disability
A Black Invalid Corps?
Previously, I had posted that there was no black Invalid Corps and that from what I could discover, African-American soldiers who were injured in combat either were discharged or, if they could still manage their duties, they returned to their units. However, it looks like that may not have been entirely true. I don’t have a lot of details but there is SOME evidence that there was/were unit(s) for soldiers of color with disabilities. Which is a perfect way to honor Black History Month!
There is some great snippets of information in: Grant, Lincoln, and the freedmen; reminiscences of the Civil War with special reference to the work for the contrabands and freedmen of the Mississippi Valley by John Eaton and E Osgood Mason from 1907.(https://archive.org/details/grantlincolnfre1609eato/page/n9)
To protect freedmen and planters from the attacks of “guerrillas,” Gen. Thomas established a “colored invalid corps.” Comprised of black men unsuited for field service but capable of other military duties, the 9th and 7th Regiments, Louisiana Volunteers (later the 63rd and 64th Regiments, U.S. Colored Troops), provided the means for maintaining law and order under martial law. Col. Eaton served as the commander of the 9th regiment, and Samuel Thomas was colonel of the 7th regiment.
From page 112:
I have dwelt somewhat in detail upon these regiments composing the colored invalid corps because they represent a distinct though humble phase of the service, the usefulness of which deserves to be recorded and fixed in the public mind. By means of this minor organization about twenty-five hundred men were added to the military forces in the Valley before the surrender of General Lee.
The bravery of the colored troops who fought in the larger engagements, such as those at Port Hudson or Milliken’s Bend, thrilled the country at the time and is in little danger of being forgotten by later generations, but the humbler duty of safeguarding the plantations from assaults which were often vindictive and particularly cruel, the task of protecting the women and children, the aged and infirm, — these were services which devolved upon men debarred by physical incapacity from the more heroic campaigns endured by their brothers, but no whit less devoted to the Union, no whit less brave in their loyalty to the cause that
had freed them.
Services Performed by the Invalid Corps – 4th Regiment
These posts are part of a larger series highlighting the contributions and accomplishments of the Invalid Corps/Veteran Reserve Corps during the Civil War. This post only captures some of the activities of individual regiments. Clearly, this is an area ripe for additional research.
4th Regiment
Organized at Rock Island, Ill., October 10, 1863, by consolidation of the 128th, 129th, 135th, 136th, 137th, 138th, 140th, 141st, 153rd and 166th Companies, 1st Battalion. Mustered out July 17, 1865, to January 23, 1866, by detachments.
Principally at Rock Island Barracks and Camp Butler, Ill., guarding rebel prisoners, escorting exchanged men to the front, and performing ordinary guard duty of camps and public stores. Prisoners escorted to different points for exchange, 3,825; escapes, 2.
Services Performed by the Invalid Corps – 3rd Regiment
These posts are part of a larger series highlighting the contributions and accomplishments of the Invalid Corps/Veteran Reserve Corps during the Civil War. This post only captures some of the activities of individual regiments. Clearly, this is an area ripe for additional research.
3rd Regiment
Organized October 10, 1863, by consolidation of the 8th, 10th, 16th, 28th, 50th, 54th, 168th, 172nd, 189th and 190th Companies, 1st Battalion. Mustered out by Detachments June 28 to December 15, 1865.
During part of the year has been stationed at Washington, performing the ordinary duties of the garrison of Washington, of course in conjunction with other troops. While at the Soldiers’ Rest an immense number of troops, from 800 to 6,000 -per day, passed through to the front. At Alexandria, Va., an average of 600 per day forwarded. At Eastern Branch corral many thousand of Government cattle guarded without loss. Regiment on duty at seventy-five points and in six States at one time. The detachment at New Haven escorted 2,280 men to the front, and (aided by other troops) guarded 6,000 men during the process of organization; duty for six months averaged eight hours per day for each man. One detachment assisted by a company of the Pennsylvania Bucktails, took charge of the One hundred and ninety-third Regiment New York Volunteers, at that time 200 strong, over 400 having deserted; in about two months the regiment was sent off with 1,022 men. At Burlington, Vt., a violent outbreak in a volunteer brigade was quelled by seventy men of the Third, two of the rioters being shot, some ironed, and many arrested. Duty of regiment severe; for weeks together on guard every other day; men known to fall asleep with exhaustion while walking their beats. Discipline excellent, notwithstanding that 608 men were received and 863 discharged, &c., during the year.
