Editing Union army (section)

===Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands===
{{main|Freedmen's Bureau}}
In March 1865 the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by Congress with a mandate to see to the needs of all Black freedmen and white refugees, and the management of all lands within the rebel states which had been abandoned or otherwise come into the possession of the United States.  It consisted of a commissioner as head of the bureau, an assistant commissioner for each of the rebel states, and a small staff of one chief and nine other clerks.  Additionally, any military officer could be assigned to duty on behalf of the bureau.  Major General [[Oliver Otis Howard]] was appointed to head the bureau at its creation and lead it throughout its lifetime.  While the Freedmen's Bureau was the center of much controversy during the [[Reconstruction era]] and some of the relief it provided was less than satisfactory, its most important contribution was in providing education to many Blacks and poor whites.<ref name="Newell107">Newell & Shrader, p. 106-107</ref>