United States Christian Commission The United States Christian Commission ( USCC ) was an organization that furnished supplies , medical services , and religious literature to Union troops during the American Civil War . It combined religious support with social services and recreational activities . It supplied Protestant chaplain s and social workers and collaborated with the U . S . Sanitary Commission in providing medical services . The Christian Commission was created in response to what the troops suffered in the First Battle of Bull Run . On November 14 , 1861 , the National Committee of the Young Men ' s Christian Association ( YMCA ) called a convention which met in New York City . Leaders outlined the work needed to support the soldiers , the design for the United States Christian Commission , whose organization was completed next day . Two of the founding members were Vincent Colyer , who was appalled by the aftermath of the battle of Bull Run , and George Stuart , a well - to - do businessman . The YMCA and Protestant ministers formed the USCC . Its volunteers were called delegates . Some were seminary students but many were just concerned Christians . As civilians on the battlefield , they did not carry weapons . Five thousand volunteer delegates served during the war . They distributed more than $ 6 million worth of goods and supplies in hospitals , camps , prisons and battlefields . The original plan of the USCC was to help the clergy of the armed services in their daily work , as the chaplaincy program was in its infancy , with only some 30 members , who were quickly overwhelmed by the scale of battles and casualties , and especially by the rapidly increasing number of deaths due to wounds and more so to disease . John Calhoun Chamberlain , brother of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Thomas Chamberlain , heroes of Little Round Top , served with the USCC during the Battle of Gettysburg . During the evening of July 2 , John assisted at the medical field station set up for his brothers ' regiment , the 20th Maine . John filed a report to the central office , describing the activities of the USCC at Gettysburg . This report is found in Chamberlain ' s Christian Commission diary , kept during the battle of Gettysburg and is recorded in Edinborough Press ' book , Gettysburg and the Christian Commission . Women also participated . A national movement started in May 1864 with a view to organizing a Ladies Christian Commission in each evangelical congregation of the North as an auxiliary to the USCC . Increasing the network of collection , fundraising and support was the way the organization responded to meet a growing demand to serve the soldiers . The USCC continued to grow . More than three - quarters of the value of what it collected was distributed during 1864 and the four months of 1865 . It represented both citizens ' recognition of need and a more efficient organization . The Ladies Christian Commission ( LCC ) played a critical role in this success . Louisa May Alcott was among many women who worked with the Commission . Others included Georgia McClellan , the sister of Jenny Wade , the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg , and Sarah Emma Edmonds , who worked as a nurse after serving with the Union Army as a soldier , spy , and as a male nurse under the name " Franklin Thompson . "