Reference:
The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies – https://archive.org/details/warrebellionaco17offigoog/page/n574
Faces of the Invalid Corps Cards
The cards are back from the printer and they look amazing. For those of you who participated in our Kickstarter Fundraiser. One of our rewards at the $50 and up level was: FACES OF THE INVALID CORPS. CDVs or cartes-de-visite were popular for soldiers to carry and send home – Images for their loved ones. To emulate that, we researched and created 8 “trading cards”, each with an image of an individual soldier from the Invalid Corps or pivotal participant in the Battle of Fort Stevens. It is a great looking set of cards with information and stories about the men – their units, their disability, what they did, and what happened to them after the war. The cards are 2.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall, the size of bridge cards and made of 300gsm professional quality card stock with a blue core (smooth finish).
Aloha! The Invalid Corps Goes to Hawaii!
Aloha! Yes, we are in Hawaii. The Invalid Corps team was proud to be invited to the 2016 Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity to talk about our film.
The Pacific Rim International Conference, considered one of the most ‘diverse gatherings’ in the world, encourages and respects voices from “diverse” perspective across numerous areas, including: voices from persons representing all disability areas; experiences of family members and supporters across all disability and diversity areas; responsiveness to diverse cultural and language differences; evidence of researchers and academics studying diversity and disability; stories of persons providing powerful lessons; examples of program providers, and; action plans to meet human and social needs in a globalized world.
This morning we presented the history of the Invalid Corps, told the stories of several soldiers, and gave a play-by-play of the Battle of Fort Stevens. We even got to talk in some detail about Aunt Betty. Unfortunately, we had some technical issues but were able to show our trailer.
An exciting time but we can’t wait to get back home and back to work on the project!
PS The PacRim Conference also has an amazing disability film festival put together by Laura Blum with award winners like: Becoming Bulletproof, Margarita with a Straw, Right Footed (director Nick Spark was actually able to attend), and Touched with Fire presented by Spike Lee.
Who Held the Saw: Discovering Mary Walker, Civil War Army Surgeon – From Julia Marie Myers
It was Day who first told me of the Invalid Corps. I had never heard of it before. I remember listening with rapt attention as she painted a picture of the night when members of the Invalid Corps defended the Capitol against a Confederate army of 15,000. It was a classic, incredible story epic.
Intrigued, I went and did more research. It began to boggle my mind the pure numbers of soldiers injured during the war — we all know that in theory, but in literal, stark numbers … approximately 17,300 Union casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville alone (the one where Stonewall Jackson was injured, later dying from his wounds), with almost 10,000 of those being wounded, rather than killed or missing[1]. Ten-thousand. Ten-thousand bodies, strewn about, amongst those who have already perished. How do you even know which ones are still alive?
“Near by, the ambulances are now arriving in clusters, and one after another is call’d to back up and take its load. Extreme cases are sent off on stretchers. The men generally make little or no ado, whatever their sufferings. A few groans that cannot be suppress’d, and occasionally a scream of pain as they lift a man into the ambulance. To-day, as I write, hundreds more are expected, and to-morrow and the next day more, and so on for many days. Quite often they arrive at the rate of 1000 a day.” – Walt Whitman, Specimen Days, Ch. 33[2]
With so many soldiers and varieties of injuries, I began looking into the army surgeons who had to navigate this chaos — the ones who had to determine how to triage the patients, who ultimately had to “wield the saw.” One particular surgeon stood out.
Mary Walker’s story unfolded in front of me as I flipped through the virtual pages of the internet, piecing together information about her career. She was clearly a “disruptive” person — the only woman at the time enrolled in her medical degree program at Syracuse, the first woman surgeon ever to be employed by the US Army.[3]
As I read more about Mary, I found her story incredibly modern. Mary wore men’s clothes. She surely faced discrimination and ridicule for this choice — and indeed on more than one occasion she was arrested for “impersonating a man.”[4] It strikes me as incredible that she existed so long ago, but that she could just as easily be a next door neighbor of mine, who faces similar concerns and judgments about her identity today. We are divided by centuries of time, but when I look at her, I see a saturated, piercing image of the modern world staring back.
