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Posts Tagged ‘Missing Soldiers Office’
In August of 1863, President Lincoln praised the efforts of the Union Navy: “…Nor must Uncle Sam’s Web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow muddy bayou, and wherever the […]
The only weapon on display at the museum is a rusty socket bayonet discovered in 1996 by Richard Lyons in the attic with the rest of Clara Barton’s belongings It can now be found in a case on the third floor. As the building was a boarding house during the Civil War, […]
The end of the Civil War brought an end to the dangers Clara Barton faced as a volunteer army nurse, but it did not bring an end to her work. In March 1865, with the support of President Lincoln, she accomplished the monumental task of establishing the Missing Soldiers Office—just weeks before […]
During the Civil War years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers wrote letters home, many containing card-sized photos of themself. By the end of the conflict, thousands of letters and images remained undelivered at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. For decades after the war, the employees of the Dead Letter Office […]
When thinking of reasons why people wrote the Missing Soldiers Office (MSO), it is assumed that they were family looking for loved ones. The search for Lieutenant Grover Young (or Youngs) of the 5th Kansas Cavalry initiated from a decidedly less personal source – a newspaper. Why would a newspaper be concerned […]
Battle-Tempered: The Physical and Psychological Consequences of War Join the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and partner organizations for a unique one-day conference. 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM Monocacy National Battlefield “Character, Warrior Identity, and Moral Leadership: Union Colonel Charles Gilpin at Monocacy and in Peace” Stephen A. Goldman, MD 9:30 […]
At the Medical Lake Cemetery in Spokane, Washington, a family who migrated from Maine in the 1870s is laid to rest. Among the headstones stands a cenotaph for the eldest child: Madison Frederick Boissonnault. While they honored the passing of their soldier kin, you will not find Madison’s remains in Washington State […]
On January 30, 1865, Washington was abuzz with gossip. A government clerk named Adoniram Burroughs had been shot twice at the Treasury Department. At a time when death was seemingly everywhere due to the war, this incident managed to stand out. A key detail traveled with the story: the killer was a […]
In 1866, New Jersey became the last Northern state to officially abolish slavery. Decades of a “modified” institution allowed for a slow gradual emancipation process and a transitional status from enslaved to “apprenticed for life.” This delay did not inhibit enslaved and free populations from enlisting in the Union Army.[1] Private Joseph […]
On December 18, 1865, following the ratification of the 13th Amendment, President Andrew Johnson addressed the United States Senate. He declared: I have the honor to state that the rebellion waged by a portion of the people against the properly constituted authority of the Government of the United States has been suppressed; […]
