{"value"=>"<p>Historical note</p> <p>The USSC’s Special Relief Department, also known as the Special Relief Service, originated in services provided to sick and wounded soldiers passing through Washington in the summer of 1861 by Frederick N. Knapp, Special Relief Agent and later Superintendent of all USSC special relief services. Under his guidance, the Department strove to meet the needs of individual soldiers in transit to their homes or other destinations, chiefly those who were furloughed, discharged, ill or disabled. Its goal was to reduce unnecessary suffering among servicemen who found themselves in \"irregular circumstances\" or whose needs, for various reasons, fell outside the compass of ordinary government provisions or responsibilities. The Department provided temporary shelter, food, medical care and transportation assistance in a growing system of homes, lodges and relief stations, and helped soldiers and sailors procure back pay, bounty, and other monies due to them, leading to the creation of the USSC’s Pension Agency. Lodging and other aid was also extended to female relatives of soldiers in Washington and hospital nurses in need. Knapp and others in the USSC also planned services to meet the health and employment needs of discharged disabled servicemen upon their return home. Special relief services similar to those provided in Washington were developed by USSC agencies, branches, and departments, in the North and in the field, according to need. Some continued after the war’s end.</p> <p>As the officer in charge of USSC relief work, Knapp was particularly involved in building the USSC’s relief system in Washington. Initially working from the Central Office with the assistance of Francis Fowler, he established the USSC’s first lodge, called “The Home,” at 374 North Capitol Street in September 1861. It operated until mid-October 1865, largely under the supervision of J. Boylston Clark, who reported to Knapp. Soldiers in need of rest or medical care while in transit, or who were delayed in Washington awaiting pay or discharge papers, were able to stay for a limited time. A hospital ward, known as the Home Hospital, was attached for those who became ill; many had just been released from hospitals and were not well enough to travel immediately. The USSC notified families and arranged for burials or transportation of bodies when deaths occurred.</p> <p>The USSC established its homes and lodges near Army transit points, such as railroad stations, wharves, convalescent camps and Army Paymaster offices, so that soldiers did not have to travel far to find a place to rest, or get assistance with their pay claims. Over the course of the war, as the Army changed its arrangements, lodges were opened, moved or closed to serve those locations. The Home (Lodge Number 1) and Lodge Number 4 were the largest stations and were in operation for most of the war. Smaller lodges operated by the Department in the Washington area included Lodge Numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and an early Home for Nurses in Washington, and the Alexandria Lodge and others in Virginia. A home for female relatives and children of soldiers, also serving nurses, was established at the Home on North Capitol Street in December 1863. In addition to these services, the Department arranged immediate support of food and other aid for sick men transported to Washington in large numbers from battlefields or distant hospitals, or arriving with newly-formed regiments.</p> <p>By February 1863, with the growth of services and the removal of the Paymaster’s Office from F Street to H Street between 13th and 14th Streets, the Department decided to open a new lodge nearby to replace Lodge Number 3. The Army’s Quartermaster Department built a complex of buildings for the USSC within the Paymaster’s compound: a Special Relief Office, Lodge Number 4 for discharged soldiers, the USSC’s Pension Agency with an office for a Medical Examiner, and a railroad ticket office, all at 389 H Street.</p> <p>As Knapp took on more responsibilities, creating the Agency for the Purchase of Fresh Hospital Supplies in early 1863, and taking on the position of Associate Secretary at the Central Office (October 1863-December 1864), the administration of many services fell to his chief assistant J.B. (Joseph B.) Abbott, who was in charge of the Special Relief Office. Abbott and and his staff assisted soldiers, sailors and their relatives who came to the Office for information, advice and various types of aid. William K. Neal and others oversaw work in Abbott’s absence.</p> <p>Special Relief Office employees processed applications for aid in collecting claims for back pay, bounty, clothing, commutation of rations and naval prize money; provided reduced transportation fares; handled inquiries about soldiers’ condition and whereabouts; and corresponded with numerous individuals and offices. They worked to correct any irregularities in a soldier’s military papers which prevented them from getting their pay or a proper discharge from the service. They extended their relief efforts to Navy personnel and to returning prisoners of war, while referring invalid pension claims, and any claims by the relatives of deceased servicemen, to the Department’s Pension Agency (later the Army and Navy Claim Agency). The Department also created a “Hospital Back Pay and Bounty” service, in which USSC agents went to army hospitals in Washington and elsewhere to help sick soldiers get their papers in order to procure back pay and bounty; these and other services prevented unnecessary delays or hardship upon their release.</p> <p>The Department tried to ensure that soldiers under its care made it safely to their homes and other destinations, while avoiding any unnecessary lingering in Washington. It supplied discounted railroad fares or donated the necessary amount for those lacking funds, and arranged for ‘through-tickets’ covering all stages of a soldier’s train trip to his final destination. After the war ended, it established a hospital car transport service for sick and wounded soldiers travelling north and west from Washington, under the care of USSC couriers. In exceptional cases, the Office tapped money from the USSC’s discretionary Ware Fund for persons or situations falling outside of the Commission’s requirements for aid. This was often used to provide small amounts of cash for travelling expenses and other necessities.