The Statistical Bureau was established as a special department at Washington in the summer of 1861 to support the Commission’s role as an independent advisory body to the government, with reference to the health, sanitary condition, and general...
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The Statistical Bureau was established as a special department at Washington in the summer of 1861 to support the Commission’s role as an independent advisory body to the government, with reference to the health, sanitary condition, and general comfort and efficiency of U.S. troops. Under the administration of E.B. Elliott and later Benjamin A. Gould, it compiled forms used by USSC inspectors and relief agents to investigate and monitor such conditions, or other topics determined by the USSC, and it collected data from those forms and tabulated their results for further analysis, reporting and publication by the USSC. It also collected data from Army regimental and medical records to support studies of loss and gain in the U.S. Army, which in turn supported the work of the work of the USSC’s Hospital Directory. The Bureau used Army muster records, along with its own original forms, completed by a staff of examiners, to conduct physiological and sociological studies of the American soldier. In the fall of 1865, the Statistical Bureau moved its records and operations to Boston, Massachusetts, near Gould’s residence in Cambridge. These activities are reflected in the records of the Statistical Bureau Archives, 1861-1869, containing correspondence, original returns, tabulations, abstracts and other studies. Materials concern Camp Inspections; the physical and social condition of troops as seen in records of Height, Age and Nativity, as well as Physical Descriptions and Physical Examinations; reports of U.S. Army general hospitals; and Loss and Gain in Army strength, including transcriptions of regimental returns, diagrams plotting rates of sickness and mortality, and records of statistical loss and gain in battle, with notable studies of the condition of troops fighting at Bull Run and Gettysburg. Although the bulk of the materials concern the Army, data concerning Navy personnel and civilians is also found. The activities of Bureau staff during the administration of Benjamin A. Gould are documented in his incoming correspondence and weekly reports received from staff.
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