Eight years after the opening of West Penn Hospital, America was at war with itself. While the fighting didn't come to Pittsburgh, wounded soldiers did, and West Penn became a primary triage center serving Union forces. Because of its size, and because it was a public hospital not bound by religious affiliations, the United States government commandeered West Penn Hospital in 1862, making alterations to it and turning it into a military hospital for the next three years. (Civilians could still be treated at West Penn in emergency situations). By the end of the Civil War in 1865, some 3,000 soldiers had been treated at West Penn. Some never recovered to full health, staying in the east wing of the hospital in what became known as the Soldiers Home.