Mary’s story as well as the stories of the members of the Invalid Corps inspired me to write my own short fiction film inspired by both historical narratives, for which I am now beginning the pre-production process. I felt that Mary’s role in disrupting the status quo of women, but also in standing on her own as an influential person regardless of her gender, paralleled so beautifully with the story of these men of the Invalid Corps, who defied not only their labels as “cowards” and “cripples,” but who rose up to show that they mattered, fully and fundamentally, as people.
It has been a great pleasure intertwining these stories together in a creative way, and it has been a perfect complement to my working with Day on her documentary on the Invalid Corps. Every day, we are learning more and more, and it only makes me more excited to share what we have discovered, and what we are creating, with you.
Don’t forget to visit our “The Invalid Corps and the Battle of Fort Stevens” Kickstarter:
(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dayalmohamed/the-civil-war-invalid-corps-and-the-battle-of-fort)!
Please share widely. We need you to help get the word out about this documentary!
[1] http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chancellorsville.html?tab=facts
[2] http://www.bartleby.com/229/1033.html
[3] http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/rr/s01/cw/students/leeann/historyandcollections/history/pathbreakers/marywalker.html
[4] https://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_325.html
Soldiers’ Stories: Sergeants Durgin and Wray
For William Durgin of Maine, April 20, 1865 was a typical day. He was garrisoned at the Camp Frye Barracks in Washington, D.C., assigned with the 10th Veterans Reserve Corps. His typical duties with the regiment consisted of nothing more than garrison duty after suffering from rheumatism in his arms and being struck in the ankle with a cannonball during the amphibious landing at Fernadina, Florida in 1862. Yet, when he received his orders for that day, they looked far different from his daily duties. The order read as follows:
Special Order No. 88
Pursuant to orders from Headquarters, 1st Brigade Veteran Reserve Corps requiring four First Sergeants should be selected with reference to their age, length of service and good soldierly conduct for escort duty to the remains of President Lincoln to Springfield, Illinois.
1st Sergeant William W. Durgin of Company F 10th Regiment V.R.C. is hereby detailed for that duty and will report to Capt. McCamly 9th Regiment Vet. Res. Corps at Camp Frye at 9:00 o’clock A.M. this day.
By command ofMajor George Bowers Commanding Regiment
From his clerical duties at Camp Frye Barracks, Durgin’s place in history rose greatly as he became one of Lincoln’s pallbearers, traveling across the nation with the casket. His war-record carries on his roll call for April 1865 “Absent – on escort duty with remains of President Lincoln.”
While Durgin seems to be a typical soldier offered the honor as a token of great luck, in many ways the assignment was and did boost the prestige of one of the most neglected regiments in the U.S. Army: the Veterans Reserve Corps (VRC).
Created in 1863, the VRC started as the Invalids Corps, and began as a project to give disabled veterans like Durgin a second chance at active service. Yet their corps did not go unscathed. Other soldiers derided the corps as a group of cowards and rejects; the initials of the Invalids Corps matched a stamp of the Quartermaster’s Department that stood for “Inspected – Condemned.” Soon after, to boost the morale of recruits and entice more volunteers, it was renamed “Veterans Reserve Corps.” The disabled veterans that re-enlisted were assigned various rear-echelon duties, ranging from guard duty to censoring mail.
To honor one of the corps members as a pallbearer presented in a greater sense a place for disabled soldiers in American military history alongside regular soldiers in memorializing the Civil War, and recognizes the potential of disabled veterans, or civilians, as capable individuals that can still contribute despite their sacrifice.
Enlistment in the corps did not always entail monotonous, clerical duties. For Sergeant William Wray, fate would lead to a reprisal of his combat duties. After losing his right eye and parts of his nose at Fredericksburg, Wray joined the 1st Veterans Reserve Corps. While stationed at Fort Stevens, he miraculously found himself at the center of a surprise attack by a corps of 10,000 men led by Jubal Early. In the midst of battle, while a number of his VRC comrades were confused and scattered, Wray rallied his men to the defenses during a critical attack, and helped prevent the fort from falling. Although his actions did not go recognized until much later, with some speculation regarding the fact that he was a member of the undesirable VRC, Wray was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.
