A Youthful Veteran

This young member of the Union’s Veteran’s Reserve Corps wears a 2nd Corps badge on his cap, indicating he served in it before he joined the VRC, which was initially known as the Invalid Corps. Members of the VRC were issued distinctive sky-blue jackets, as this soldier wears, and were organized into two battalions. First Battalion men had slight disabilities and could still serve duty in positions like prison guards. Second Battalion soldiers were those who had suffered much graver injuries, even amputations. They might have served as orderlies or cooks.