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Maps & More on Disabled Civil War Veterans

Maps

Three maps of National Sites, Washington DC & Northern Virginia, and Massachusetts locate people, institutions, and battles related to disabled Civil War veterans. Learn more about each site through the Civil War - Biographies and Civil War Veterans Institutions pages. Download a PDF of the maps. 

 

National Sites

Map of Union and Confederate states, with pins for Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dayton, Fort Wagner South Carolina, and Togus Maine. Text is on this page.

1. Sanitary Fair - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - June 7-28, 1864

The largest of many charity fundraisers to raise awareness and money to support wounded soldiers, held in Logan Square. It ran for three weeks, sold signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, and raised $1,000,000. Stories: U.S. Sanitary Commission

2. Central Branch of the National Home - Dayton, Ohio - Founded in 1865

Site of the largest branch of the Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers which mirrored the command structure of the army. Stories: Central Branch of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

3. Second Battle of Fort Wagner - Charleston, South Carolina - July 18, 1863

Outside Charleston, the fort is famous for an assault by the 54th Massachusetts. The African American regiment suffered heavy losses. Lewis Douglass and William Carney survived the battle but sustained injuries. Stories: Lewis Douglass, William Carney

4. Eastern Branch of the National Home - Togus, Maine - Opened as soldiers home in 1866

The U.S. Government purchased a hotel and reopened it as a Soldiers home. Many Massachusetts veterans spent time at Togus, including Henry Meachem. Stories: Henry Meacham

 

Northern Virginia / Washington D.C. Sites

Map of Virginia and Washington DC, with pins for items 5-12. Text is on this web page.

 

5. Government Hospital for Insane Soldiers - Washington, DC - Originally opened in 1855

Housed soldiers with serious injuries or psychological trauma during and after the Civil War. Later renamed St. Elizabeths Hospital. Stories: Government Hospital for Insane Soldiers

6. Camp Brightwood - Washington, D.C. - 1861-1865

Main camp for soldiers stationed to defend northern Washington, DC. John Donovan and the 10th Massachusetts were based at Camp Brightwood. The Invalid Corps was also based there. Stories: John Donovan, Invalid Corps

7. Battle of Ball's Bluff - Leesburg, Virginia - October 21, 1861

Early Union defeat. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. gravely wounded. Stories: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

8. Battle of Antietam - Sharpsburg, Maryland - September 17, 1862

Bloodiest single day of fighting in American history, with 23,000 casualties. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wounded. Stories: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

9. Battle of Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg, Virginia - December 11-15, 1862

Bitter Union defeat with heavy casualties. Many wounded were taken to Washington where nurses like Louisa May Alcott cared for them. Stories: Louisa May Alcott

10. Battle of the Wilderness - Virginia - May 5-7, 1864

Fought to a draw in woods near Fredericksburg. Patrick Guiney was shot in the face and feared dead. Stories: Patrick Guiney

11. Siege of Petersburg - Petersburg, Virginia - June 9, 1864 - March 25, 1865

Several batters were fought over extensive trenches, including the disastrous Battle of the Crater. Henry Meacham lost his arm to Confederate shelling. Stories: Henry Meacham

12. U.S. Pension Bureau - Washington, D.C. - Founded 1832

The massive Pension Bureau headquarters, opened in 1887, is the size of a city block. It was both an office that housed pension records and a monument to Union soldiers. Stories: U.S. Pension Bureau

 

Massachusetts Sites

Map of Massachusetts, with pins for items 13-21. Text is on this web page.

 

13. Boston

Home of the Guiney family, Holmes family, and origin of the 9th "Fighting Irish" Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The Massachusetts 54th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops is honored with a monument across from the Massachusetts State House. Stories: Patrick Guiney, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Lewis Henry Douglass, William Carney

14. Springfield

Many soldiers from Western Massachusetts enlisted in the Union Army in Springfield. Also see the online exhibit on the Springfield Armory. Stories: Henry Meacham, John Donovan

15. Russell

Home of Henry Meacham, where he ran a successful carriage making business before the war. Stories: Henry Meacham

16. New Bedford

Frederick Douglass and his family lived in coastal New Bedford, Massachusetts before the Civil War. Stories: Lewis Douglass, William Carney

17. Concord

Home of Louisa May Alcott and other prominent activists and writers. Stories: Louisa May Alcott, Hannah Stevenson

18. Lee 

Home of John Donovan and his family during the Civil War. 

19. Harvard University - Cambridge 

The 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was known as the "Harvard Regiment." Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. withdrew from Harvard to enlist. Stories: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 

20. Tewksbury Almshouse - Tewksbury

Opened in 1854 to take in the state's poor and "pauper insane," the Almshouse quickly became overcrowded beyond capacity. An 1883 investigation found scandalously poor conditions and abuse. Stories: Tewksbury Almshouse

21. Chelsea Soldiers' Home - Chelsea

Established in 1882 as a state-run home for Massachusetts veterans. Stories: Chelsea Soldiers' Home


Music and More

Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye - traditional song

Woodcut of a knight in armor with several long, elaborate plumes. Text reads, Johney I Hardly Knew Ye
Early Irish song sheet.

Where are your legs that used to run,
huroo, huroo,
Where are your legs that used to run,
huroo, huroo,
Where are your legs that used to run
when first you went for to carry a gun?
Alas, your dancing days are done, och,
Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

Many versions of this song across the centuries share a lament by a disabled soldier. A patriotic and celebratory song based upon it, under the title, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," was popular during and after the Civil War. 

 

Civil War Facts: 1861-1865

Infographic from National Park Service - Their website lists the info as text

Civil War Facts: 1861-1865. (n.d.). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/facts.htm. Infographic includes data on casualties and more. 

 

 

 

"Massachusetts and the Experience of Civil War Disability"

A white man with gray beard and mustache wears a stocking cap and nylon jacket. He stands before a field and trees at the base of a mountain in Korea.

Historian, Graham Warder, Keene State College.

Link to the recording of Graham Warder from June 30, 2022. (62:06 minutes). See also Warder's article at Disabled Civil War Veterans - Background

 

 

 

 

 

 


Download Maps: People and Institutions as a PDF

Screen shot of the cover of a PDF of the maps. Text from the PDF is on this web page.

 

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