Second Friday Lecture: Fit for Duty: The Veteran Reserve Corps in the Civil War and Reconstruction

Friday, December 8  |  12:00pm – 1:00pm  |  Speaker: Dr. Steven Goldman

Described by the Indiana Adjutant General “as unusual a fighting force as the United States ever armed and equipped for action,” the dreadfully-named, preposterously uniformed Invalid Corps came into existence in April 1863, and within a year became the Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC). Despite general derision from able-bodied filed unit comrades, they provided valuable garrison, guard, and other types of off-line duty, and enabled superb soldiers to continue serving their country during the Civil War, and after.

Dr. Stephen A. Goldman will discuss the VRC’s formation, organization, responsibilities, and under-recognized contribution to the successful July 1864 defense of Washington. He will then explain how VRC soldiers played a major role in one of Reconstruction’s most vital organizations, the Freedmen’s Bureau.