</p> <p>Knapp and others were also concerned about the continued needs of discharged servicemen, especially the sick and disabled, in their home communities. Employment bureaus were planned and opened by the USSC and its branches. Knapp advocated the creation of “sanitaria” for discharged soldiers suffering from chronic ailments. In its role of “inquiry and advice,” the USSC created questionnaires to determine the condition and plans of discharged disabled soldiers, which were used to interview several thousand such men at Lodges.</p> <p>In October 1865, Abbott assisted General Secretary John S. Blatchford in closing USSC Central Office premises at 244 F Street, in the position of chief executive officer, while still acting as assistant to Knapp. The Special Relief Department brought most of its relief services to a close that month, and relinquished its buildings at 389 H Street and elsewhere. At that time, the Special Relief Office ceased accepting new applications for back pay, bounty and similar claims, referring those to ANCA. Remaining Special Relief Office staff moved to ANCA premises to continue work on existing cases, joined by some Central Office staff. By November 1865 Knapp was at the the USSC’s Historical Bureau in New York City, embarking on writing a history of the USSCs’ Special Relief Service. Abbott, who joined the Department in 1862, continued in his position until the end of January 1866, when Special Relief claim services were fully transferred to ANCA; that same month he transferred to the USSC’s New York (Historical Bureau) office to manage USSC special relief services in the City.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Scope and content note</p> <p>Special Relief Department materials document the variety of aid provided to soldiers, sailors, and civilians passing through Washington and its environs by Frederick N. Knapp, superintendent of all USSC special relief work, and his staff.</p> <p>The bulk of the records document the administration of special relief services in Washington, especially the work of J.B. Abbott and staff at the Special Relief Office in managing requests for assistance and processing back pay and bounty, naval, prisoner of war and other claims; and the operation of USSC homes and lodges for soldiers in Washington and Alexandria, including lodging and relief assistance for female relatives of soldiers and hospital nurses. Also represented are Knapp’s planning for the care of discharged disabled soldiers in their communities, as seen in questionnaires used to interview such men at USSC lodges; and the Department’s transportation services, notably its post-war hospital car transport system for sick soldiers heading north or west from Washington. Financial records document transmittal of claim monies, office operations, and loans or gifts of money to soldiers and civilians in need, for travel and other necessities.</p> <p>The Special Relief Office’s response to requests for assistance by soldiers, sailors and civilians, by mail and in person, and their efforts to help soldiers and sailors procure back pay, bounty and other monies due to them, are chiefly documented in Letters and reports, 1862-1866, and Special relief and claim administration records, 1862-1866. Letters and reports consist of a series of numbered letters and reports received, 1862 Jan-1866 Feb; copies of letters sent by Abbott and his staff 1863 Jan-1866 Jan; registers of letters received and sent; and a small number of Department reports on office and lodge operations, 1863-1865. Correspondence is chiefly directed to or written by Abbott and his staff, some letters were referred to them by other USSC offices. Correspondents include soldiers, civilians, USSC staff, government and military personnel, and others. Letters concern requests for information and assistance, obtaining and transmitting papers needed from various parties for back pay and other claims, correction of soldiers’ military papers, USSC internal communications and procedures, and other matters. Special relief and claim administration records include journals documenting individual cases handled each day; a register of remittances for back pay and bounty; registers and journals documenting the Office’s Hospital Back Pay and Bounty services for patients in Washington and some northern states; registers of prisoner of war claims and naval claims for prize money and other reimbursements; records of money forwarded to claimants and office transactions completed; documents certifying a soldier’s status in support of a claim application; and miscellaneous items.</p> <p>The Department’s daily operation of Homes and Lodges in Washington and Alexandria are typically documented in admission registers and general record books concerning statistical summaries of lodgings and meals provided, supplies received and government rations drawn, and cash accounts. Admission registers identify soldiers’ name and military unit, or civilian name, and may include residence, destination, reason for stay, and other remarks. Records are present for the Home and Home Hospital, Lodges 2, 3, 4, 6, the Home for Soldiers’ Wives and Mothers, and the Alexandria Lodge. The Home for Soldiers’ Wives and Mothers also sheltered children who accompanied them, and occasionally southern refugees. The largest body of records concern the Home and Home Hospital, which additionally include correspondence, roll books and financial records, and Home Hospital records documenting patients’ medical treatment by physicians, deaths and interments.</p> <p>Investigations into the health and employment needs of discharged disabled soldiers are documented in the Department’s Form K questionnaires and abstracts, concerning the means of support of several thousand such men who were interviewed at USSC homes and lodges from 1863-1865.</p> <p>Transportation services are documented in couriers’ records of patients transported on hospital cars to points north and west, and records of fares and funds provided to soldiers and civilians lacking funds to return home.</p> <p>Special Relief Office finances and services are also represented by Office cash books in account with the Central Office and the Ware Fund, and receipt books for cash paid out by Abbott for back pay to soldiers and special relief assistance, including transportation needs, as well as office salaries and expenses.</p> <p>Records documenting local special relief activities can be found throughout the United States Sanitary Commission records. For the Washington area in particular, researchers may also wish to consult Knapp and Abbott’s correspondence and the series of Numbered Documents in the Central Office records, as well as the Army and Navy Claim Agency record group (MssCol 18809), incorporating the records of the Pension Agency, founded by the Special Relief Department.</p>"}