In the month of May, 1862, as we have shown above, at least one-fourth
of the Southern territory had been wrenched from the control of the
Confederate Government. In the territory remaining there was in round
numbers a population of about 3,800,000 souls. The military population
then should have been 760,000.
To this must be added, by the extension of the military age down to
seventeen, and up to fifty, ten per cent.--that is, in all, six
additional years, 76,000.
[In this calculation I adopt Mr. Adams' ratio of three-tenths by a
supposed extension down to sixteen and up to sixty,--which gives in the
light of the census returns about one-tenth for the _actual_ extension
provided by the law of February 17, 1864, viz. down to seventeen and up
to fifty years.]
Then we must make a further addition (again adopting Mr. Adams' ratio),
for youths reaching military age in four years, of twelve per cent. of
the military population, or 91,200 men. This, with the age-extension
addition--76,000--makes a total of 167,200, which, added to the original
estimated population of 760,000, makes a grand total of 927,200.
To this number Mr. Adams would add the men furnished by the Border
States to the Confederate army, viz. (as is alleged), 117,000, a grand
available total of 1,044,200.
But this estimate of 117,000 men furnished the Confederate army by the
Border States (Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri) cannot be
relied upon as even approximately accurate. For example, it includes
20,000 men alleged to have been furnished by the State of Maryland. But
a careful examination of all the Maryland organizations, including
several companies in Virginia regiments, gives a total of only 4,580
from the State of Maryland; and this number must be largely reduced by
names duplicated through re-enlistments. Applying the ratio adopted by
the War Department of the United States, we must deduct at least 920
men, which leaves a total of only about 3,500. Even this I believe to be
too large. This item alone reduces the estimate of 117,000 to about
100,000. I will discuss this subject at length a little further on in
this paper, and will only say here that there is good reason to believe
100,000 an excessive estimate of the number actually furnished to the
Confederate colors by the Border States. Let us place the figure at
75,000 as a compromise. Then we should have:
Grand total of men available in the
Southern States 927,200
Furnished by the Border States 75,000
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Total 1,002,200