|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Vital Statistics:Height of Recruits in London: 1820
"During the period just after the Napoleon Wars, an analysis of 1,000
men accepted as fit by recruiters in London recorded the following heights: |
||||||||||||||||||
| Height |
Number of Recruits
|
| 5 ft 5 in - 5 ft 6 in |
73
|
| 5 ft 6 in - 5 ft 7 in |
476
|
| 5 ft 7 in - 5 ft 8 in |
220
|
| 5 ft 8 in - 5 ft 9 in |
126
|
| 5 ft 9 in - 5 ft 10 in |
56
|
| 5 ft 10 in - 5 ft 11 in |
35
|
| 5 ft 11 in - 6 ft |
12
|
| over 6 ft |
2
|
"The average chest-measurement of these men was 32.66 inches, that of
country recruits being 3/4 in greater than that of town-dwellers. More
than one-third were rejected as unfit, the proportion of unfit men increasing
with their height, suggesting that the smaller men were the most physically
able."
Source: Haythornthwaite, Philip. The Armies of Wellington
London : Arms and Armour; 1994. P. 49
© Copyright 1995-2003, The Napoleon Series, All Rights Reserved.