The Invalid Corps (2019)

Everyone thinks they know the story of the Civil War - Four years of America's bloodiest history. Over 600,000 men killed and more than 40,000 men with amputated limbs and even more with other injuries and illnesses. What no one ever asked is "What happened to those disabled men afterwards?" It is July, 1864; a Confederate army of 15,000 men is advancing on Washington DC. The North has already sent every able-bodied soldier to Petersburg. All that is left to defend Washington are clerks, government officials, and the Invalid Corps. Made up of men injured in battle or by disease, these "hopeless cripples" will hold out for a desperate 24 hours until Union General Grant can send reinforcements. With Abraham Lincoln himself on the ramparts of Fort Stevens, they cannot afford to fail. The story of the Invalid Corps offers a poignant perspective allowing us to reassess what we know, or rather what we think we know, about civil war history, disability, sacrifice, and honorable service.