The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1917-05-24
INDIANA SENT TALL MEN
TO THE FRONT IN 1861
Records Show That Soldiers Who Tow.
cred Above Their Comrades In
Stature Came From the Hoo.
sier State Short Men
Also Numerous.

sanitary commission during the
Civil war, shows that the In
diana men We're the tallest of all ma
tives of the United States and perhaps
the fullest of all civilized countries.
There is a record of f1fty-one cases
OF statures not less than so inches OBJ
tanned from the official musters, and
the five tallest men, whose cases are
we'll identified, are from Indiana, one
from the Fifty-ninth infantry of that
state S3A inches, while one from the
Twenty-sixth Missouri infantry was
84A inches in height-more than seven
feet,
The tallest man of whose stature the
testimony is said to he absolutely COM
plete and unimpeachable, was Lieu
tenant Van Buskirk Of the TWEEN
ty-ninth Indiana. General Colgrave,
formerly colonel of that regiment, said
he frequently saw him measured with
out shoes and that his stature was S21a
inches. Corporal Ira Stout of the Eff
tieth Indiana infantry, Company e,
was 81 inches, 6 feet and inches, ut
the date of his enlistment, September,
1861. Colonel Gregory of the Twen-
ty-ninth Indiana infantry obtained in
formation from Capt. Charles Ream
of Company X concerning one of his
men of the somewhat inappropriate
name of John Bunch, born in Ohio.
who enlisted in 1861, whose height was
6 feet 9 inches ut the age of twenty
years. He was called by 1.-THE boys
~. S. Ramrod."
Col. NJ. w. Tappan of the First New
Hampshire infantry said that Joseph
H. Harris of that regiment was feet
81 inches high. Capt. J. b. Retlfield,
who commanded Company A of the
Eighth Wisconsin Volunteers, vOuches
for the record concerning man in
that company, Andrew j. Sanders, a
native of New York state, who was
6 feet inches when he enlisted ut
the age of twenty years.
The statistics for short soldiers are
neither so interesting nor valuable.
Among the descriptive musters of very
short soldiers there are four cases of
men whose heights did not exceed 53A
inches.
The shortest man whose height is sat.
isfactorily verified was member of
the One Hundred and Ninety-sccond
Ohio infantry. At the time Of enlist.
ment he was twenty-four years old and
20 inches In height. Col. F. w. But.
terrified, his commanding officer,
vOuches for the correctness Of this rec
ord. In the musters Of the One Hun
dred and Twenty-eighth Indiana infan-
try is described Il man forty-four years
Of age, 40 inches in height. Gen. r.. p.
De Hart, formerly colonel of this reg
iment, confirms the statement. and
says the man was q good soldier.
While the army regulations pre-
scribe certain physical requirements
for entry into the service, there is no
provision which prevents an enlisted
man az an officer, when once In, from
getting As thin, as fat, or as tall as
shy nature shall direct.
A cadet upon his entrance to the
Military Academy at West Point must
be at least 5 feet 3 inches In height,
but when Ernest D. Peek. now major
in the Corps of Engineers. entered
West Point he had inches ito burn, -
or give away, for he is the tallest OFF,
Ger In the United States army. being
8 feet AZ inches In perpendicular.
Major Peek is a native of Wiscon-
sin and graduate Of the Oshkosh
high school. He was appointed to thu,
Military academy In 1897. and upon
his graduation in 1901 was 'star,"
thus entitling him to assignment to tho
select arm Of the service. the corps
Of engineers.
While at West Point he was always
known as spikes Peek" on account Of
his great height. Since then he has
given especial attention to road con-
struction. and soon after his gradua.
ton supervised the building Of u mill
tary road, which is now known a.
peaks Pike"