Taken by themselves, Union veterans’ psychological symptoms would encourage any advocate of the universal soldier. Numerous veterans suffered from depression, flashbacks, irritability, sleeplessness, and other indicators that seem to tie Union veterans’ era to ours. But most causes of these symptoms were firmly situated in the nineteenth century. A few veterans could trace their distress to a traumatizing event or a blast-wave injury, but they were far outnumbered by disorders originating in conditions such as unhealed wounds or chronic diarrhea. The nature of these cases divorces them from later eras, and their wide variety precludes anointing any cause or symptom as a signature mental illness. Yet a postbellum hallmark need not be specified narrowly. Our findings on suicide suggest a defining feature of the Civil War’s psychological harm. The Civil War’s psychological cost is exemplified not by a single disorder but by the severity of veterans’ mental illness in all its forms. A wide array of tangible and intangible damages afflicted the men we have encountered in this study. Their rate of suicides attests to the extraordinary affliction of some veterans and hints at a broader severity among others.