than half a million in all. must have been
younger than that. and many of them must have
To :hem must be added those of all ages who
have never applied for pension because of their
reasons. or tecause they know that they are
suffering from disabilities not pensionabie
OF determining the total number comprised in
these four classes, but my own observations as
an ex-soldier lead me to agree with Col: Aims
must equal, il it does not exceed. the a%lo.oso;
which must be added to the 944 ls4 accounted
June 80. 1895. in order to make 1.l54.sl0,
which is the total number of survivors,: desert
er. excluded. as shown by Ainsworth's or!ci-
nal estimate. This ls in the proportion OF Sl1ul
applicants. and 1890 non-applicants per
THOUSAND OF all peusionabie survivors.
II does not seem unfa!r to assume. that in
every thousand honorably discharged surviv.
ors there we're on June 30. 1895. 1872 who. for
for pension. and that the estimate of Col. Aims.
worth, as to the total number OF survivors on
rect COR that date it is very likely 10 prove cor
rect for subsequent dates.
The special enumeration OF survivors made in
taking the national census in 1890 fixed the
number at 1.O3+.O73. whioh is ISL .39S less
than the estimate Of Col. Ainsworth for that
rear. There is ample data upon which TO base
a reasonable conclusion that the census aggre-
gate fell far short OF the true lumber. In the
tho country when the census was taken. and
many more failed or declined to be enumerated
as such for various reasons. Again. If The census
figures are correct. according TO the life tables
showing the average rate o. decrease, this num-
Der would have fallen in 1923 TO gl9.n54; But
this last number exceeds by only S0.0l7 the
number of survivors who are either already
on the pension rolls. or had claims pending at
that can be considered to have been accounted
for by the records OF the Pension Office on that
Who had then never applied for a pension. and
of whom. OF course. the pension authorities
could have no account, IL + Therefore pretty
more nearly accurate than the census figures.
The Record and Pension ONCE has recently
made an examination OF the records OF all or
CARNATIONS known to have leen In the service
for less than ninety days. and this has disclosed
ninety DAYS in them. But some Of these short
term men served under prior or subsequent en-
istments. II is Impossible TO ascertain from
the rolls how many men served under two or
more ehlistments. because as n rule they do not
connect one enlistment with another. and
4 1-ynA Nha a. DnA mn .nA Inaa mot hnf a. - II . m p
mine to the examiner that IL was the same man.
In other words. there were perhaps thousands
There has also been an examination of tho
records, OF all organizations known TO have
less than six months. AS a result 4 has been
found that 23s.469 officers. and enlisted men
served more than, ninety, days and less than
six months In such orgnnlZat. ons. Adding to
this number AZ. 3o3. those who served less than
three months. and ii, Is found that 2so.70?
officers and men served less than six months in
these respective short term organizations. not
taking into the accnunt those who were dis
charged for disability or who deserted. Very
few OF these short-term men did any fighting.
EXCEPT the 81. 1000 called out by President
Lincoln. The same may ne said Gemerai!y Of
for garrison duty, to relieve veterans Tor SER
vice at the front.
the NUN Der Of men furnished hy the different
states and Territories. under calls from the
President. throughout the whole war vas -
i05.0G3. leaves "A total Of 2.012.3sl credited TO
the army. 80 nTlcinl compilation OF tlr TOTAL
number OF re-. enlistments In the army has ever
been made. but various estimates have been
put out by different authorities. ranging from
$4,000 20 1lI,!sa. The mean between the
be n fair approximation Of their actual num-
Der. Dcduciing thets figures from the total
credited to the army leaves ?.l2S,i'IS MS the
number OF individual soldiers who served dur
ing lie war, according To the official records.
My own judgment is that the actual number of
men actually In the service was far less. There
we're many hundreds Of, professional bounty
jumpers in the large stiles who were on The
rolls under " aU]en G GiY'SnmnmI ~ ma
Jumper was shot In my division at Kelly's
Ford. Va, In the fall OF 1858, who had enlist
ed thirteen times, of cOurSe In different Com.
mands. He counts under the foregoing estI.
mate as thirteen different soldiers.
Deducting deaths and deserters from the
army, 478, 40. leaves l,652,l 10 az the probable
number OF Individual soldiers. according TO the
records, who were alive At the termination OF
service. aud were not deseTtsrs. II u probable