Return to Main
Veteran Reserve Corp Regimental Histories

The Invalid Corps

The Invalid Corps, which was the forerunner of the Veteran Reserve Corps, was organized under authority of General Order No. 105, War Department, dated 28 Apr 1863. A similar corps had existed in Revolutionary times.

The Invalid Corps of the Civil War period was created to make suitable use in a military or semi-military capacity of soldiers who had been rendered unfit for active field service on account of wounds or disease contracted in line of duty, but who were still fit for garrison or other light duty, and were, in the opinion of their commanding officers, meritorious and deserving.

Those serving in the Invalid Corps were divided into two classes; Class 1, partially disable soldiers whose periods of service had not yet expired, and who were transferred directly to the Corps there to complete their terms of enlistment; Class 2, soldiers who had been discharged from the service on account of wounds, disease, or other disabilities, but who were yet able to perform light military duty and desired to do so. As the war went on, it proved that the additions to the Corps hardly equaled the losses by discharge or otherwise, so it was finally ordered that the men who had had two years of honorable service in the Army or Marine Corps might enlist in the Invalid Corps without regard to disability.

The soldiers shown in the rosters of the 15^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry where they originally enlisted and who then transferred to the V. R. C. belong to Class 1. The Title Veteran Reserve Corps was substituted for that of Invalid Corps by General Order No. 111, dated 18 Mar 1864.

The men serving in the Veteran Reserve Corps were organized into two battalions, the First Battalion including those whose disabilities were comparatively slight and who were still able to handle a musket and do some marching, also to perform guard or provost duty. The Second Battalion was made up of men whose disabilities were more serious, who had perhaps lost limbs or suffered some other grave injury. These latter were commonly employed as cooks, orderlies, nurses, or guards in public buildings. There were from first to last from two to three times as many men in the First Battalion as in the Second, and the soldiers in the First Battalion performed a wide variety of duties. They furnished guards for the Confederate prison camps at Johnson’s Island, OH, Elmira, NY, Point Lookout, MD, and elsewhere. They furnished details to the provost marshals to arrest bounty jumpers and to enforce the draft. They escorted substitutes, recruits, and prisoners to and from the front. They guarded railroads, did patrol duty in Washington DC, and even manned the defenses of the city during Early’s raid in July, 1864.

There were first and last twenty-four regiments in the Corps. In the beginning each regiment was made up of six companies of the First Battalion and four of the Second Battalion, but in the latter part of the war, this method of organization was not strictly adhered to. The 18^th Regiment, for example, which rendered exceptionally good service at Belle Plain, Port Royal, and White House Landing, VA, in the spring and early summer of 1864, and in or near Washington DC in the latter part of the summer and through the fall of that year, was made up of only six Second Battalion companies.

Further information on the Veteran Reserve Corps may be found in Volume V, Series III, of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, pages 543 to 568.

Excerpted from:

Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War, Compiled and published by The Adjutant General in accordance with Chapter 475, Acts of 1899 and Chapter 64, Resolves of 1930, Vol. VII, Norwood Press, Printed at the Norwood Press, 1931,.

The Uniforms of the Veteran Reserve Corp

Lt. John G. W. Bassler 4th Veteran Reserve Corps Regiment

Imported French Shako similar to those used by Veteran Reserve Corp

Lt. Bassler (right) is wearing the regulation Veteran Reserve Corps officers sky blue uniform, which was authorized by General Orders Number 158 of May 29, 1863.. It has dark blue collar and cuffs and the shoulder straps have a dark blue field. The non commissioned officers of the corps wore dark blue chevrons on sky blue uniforms. Established April 1863 with the unpopular name Invalid Corps and composed of wounded soldier, the corps received the euphemistic redesignation Veteran Reserve Corps in March of 1864. The sky blue uniform proved unpopular and by the end of the war officers used the standard uniform. Twenty-four regiments were organized during the war and on at least one occasion troops were under fire.

Officers also wore sky blue; a frock coat "Of sky-blue cloth, with dark blue velvet collar and cuffs, in all other respects according to the present pattern for officers of infantry. Shoulder straps were also to match current patterns but "worked on dark-blue velvet." Officers of the 24th Regiment, V.R.C. also wore gold epaulets on parade.

Eventually officers were allowed to wear the standard dark-blue frock, ostensibly because sky-blue frocks soiled easily. Some officers had their frocks cut down to make uniforms or shell jackets. By the war's end, however, the Army was still making sky-blue officers' frocks.

The bands of the Veteran Reserve Corp were often elaborately dressed, their being no special regulations governing their attire.

The 9th Regimental band of the Veteran Reserve Corp here handsomely attired in (sky) blue jackets trimmed with black facings and three rows of brass buttons, shako hat with plume, and brass eagle ornament, epaulettes, and sky blue pants with dark stripe
The 10th Regimental Band of the Veteran Reserve Corp with dark blue coats and pants; white gloves and red sashes. Also gold braid on sleeves and bottom of frock coats and plume holding shako. Note: Curious people looking at photographer in window to left as picture was snapped.
The 10th Regimental Band of the Veteran Reserve Corp with standard dark blue fatigue blouses. Some of the bearded individuals are the same in both pictures.
These are the Non-Commissioned Officers of the 10th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps. V.R.C. troops also wore shorter standard dark blue fatigue blouses from time to time. Standard forage caps were to be decorated with the brass infantry horn, regimental number, and company letter. Note: Small girl with rolling hoop and boy on right of picture.
At the right is the standard, 9 button, Non-Commissioned Officer's Fatigue Blouse. Note that the NCOs in the above picture are wearing a much shorter 4 button blouse with sky blue chevrons.