and established by surviving members of the
54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in 1871 (R. Andre Stevens Civil War Collection) After the end of the American Civil War, various state and local organizations were formed for veterans to network and maintain connections with each other. Many of the veterans used their shared experiences as a basis for fellowship. Groups of men began joining, first for camaraderie and later for political power. Emerging as most influential among the various organizations during the first post-war years was the Grand Army of the Republic, founded on April 6, 1866, on the principles of "Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty," in
Decatur, Illinois, by Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson. The GAR almost disappeared in the early 1870s, and many state-centered divisions, named "departments", and local posts ceased to exist. displayed at the 1893 GAR National Convention in
Indianapolis, Indiana ,
Michigan In the 1880s, the Union veterans' organization revived under new leadership that provided a platform for renewed growth, by advocating Federal
pensions for veterans. As the organization revived, black veterans joined in significant numbers and organized local posts. In at least one case, in
Ohio, an African American was elected as the commander of a predominately white post. This was Robert A. Pinn of Hart Post 124 in Massillon, Ohio. While the national organization may have failed to press the case for pensions for black soldiers, many of them did receive federal pensions, and the papers in these pension files are now a rich source for African American genealogical research. Some sources emphasize that these pensions for black soldiers were less frequent than for their white counterparts. The GAR was organized into "Departments" at the state level and "Posts" at the community level, and military-style uniforms were worn by its members. There were posts in every state in the U.S., and several posts overseas. The pattern of establishing departments and local posts was later used by other American military veterans' organizations, such as the
Veterans of Foreign Wars (organized originally for veterans of the
Spanish–American War and the
Philippine Insurrection) and the later
American Legion (for the
First World War and later expanded to include subsequent
World War II,
Korean,
Vietnam and Middle Eastern wars). The GAR's political power grew during the latter part of the 19th century, and it helped elect several United States presidents, beginning with the 18th,
Ulysses S. Grant, and ending with the 25th,
William McKinley. Six Civil War veterans (Grant,
Rutherford B. Hayes,
James A. Garfield,
Chester A. Arthur;
Benjamin Harrison, and McKinley) were elected
President of the United States; all were Republicans. (The sole post-war
Democratic president was
Grover Cleveland--he bought a substitute and did not serve in the Civil War, but he did veto many pension laws passed by Congress.) Of the six mentioned US Presidents, at least five were members of the GAR but there is no record of membership for Chester Arthur, who was a Union general: •
Ulysses S. Grant (Lt General of the Union Armies) Became a member of the Philadelphia PA George G. Meade Post GAR Post # 1 May 16, 1877 •
Rutherford B. Hayes (Brevet Major General) Became a Member of the Fremont Ohio Manville Moore GAR Post •
James A. Garfield (Major General) Possibly a member of the GAR – a GAR Post publication refers to the death of Comrade James Garfield, President of the United States •
Benjamin Harrison (Brevet Brigadier General) Became a member of the Indianapolis Indiana General George H. Thomas GAR Post •
William McKinley. (Brevet Major of the 23d Ohio) Became a member of the Canton Ohio GAR Post # 25 July 7, 1880 [It was later renamed McKinley GAR Post # 25] With membership strictly limited to soldiers, sailors or Marines who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue Cutter Service of the United States of America during the War of the Rebellion 1861–1865, the GAR encouraged the formation of Allied Orders to aid them in various works. Numerous male organizations jousted for the backing of the GAR, and the political battles became quite severe until the GAR finally endorsed the
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War as its heir. The GAR, according to Stuart McConnell, promoted, "a nationalism that honored white, native-stock, middle-class males and ...affirmed a prewar ideal of a virtuous, millennial Republic, based on the independent producer, entrepreneurial capitalism, and the citizen-soldier volunteer."
Female members The GAR had at least three women who were members. The first female known to be admitted to the GAR was
Kady Brownell, who served in the Union Army with her husband Robert, a private in the
1st Rhode Island Infantry at the
First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia and with the
5th Rhode Island Infantry at the
Battle of New Berne in North Carolina. Brownell was admitted as a member in 1870 to Elias Howe Jr. Post #3, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The GAR insignia is engraved on her gravestone in the
North Burial Ground in
Providence, Rhode Island. In 1897 the GAR admitted
Sarah Emma Edmonds, who served in the 2nd Michigan Infantry as a disguised man named
Franklin Thompson from May 1861 until April 1863. In 1882, she collected affidavits from former comrades in an effort to petition for a veteran's pension which she received in July 1884. Edmonds was only a member for a brief period as she died September 5, 1898; however she was given a funeral with military honors when she was reburied in Houston in 1901. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. She treated soldiers from both sides of the conflict, as well as civilians, and was captured by Confederate troops in 1864. Prior to her death in 1919, she was admitted to the Grand Army of the Republic. Mary Bostwick Shellman was made an associate member of the Wilson Post No. 1 of the Department of Maryland Grand Army, circa 1899, for her lifelong work caring for soldiers and veterans, first as a teenage volunteer nurse and later for creating and continuing to lead one of the nation's oldest Decoration Day Parades in Westminster, Maryland. She made remembering and caring for veterans her life's work and saved at least five Union soldiers from having "pauper burials." It is possible that other women were members of the GAR, as well. File:Kady Brownell CDV.jpg|Kady Brownwell File:Sarah Edmonds.jpg|Sarah Emma Edmonds
Later years The GAR reached its largest enrollment in 1890, with 410,000 members. It held a "National Encampment" in 1866 and then every year from 1868 to 1949. Interesting anecdotes from the war were told around the many campfires at these reunions and compiled in a book of campfire "chats", including descriptions of the festivities at the 1884–1886 encampments in
Minneapolis,
Portland, Maine and
San Francisco. At the final encampment (the 83rd), in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, in 1949, the few surviving attendees voted to retain the existing officers in place until the organization's dissolution. Theodore Penland of
Oregon, the GAR's Commander at the time, was therefore its last. In 1956, after the death of the last member,
Albert Woolson, the GAR was formally dissolved. ==Memorials, honors and commemorations==