After the Civil War, programs for injured soldiers and disabled veterans returned around World War I, when the massive amounts of casualties and disabling injuries permitted for the resurrection of the Veterans Reserve Corps. In the age of modern warfare, disabled veterans have been able to carve a niche for themselves with the Continuation on Active Duty program, allowing wounded soldiers to serve their country within the limits of their abilities. Thus, heroes like Sergeants Durgin and Wray show what makes a soldier a great leader and a hero is not how well or straight a soldier stands, but what a soldier stands for in fighting for their country.
Jonathan van Harmelen is currently studying American History at Pomona College, and has conducted research with Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He also works at Pomona College as manager for the Orchestra and as assistant to the History Department. He enjoys collecting military antiques, playing drums, and attempting to learn French, German, and Dutch all at once.
Please don’t forget we are in the middle of our Kickstarter to raise funds to tell the story of the Invalid Corps; of soldiers with disabilities who continued to serve:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dayalmohamed/the-civil-war-invalid-corps-and-the-battle-of-fort
Society for Disability Studies and the Invalid Corps as “Hidden #Disability History”
We were very proud to present at this year’s Society for Disability Studies national conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) is a scholarly organization dedicated to promoting disability studiesand their conference examines “multiple and significant possibilities at the intersections of disability and (getting it) right/s” with “hundreds of participants [who] gather every year to share expertise, perspectives, and community.” The story of the Invalid Corps is a part of disability history and it was great speak on a panel about soldiers with disabilities and this “hidden history.”
Although most of the presentation was an introduction to the Invalid Corps and their role in the Civil War, I thought I’d blog a little bit about how I opened the talk. An aspect of “Black History Month” has always struck me: how little of history has been captured that includes the contributions, heroism, sacrifice, and inventions of African Americans. The same for women. History has primarily been written by a certain class of individuals, who were likely men, and white. What that means is that history doesn’t often include mention of minorities. That includes disability.
So, when speaking with the audience I wanted to highlight “bright and shining” examples of disability that, because of the way we view the world, have had their disability erased and that part of the story goes untold. I wanted to include examples of men who meet that description, and although they were never part of the Invalid Corps, they were individuals with disabilities who many people do not know had disabilities – hidden disability history.
Oliver Otis Howard
O. O. Howard is known as a man who was a general in the civil war. He is known as the first head of the Freedmen’s Bureau who was dedicated to supporting the new independence of freedmen. He is known as the founder of Howard University. But what I discovered is that many graduates of the institution don’t realize (I’ve spoken to almost a dozen at this point) that he was also a man with a disability. General Howard lost his right arm at the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862 when he was still a brigade commander. Disability was so ubiquitous that it was seldom mentioned; everyone had a brother, son, father, husband, or neighbor who had been injured in battle. And over time, this piece of history becomes lost. While it may not seem important in the “broad picture,” when it comes to recognition of disability and its place within our society, knowing this history suddenly becomes quite important.
Mathew Brady
Mathew Brady, the photographer of the Civil War. The man whose thousands of scenes of war give us the vision of the time. We all know the images. We all have seen at least one picture attributed to him (or more likely, his company.) Mathew Brady had a disability. Although Brady had his own studio and permission from President Lincoln himself to photograph the battlefield sites, many of the photos were in fact, taken by his assistants. Brady had an eye condition and his vision began to deteriorate in the 1850s. He was almost totally blind the last few years of his life.
John S. Pemberton
And of course, because we were in Atlanta, I had to mention John Pemberton, inventor of Coca-Cola. Yes, he too had a disability. A Confederate Lieutenant Colonel, he was wounded at the Battle of Columbus, in what was, arguably, the last battle of the war. Shot and then slashed across the chest with a saber, the wound gave him chronic pain. This led to a morphine addiction, ailment that was so common among veterans it was called the “soldier’s disease.” Pemberton invented Coca-Cola as an alternative to the highly addictive morphine. In his own words: “free from opium…a remedy to meet the urgent demand for a safe and reliable medicine.” Whether to address his addiction and/or to manage the pain from his war wounds, Pemberton, inventor of Coca-Cola, was also a man with a disability.
