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The Treasury Guards was a regiment of male employees of the
Department of the Treasury, formed into a militia during the
Civil War, to be available to assist in the defense of Washington.
The Treasury Guards, with other departmental units, were called
up to protect Federal buildings in July 1864 when Confederate
General Jubal Early threatened to invade Washington. Their ongoing
responsibilities undoubtedly included protection of the Treasury
building itself, employees, stock of currency and coin, and
currency manufacturing operations from attack.
Despite their “national defense” mission, the armed
Treasury Guards did not become a part of any military organization.
All male Treasury employees, 18-45, except those exempted for
health reasons, were required to join the Treasury Guards. Although
it was a common practice for a gentleman to be allowed to pay
another person to serve in his place when he was drafted into
the Union Army, such exemption from service in the Treasury
Guards was not provided to Treasury’s male employees.
The Treasury Guards, numbering about 1,000, drilled at least
two days each week for several hours after the regular business
hours. The exact location of their drills does not appear to
have been documented. Through rigorous drills and training,
the group was brought to a high state of discipline and efficiency
for service in the event of an emergency. Contrary to the views
of many, there are no records that indicate that the Treasury
Guards had responsibilities for delivering payroll to Union
troops in the field.
The women clerks of Treasury bought a flag for the Treasury
Guards. It was 6 by 6 ½ feet, on a navy blue field, with
a large spread-wing American eagle in the center holding a sheaf
of arrows in the right claw and an olive branch in the left.
Below the eagle, “U.S. TREASURY GUARDS” was inscribed
in white ribbon. This flag was loaned to Ford’s Theater
on Tenth Street on April 14, 1865, as part of the decoration
of the President’s box. It was this flag that assassin
John Wilkes Booth caught the spur of his boot, as he leaped
from the box onto the stage, after firing the mortal shots into
President Abraham Lincoln, causing a 3 ½ inch tear in
the upper right edge of the flag, and (perhaps) a fracture in
Booth’s leg. The original of this flag is now on exhibit
in the Lincoln Museum in the lower level of Ford’s Theater,
and duplicates of the flag have been placed on the restored
Presidential box in the main theatre area, just as it had been
displayed on the day that Lincoln was shot, as well as in the
Andrew Johnson suite in the Treasury Building.
On September 27, 1865, Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch requested
that the Treasury Guards be disbanded. Secretary of War Edwin
Stanton disbanded the unit by Special Order 548 on October 16,
1865. This was one more step in the process by which the Nation
reunited its states of the North and the South to build a strong
union.
Reprinted from the Treasury Historical
Association Newsletter, April 2004, used with permission.
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