The horrible loss of life inflicted as a result of the Civil War necessitated a revolution in the practical practices of the Undertaker / Embalmer. On the battlefield, upon the aftermath of battle, at hastily set field hospitals and at expansive U. S. Army General Hospitals, the challenge of maintaining traditional practice was exacerbated by the sheer numbers of fallen, distance from home and loved ones and slow communication. Additionally, sanitation and the control of disease under the most challenging of conditions necessitated change in Victorian burial and memorial practices. Temporary burial with simply made markers to facilitate later recovery became commonplace. Notification of family was frequently left to company officers who penned letters to mothers, fathers and unsuspecting wives. Words of comfort and location of burial would highlight a short letter that would frequently be followed by a more detailed account, sometimes including return of personal mementoes of the diseased. The more personal communication would most usually have come from a friend, a hometown mate who had entered and served with the diseased. As circumstances allowed, loved ones were frequently eager to recover remains for return home and reinterment in family burial grounds. This all led to development of more effective embalming techniques and radically innovative coffins. One of the larger and more progressive of burial case supply and development was Crane, Breed & Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1862, the Crane and Breed Company introduced a rectangular box-shaped casket which was chosen for the base for a much embellished casket chosen by the Chief Undertaker of President Lincoln’s burial in 1865.