Shiloh AAR

[Pvt Schnapps]

I'm sure every company had rosters and roll calls, and that the first sergeants on up knew who had fallen out and when. I sure didn't mean to imply that the 15/16 Iowa was deficient in this regard.

But virtually no organization reports publically the following information:
*the number of people registered
*the number of people who showed up Friday
*the number present on Saturday
*the number present on Sunday
*all the above broken down by sub-unit and rank

Based on events where I've had access to this information it appears that there's a pre-event attrition rate that averages around 30%, but that rate is much lower for cavalry and artillery and higher for infantry privates. Attendance normally drops off from Saturday to Sunday, but not by much unless there's very bad weather or other factors at work -- like a hard march. At events in areas with many local reenactors, the number of walk-ons will generally cancel out the difference between registrants and those who actually show up.

Attendance seems to be higher for artillery and cavalry, perhaps because it requires a lot more work for them to get to an event in the first place and they don't commit casually. If they commit, they generally make it. "Campaign" events that demand more of their attendees seem to have the same effect. (At "Winter '64" virtually all attendees showed up, although it was a winter encampment northeast of Buffalo. Similarly, it looked the advertised strength of the 15/16 Iowa was largely present for duty Saturday morning.)

Are any of these conclusions valid? Do the answers vary from region to region? Have they changed over time? For different kinds of events, how many of the people registered can organizers count on actually showing up? How many will usually stay given the planned activities?

I think this information would prove pretty helpful. It shouldn't take that much work to pull together and post, but folks would have to commit to doing it beforehand and hang on to their registration numbers and morning reports.

[PMB1861]

You woulda thunk that the 15th Iowa woulda had company rosters......and that roll calls taken prior to embarking, after each transport came in.....just before the march...at the rest stops.....would have documented by name who was straggling, AWOL, etc. How about passes for the stragglers, recorded into the company books? Sounds like we've got an area to improve upon......maybe we need to hold 3 roll calls a days, as they did?

Mr. Samp, I would suggest you cease fire there. I will leave other Company Commanders to defend themselves, but in the case of Company F, 15th Iowa with the exception of writing passes for stragglers all of the items you're tooting about were done in the fine company I had the priviledge to work with that weekend. It was my responsibility to care for those men who signed on and I was aware of the status of each of them, or had a trusted subordinate with them in the case of the few who could not physically continue. Rosters, Roll Calls, documented absences are part of the period and even more important today. We did them all.

As I've said before, it appears your mouth is permanently attached to a bugle, because your writing is clearly coming out of your anal orifice. Either step up and raise a company of men where you can be perfect and educate all of us or stick to your music.

[FloridaHoosier]

Gentleman, let's rein this in back to its intended report of the Shiloh event and not personal issues/commentary on what individual units may or may not have done. Few can argue that what the 15th Iowa put together for this event was way above the norm for any unit, progressive or mainstream. Further personal commentary will be deleted.

[BobSullivanPress]

Preaching to the choir here, but it seems to me that the problem lies with consolidation, not taking attendance. I would guess that many units have a very good idea how many attendees and when they come and go. However, it seems like there is little consolidation at the top, to come up with grand totals, er, aggregates.

When I clerked at Ft. McHenry, we consolidated the reports and I entered the information into a morning report book. On the back page of the report, under Remarks, I noted the weather. The fun thing about this is, I have a written record of how many troops showed up each year for 5 years running, and what the weather was like each weekend. Makes a nice keepsake, and yes, when the weather was lousy, we had more attrition on Sunday.

I have always advocated that there be a real adjutant's tent at events. It seems to me that if each group would fill out a roll and submit it to the adjutant, there would be a record of whether or not a person attended an event. If you don't want to fill out a roll, a morning report will do. It's not hard, any morning report will do. Then simply turn it in to the adjutant's tent each morning. Now some people take issue with this but it would certainly serve someone well in an emergency situation, if someone needed to be found in the middle of the night in the middle of camp for instance. The emergency personnel could simply go to the adjutant's tent and fnd out where the group to which the individual belongs is located.

