Photograph of James Tanner in 1895. Tanner was a Union Army soldier who lost both legs below the knee in August 1862 during the Second Battle of Bull Run. He became a stenographer and worked for the U.S. federal government. He took stenographic notes during the first 12 hours of the investigation into the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. He later served as a U.S. customs clerk and collector, as U.S. Commissioner of Pensions, and in other roles for veterans' groups and the American Red Cross.