I don't think that a definitive study has been done comparing city folks with country folks. But as I alluded to in my responce to R.D. I don't see that there was. Of Course Arkansas was a rural state without many cities to study. It seems that all regiments had their problems with illness to one degree or another.

But almost all major outbreaks occurred just after there was a large infusion of "New Blood" into the regiment. even regiments that had been organized for some time like Dawson's 19th Arkansas which had been together in North Arkansas and Oklahoma for almost a year prior to Arriving at camp Whte Sulphur Spring. While they had some sickness prior to WSS it was the large number of enlistees due to the Conscription act which was the center of the illness at WSS. Again I attribute this to exposure to the elements of these new troops.