The Grand
Army of the Republic [the GAR] was founded April 6th 1866 in
Decatur, Illinois.
When the
Civil War came to an end the veterans wishing to stay in contact created many
organizations. These groups were created
at first for sake of camaraderie and their shared experiences, but later became
a political power. The eventual leaders of the organizations was the GAR which was
founded by Benjamin F Stephenson in Decatur, Illinois on April 6th
1866.
The GAR,
which welcomed both black and white Union veterans, quickly became an arm of
the Republican Party. They worked
towards voting righted for all black Union veterans. In the 1880’s the GAR began to work on
federal pensions and with the founding of old soldiers’ homes.
The members
of the GAR wore military style uniforms at meetings. The organization could be found in every one
of the State as well as several foreign countries. At the state level the GAR groups were known
as “Departments”, at the local level they were called “Posts”. “Posts” were numbered consecutively as they
formed, with the rule that each of the “Posts” be named for an honored deceased
person. The GAR even had one woman who
was a member, Sarah Emma Edmonds, who had fought in the Civil War as part of
the 2nd Michigan Infantry under the name of Franklin Thompson. In the 1890’s the GAR had about 490,000
members, all honorably discharged Union veterans. They held National Encampments, annually from
1866 to 1949. These Encampments were
multiday events with formal dinners and memorial services. The last Commander of the GAR was Theodore
Penland of Oregon, and last member was Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota who
was 109 years old when he died in 1856.
If you’re
interested in reading more, check out the web site A Brief History of the Grand Army of the Republic
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