The Civil War did not leave Flatbush unscathed. In 1861, the Union Movement in Brooklyn was growing rapidly.[i] Six hundred men in Brooklyn, including some from Flatbush, joined together to create the only local volunteer regiment in the city and women of Flatbush made one thousand and six hundred havelocks—a cloth attached to a hat to block the sun—for the soldiers.[ii]
Six hundred men in Brooklyn, including some from Flatbush, joined together to create the only local volunteer regiment in the city and women of Flatbush made one thousand and six hundred havelocks—a cloth attached to a hat to block the sun—for the soldiers.
In February 1865, the Times reported that fourteen men from Flatbush had been drafted.[iii] In 1864, a lengthy article was published in The Times that described the maladies of soldiers and the services provided for them.[iv] The article also emphasized the need for nurses and other health practitioners to help the war effort.
Strangely enough, the article also gives brief mention to the Flatbush Lunatic Asylum, saying, “I have deliberately to put on record about the profoundest satisfaction with professional capacity, completeness of house arrangements to ends required, and the right vital spirit animating all, that I have yet found in any public curative institution among civilians.” The article never explicitly states that soldiers experiencing mental disorders were sent there, but there would be no other reason for this reference to the asylum in this article if not to commend its services to the wounded soldiers. In the next few sentences, the author of the article describes how reading to wounded soldiers, playing games, or even talking with them could help the soldiers to relax and get well.
Image taken by Wally Gobetz as found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/181246155/
In 1875, the tenth anniversary of the close of the Civil War called for a touching ceremony honoring dead soldiers in Green-Wood Cemetery, including those from Flatbush.[v] Brooklyn Mayor John Hunter and several ministers were in attendance and spoke to the crowd of more than 10,000 people in the cemetery, a testament to how many residents were affected by war.
[i] “The Union Movement in Brooklyn,” New York Times, September 29, 1861.
[ii] Fisher, Flatbush: Past and Present, 85.
[iii] “The Draft in Kings County and Their Quotas,” New York Times, February 15, 1865.
[iv] “Our Wounded and Sick Soldiers,” New York Times, December 11, 1864.
[v] “Dead Heroes in Green-Wood,” New York Times, June 1, 1875.