The Invalid Corps story is a part of this “hidden history” and for the SDS attendees, one that they were excited to learn more about. I hope to be able to show their story at the 2016 conference!
The Beginning
The Story page tells you about the Invalid Corps, who they were and what they did; it tells you about the film. What it doesn’t tell you about is how this film project began. There is so much involved in any origin story, but the best place to begin, I guess, is at the beginning. 🙂 It all started about five months ago with a film class and a blog post.
I love learning new things and as I’ve spent the last few years writing fiction I thought it might be an interesting aside to learn about writing for film. So I signed up for a video production class with Professor Adele Schmidt through Docs in Progress. What exactly is a production class? It means that the class was designed to include “hands-on opportunities to learn core filmmaking skills, including story development, video recording, and editing.” And the part that really excited me was this:
Participants will work individually on a video project (2:30 min. max) of their own choice (social media video, trailer, PSA, portrait of a person) combining existing and/or new footage such as interview and B-roll with stills and archival footage. Participants will use pre-existing media and/or record new media (interview, B-roll) with their own camcorder. Participants will use their own laptop and editing software (Final Cut Pro X preferred) to edit the project.
I would get to actually make a movie!
Of course, then came the problem, how does a blind person make a film? I wasn’t sure and will admit, it worried me. It worried me enough to convince my wife to take the course with me – just in case. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, I needed her assistance less than I anticipated. Yes, there were things with focus and getting shots “just right” that were challenging but I discovered that I could craft a story, direct exactly what kinds of shots and action I wanted, and be able to edit and organize what materials I had into a final, finished product.
It was exciting, it was thrilling, and it was fun.
But there’s more to the story. Why the Invalid Corps? The story of the Invalid Corps and their creation during the Civil War (though I am aware of the Invalid Corps of the Revolutionary War as well), came up as part of a discussion with my wife. As an archivist and librarian for a local disability non-profit, she provided content for their “Throw-back Thursday” blog posts, usually focused around some interesting and disability-related fact or image. A few months earlier she had written a few paragraphs about these soldiers and I couldn’t let it go.
The story was simple and yet there was so much to it: The Civil War generated thousands of casualties. It wasn’t unusual to have a 30% mortality rate after a battle. And of course this also created more soldiers with disabilities. Many of us are familiar with Civil War stories of the injuries and amputations that many of the soldiers suffered…60,000 of them in fact, but what happened after? “Federals and Confederates alike worried about the immoral and idle behavior that would arise if disabled soldiers did not return to work and provide for themselves.”
These men that were too disabled to return to their post but entirely too able to get into trouble with women and wine and cards. Or such was the concern. The answer came in 1862 when the Union’s medical officers decided to put “convalescent wounded and feeble men” to work around the hospital. It worked so well, a year later General Order No. 105, of the U.S. War Department made it official and thus was created, the Invalid Corps.
It is a story about disability that should be told, not just from a historical standpoint but to understand and recognize the efforts of men and women in uniform today.
“There are lots of people with disabilities who want to serve their country, and can serve…they may not be able to do exactly everything everyone else can do, but they can do within their abilities, and they can provide a lot of support.”
– Senator Tom Harkin (2013)
The Army’s Continue on Active Duty (COAD) program is putting military men with clear, visible disabilities back into combat, and retaining and retraining others for other forms of active duty. As of June 2013, sixty-nine amputees have returned to active duty. Also of note, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, a 100-year old, 47,000-man (and woman) garrison is now commanded by Colonel Gregory D. Gadson. Colonel Gadson is a double-amputee. Perhaps even more impressive is Marine Corporal Garret S. Jones’ recovery and redeployment to a combat zone after losing a leg.
I want the world to know what happened that summer in 1864. I want to tell this story about disability, and sacrifice, about honor, and devotion to duty.
And to leave you with something a little fun, the director of the movie Battleship, Nick Berg, was so impressed with Colonel Gadson, he even gave him a role in the film. Below is a clip from Colonel Gadson where he talks about returning to active duty (and a few snippets from the film too).