of the service; recruits were rapidly obtained by voluntary enlistment or draft, and such strict regard was paid to their physical fitness, before accepting them, as to greatly reduce the enormous loss on account of discharges for physical disability, which had prevailed during the first two years of the war.

The following is a condensed summary of the results of the operations of this Bureau from its organization to the close of the war:

1. By means of a full and exact enrollment of all persons liable to conscription under the law of March 3, and its amendments, a complete exhibit of the military resources of the loyal States in men was made, showing an aggregate number of 2,254,063 men, not including 1,000,516 soldiers* actually under arms when hostilities ceased.

2. One million one hundred and twenty thousand six hundred and twenty-one a men were raised at an average cost (on account of recruitment exclusive of bounties) of $ 9.84 per man; while the cost of recruiting the 1,356,593 raised prior to the organization of the Bureau was $ 34.01 per man. A saving of over 70 cents on the dollar in the cost of raising troops was thus effected under this Bureau, notwithstanding the increase in the price of subsistence, transportation, rents, & c., during the last two years of the war.

3. Seventy-six thousand five hundred and twenty-six deserters were arrested and returned to the Army.

The vigilance and energy of the officers of the Bureau in this branch of business put an effectual check to the widespread evil of desertion, which at one time impaired so seriously the numerical strength and efficiency of the Army.

4. The quotas of men furnished by the various parts of the country were equalized, and a proportionate share of military service secured from each, thus removing the very serious inequality of recruitment which had arisen during the first two years of the war, and which, when the Bureau was organized, had become an almost insuperable obstacle to further progress in raising troops.

5. Records were completed showing minutely the physical condition of 1,014,776 of the men examined, and tables of great scientific and professional value have been compiled from these data. b

6. The casualties in the entire military force of the Nation during the war of the rebellion, as shown by the official muster- rolls and monthly returns, have been compiled, showing, among other items, 5,221 commissioned officers and 90,868 enlisted men killed in action, or died of wounds while in service; 2,321 commissioned officers and 182,329 enlisted men who died from disease or accident, making an aggregate of 280,739 officers and men of the Army who lost their lives in service. c

a This number does not embrace the naval credits allowed under the eighth section of the act of July 4, 1864, nor credits for drafted men who paid commutation, the recruits for the Regular Army, nor the credits allowed by the Adjutant-General subsequent to May 25, 1863, for men raised prior to that date.

b The results of the earlier examination of recruits by the medical officers of the Bureau were not obtained in detail.

c These figures have been carefully compiled from the complete official file of muster-rolls and monthly returns, but yet entire accuracy is not claimed for them, as errors and omissions to some extent, doubtless, prevailed in the rolls and returns.+ Deaths (from wounds or disease contracted in service) which occurred after the men left the Army are not included in these figures.

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* But see consolidated abstract for April 30, 1865, Vol. IV, this series, p. 1283.

+ A compilation made in 1885, with greatly increased data at command, resulted in the augmentation of the number of deaths, from all causes, to 359, 528. See foot-note (+), pp. 664, 665.

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