[8] Curtin organized the Pennsylvania Reserves into combat units, and oversaw the construction of the first Union military camp for training militia.

It opened in an agricultural school nearby Harrisburg as Camp Curtin on April 18, 1861, and more than 300,000 men were drilled there during 4 years.

In the years that followed, Curtin became a close friend and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, visiting the White House several times in order to converse about the status of the war effort.

Through his agent, David Wills, Curtin persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to attend the dedication of the cemetery.

Secretary of State Eli Slifer handled governmental affairs during the increasingly frequent periods when Curtin was incapacitated.

He formed the Pennsylvania State Agency in Washington, and another branch in Nashville, Tennessee, to provide support for wounded soldiers on the battlefield and returned home.

He also founded the state-funded Orphan's School to aid and educate children of military men who had died for the Union cause.

[11] After the Civil War, Curtin lost his party's Senate nomination to Simon Cameron, and was appointed Ambassador to Russia by President Ulysses S. Grant.