Union Army Data - Andersonville

Andersonville Prison was the most notorious POW camp holding Union Army soldiers. The prison’s population peaked at 32,899 inmates and had an overall mortality rate of 40 percent. Researchers created the Andersonville Sample to examine the later-life effects of acute malnutrition and exposure to disease. The National Park Service (NPS) compiled a list (http://www.nps.gov/ande/historyculture/documenting_union_pows.htm) of 20,000 soldiers who were thought to be prisoners at Andersonville from 1863 to 1865.

Researchers linked POWs who survived to 1900 to Compiled Military Service Records, Military Pensions, Carded Medical Records, Surgeons’ Certificates, and the eight U.S. Federal Censuses from 1850 to 1930. Collection began at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., and finished with cleaning of the data at the University of Chicago.

The final sample consists of 1,000 Andersonville survivors, drawn from 3,700 names from the NPS list. While working with the NPS list, researchers found duplicate names and incomplete information and were unable to confirm many of the soldiers as being Andersonville POWs. These names were not accepted into the sample.

A unique 10-digit identification number, stored in the variable recidnum, identifies each recruit throughout the separate data sets of the Early Indicators projects.

The list of companies in the Andersonville sample is also available for download.