And I've also always advocated that passes be issued to enter and leave camp. Not be denied for any reason, but simply be issued. So if you want to leave camp, you get a pass. You would not be denied, but again there would be a record of whether or not you were actually there.

Seems simple, but I've never seen it done except at a small event. Egos, politics, and other assorted human nature qualities always seem to get in the way.

[Bob Minton]

Mr. Schaffner,

I can provide most of what you are curious about from the Army of the Ohio standpoint at Shiloh. We organized into one battalion of 6 companies for the weekend. Friday we had 4 staff officers, 7 company officers and 118 total. Saturday 4 staff officers, 10 company officers and 169 total. Sunday 4 staff officers, 9 company officers and 155 total. We consolidated into the 6companies so we'd have larger companies. I gave the companies the option as to having a Captain and Lt. both or just a Captain. Some had both, some did not. Our registered number is a little tougher to give you. The last 7-10 days before the event a lot of unattached folks were sent our way. Some of them we were able to contact and they fell in with us. Others we couldn't reach and never saw. I'd say an effective guess as to the number registered would be about 180.

Regards,
Bob Minton
Army of the Ohio

[Jubilo]

Dear Sir,
I believe the well-intentioned, sassy former field music bugler is now Captain Samp of the First Federal Division. I do not however, know the date of his commission.
all for the old flag,
David Corbett

[Pvt Schnapps]

Mr. Schaffner,

I can provide most of what you are curious about from the Army of the Ohio standpoint at Shiloh. We organized into one battalion of 6 companies for the weekend. Friday we had 4 staff officers, 7 company officers and 118 total. Saturday 4 staff officers, 10 company officers and 169 total. Sunday 4 staff officers, 9 company officers and 155 total. We consolidated into the 6companies so we'd have larger companies. I gave the companies the option as to having a Captain and Lt. both or just a Captain. Some had both, some did not. Our registered number is a little tougher to give you. The last 7-10 days before the event a lot of unattached folks were sent our way. Some of them we were able to contact and they fell in with us. Others we couldn't reach and never saw. I'd say an effective guess as to the number registered would be about 180.

Regards,
Bob Minton
Army of the Ohio

See, I knew it could be done -- now I just have to wait and hear about my own regiment As Pete said, the information certainly existed at company level.

Both you and Bob Sullivan illustrate the value of having the information. You know both your unit's strength and how it was affected over time.

I also understand the difficulty with registration numbers when things stay open till the last minute. At Neshaminy each year (where I have the honor of clerking for Bill Rodman) the presence of walk-ons keeps us guessing till the Saturday reports come in. There's also at that and similar events the phenomenon of numbers rising from Saturday to Sunday -- a factor due largely to walk-ons or late arrivals coming in after the morning roll call.

Anyway, I don't mean to dwell on it too much. I'm glad that the numbers are kept and that some find them useful, and I'll continue to hope that more people follow your example.

Thanks for sharing that.

[Bob Minton]

Thanks, my Adjutant, John Buker deserves the credit, he does all the work. I just get out in public and crow with the information I think it would be interesting to see this info from other sources to see how others do it. Maybe there's a better way, who knows. Good, frank dialogue can't hurt.

Regards,
Bob

[flattop32355]

Bob, to my knowledge, we do it the way it's supposed to be done: Company 1st Sgts send morning reports to the battalion Adjutant, who consolidates the info and sends it up the chain to Division. What they do with it is anyone's guess, but I'd assume (always a dangerous thing) that the Chief of Staff of FFD should have all the information available from all the battalions consolidated together for the full numbers present at each morning roll call. This assumes (there's that word again) that all the other battalions do what they're supposed to do and send the info up the chain, and that it actually gets looked at and used there.

[PaperPusher]

I will be cross referencing the registration check in books to give an accurate idea of how many came through that point. will post it when the work is done.