Join us in welcoming Dr. Stephen A. Goldman, M.D., as he presents Fit for Duty: The Union Veteran Reserve Corps in the Civil War and Reconstruction.

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 come into existence in April 1863, and within a year became the Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC). Despite general derision from able-bodied field unit comrades, the Union VRC 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. 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.

Biography

Stephen A. Goldman, M.D., a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, has treated and worked with those who have been under fire, and is the only physician to serve on the Abraham Lincoln Institute Board of Directors. As a historian, he has deeply studied the Civil War, Reconstruction, race, and the multi-faceted impact of combat on American veterans spanning 160 years. 

His unique expertise is exemplified in the groundbreaking book, One More War to Fight: Union Veterans’ Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause, which examines former Northern soldiers’ and sailors’ landmark political activism, and their powerful, motivating warrior identity.