Overview

In the final year of the American Civil War, a special Union Army post was constructed just outside Philadelphia to handle a jumble of returning citizen-soldiers. Many soldiers bore bullet wounds, broken bones, and other scars of combat. Some had lost limbs. Some were laid low by illness. Hundreds arrived half-dead as survivors of wretched prison camps. Others were blessedly unscathed-but all grappled with the fresh, ferocious memories of their time at war. The post, known as Camp Discharge, did its best to move the young Union veterans on to their next assignment or, more often, back to civilian life. During its brief existence, it sat on a bluff overlooking what is today one of the nation's busiest highways, the Schuylkill Expressway. The post was quickly dismantled, its story forgotten. The authors reclaim that remarkable history and trace the often tumultuous lives of the Pennsylvania volunteer soldiers who passed through Camp Discharge's gates.

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9781620065396

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Reviews

By adding the details of these soldiers and their noble service to the nation, the book brings many poignant facts to the surface. It details many hardships these men endured and the agony of what seemed like interminable waiting for their release. - Anthony Waskie, Ph.D., historian of Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum & Library, Philadelphia This is raw history with no battles, no generals, no marching bands and without the glamor...just the reality of the everyday courage that was needed in order to survive the physical and psychological trauma of conflict. These men were the heroes and the victims and their story needs to be told and not forgotten. - Jerry Francis, president, Lower Merion (Pa.) Historical Society

Author Information

Jim Remsen is a journalist and author of three prior books, The Intermarriage Handbook (HarperCollins, 1988), Visions of Teaoga (Sunbury, 2014), and Embattled Freedom (Sunbury 2017). Since retiring as Religion Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jim has pursued his keen interest in history, especially underappreciated aspects of our nation's local histories. Brad Upp is a board member of the Lower Merion Historical Society and a former educator. His upbringing near Camp Discharge stoked a fascination with history and led him to become a Civil War historian, relic hunter and re-enactor representing the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry. Brad is a skilled collector of artifacts from various periods of history, a passion that has taken him to a myriad of locations throughout the United States.

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