Given for What We Gave: Disabled Soldiers in the American Military

Military History has often focused on the battles and successes of able-bodied soldiers throughout all of warfare. The stories that fall to the wayside are those of the disabled soldiers who are a byproduct of those battles and wars. The Invalid Corps, a relatively unknown institution, arose as a result of all the wounded and disabled of combat. While its creation stemmed from the armies of Europe, it was the Union Army of the American Civil War that took this idea and maximized its potential. By analyzing twelve primary sources, as well as 27 secondary sources the author validates his statement that the Union Army truly took the concept of the Invalid Corps to its full potential.