And that is my point, even the numbers listed in those aggregate reports are also totally subjective. You know that I have done research in the Muster rolls on Camp White Sulphur Springs, as you have on the rosters of all the Arkansas Regiments, and found several men whose records were lost and some who never made it on any "official List" who fell into one of the "Black Holes".
I've also seen company 1st Sargeants in reenacting that were so befuddled as to how to correctly fill out a morning report that there is no way that this could have been done with any consistancy on a company level during that war. Let alone the day to day changes, which were supposed to be reflected in those morning reports, That were used to make out those aggregate reports.
It is like the old computer addage, 'trash in equals trash out'. Now I am NOT saying that those figures were totally unreliable. But what I am saying is that they were a snapshot of a moment in time, of what was thought to be the correct numbers of effective fighting strenght, which was becoming inaccurate before the ink even was dry on the paper it was written on. And those figures became more inaccurate the older those figures became.
The old question "Did Grandpa fight in this Battle?" WELL, his regiment may have, but unless there is a specific mention of an individual soldiers involvement such as his being wounded or captured or maybe even Killed, we really don't know. He may have been straggling or on detail such as escort or many other reasons for his being absent. So for that reason this numbers game, outside of a general application like a 10,000 man Division, is like chasing rabbits, or trying to nailing Jello to a wall.