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April 1865. "Richmond, Va. Crowd before headquarters of the U.S. Christian Commission." An offshoot of the YMCA that provided medical and spiritual support to Union troops during the Civil War. Wet plate negative. View full size.
The Christian Commission felt the need to compete with the US Sanitary Commission (largely the Unitarians and the Universalists) but the end result was that they both did great work for the wounded and ill Union soldiers.
Was the cap worn by so many of the boys fashion of the day or were they involved fighting?
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