The shortest man as far as records go was a member of the 192nd ohio and at the age of 24 he measured 3 feet 4 inches in height. Soldiers were very often significantly lighter than 140. The civil war is a good example of this height disparity. Incomplete records indicate the average weight was 143¼ pounds. Statistics were actually taken for large groups of men. Malnutrition was so widespread that of the millions who applied to become soldiers almost 40 had to be rejected.
Van buskirk of the twenty seventh indiana who stood 6 feet 10½ inches. During the civil war american soldiers were on the tall side by world standards. Women 100 years ago were 5 foot 3 and came in as the 4th. One hundred years ago the average american man was 5 feet 7 inches tall the 3rd tallest males in the world. During the civil war the average soldier stood around 57 or 58 and weighed 143 pounds. According to ken burns the average soldier in the civil war was 58 and 140 pounds which seems exceptionally small and light for a population selected to fight.
Today the average height of an adult british caucasian male is about 59. Would this have been consistent with european armies of the same time period. The union soldiers average load for example averaged between forty four and fifty pounds while the. Although the country entered the war at the height of its wealth and power very little of that wealth reached the vast majority of the british people. The shortest man in the regiment was 5 foot 3 inches and the tallest 6 foot 1. In fact the american civil war may have been a relative low point in average weights.
For instance in the 44 th massachusetts infantry of the 98 soldiers between the ages of 17 and 40 the average soldiers height was 5 foot 7 inches. The tallest man authentically recorded was said to be capt. Granted the trail driving cowboy didnt carry his mounts feed but the weight of his saddle no doubt made up the difference against the. Today american males are ranked 37th tallest.
Gallery of Average Height And Weight Of Civil War Soldier
