Members Only: Civil War Veterans’ Organizations

ECW welcomes back guest author Mike Busovicki.

Victorian-Era Americans were some of the first to enjoy leisure time, and the latter half of the 1800s was the golden era of social and benevolent societies. While a regimented lifestyle seems unlikely to persist in civilian life, Gilded-Age society prioritized self-control and order.^[1] Veteran organizations were useful in asserting political influence to resolve collective problems faced by their comrades.

The first Civil War veterans group was formed with armies still in the field. Suspicions of rebel conspiracies were rampant in the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Originally intended to serve as an honor guard for the president’s funeral, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States was formed in April 1865 by commissioned officers re-affirming their commitment to the post-war union. The following year, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was formed, welcoming members of all ranks and promising to help needy comrades, widows, and orphans while promoting patriotism.^[2]

The selection process for most organizations was the same. A secret vote was made ahead of the initiation by the members; any initiation “tests” were a formality. Fraternal societies of the day were fond of anonymous voting by dropping a marble into a ballot box: White, to recommend acceptance, and black if they felt strongly against accepting the recruit.

While some applicants might be rejected with a single “blackball” vote, this was rare. Those rejected, however, would have their name recorded, which might affect future reapplications. Surprisingly, more “exclusive” groups were less likely to reject recruits, though exclusivity was maintained through higher dues or qualifying service (officers only, length or type of service, no draftees, etc.).^[3]

State departments oversaw local posts, enforcing standards and collecting dues. General coordination and the organization’s unity of purpose were managed at the national level. Some posts sponsored drill competitions and were fond of parades. Others staged performances that satirized the pomp others might have taken too seriously. The showmanship kicked into high gear when delegates met at the annual national encampments, marked by several days of parades, dinners, and speeches. Many veterans belonged to multiple associations, and encampments might host the annual reunions for several of them.^[4]

Confederate groups also promptly organized; the first was the Oglethorpe Light Infantry Association in Savannah in 1865. Groups for the Army of Northern Virginia, Army of Tennessee, Cavalry Veterans, Confederate Survivor’s Association, and more followed. The largest, the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), was founded in New Orleans on June 10, 1889, holding their first reunion the following year in Chattanooga. The UCV grew exponentially, boasting 1,555 camps by 1898. They counted over 160,000 members at their peak in the early 20th century, a testament to years of organization. When the monument to Jefferson Davis was unveiled in Richmond on June 30, 1907, an estimated 100,000 visitors attended.^[5]

While some dismissed the titles, costumes, or secret meetings and handshakes as boyish frivolity, they belied a more serious purpose. Ritualistic “trials” gave meaning and gravita, and strengthened fraternal bonds, recalling the trials by fire and campaign. The GAR further implemented a tiered system in 1869 where one could attain different grades or levels of membership: Recruit, Soldier, and Veteran, which clearly mirrored the “degree” system of the Masons (as did the mock “execution” on initiation night). However, the degree system was unpopular and was eventually abolished. The initiation would also evolve in favor of more solemn proceedings, adding Christian hymns and lectures on charity. The staged interrogation, procession, and mock execution began to be phased out in 1874 and were formally eliminated by 1881.^[6]

While the GAR was indisputably the largest and most effective veterans advocate in the postwar years, it had its critics. The National Association of Naval Veterans took a thinly veiled swipe at the Army-centric GAR and its tiers in its founding principles: “The social barriers that formerly separated the quarter-deck from the gun-deck have been cast aside by our Association and we meet upon a common level as shipmates. Patriotism knows no distinction of class.”^[7]

Over time, GAR membership ranged between 80 percent and 97 percent volunteer soldiers, including those serving 90-day terms or emergency troops; the UVL and UVU conversely held the GAR up as too inclusive. They instead required service of at least two years (UVL) or at least six months with some of that in combat (UVU). They may not have enjoyed the rigors of war, but for many, service defined them, and their memories were irreconcilably different from those who had not faced the same hazards.^[8]

With the quick victory over the Spanish in 1898 and expansion of a global empire, by the 20th century survivors of the War of the Rebellion had a new foe: relevance. Confederates had their romanticized version of the past injected into the culture; the Federals, claiming the moral high ground of ending slavery, had saved a union that was no longer in danger of splitting apart. They had no more battles to wage, and most were content knowing their organizations would pass into history with their last comrade because only those who had “drank from the same canteen” could understand their experiences. So, it was a new generation of veteran organizations that next rose to preeminence, ones that prioritized a perpetually renewing membership base and common veteran kinship so that generations could learn from the past.^[9]

Mike Busovicki is an Iraq War Infantry Veteran. He evaluates disability claims for the Department of Veterans Affairs and holds a master’s degree in public and international affairs.

Endnotes:

[1]  James Marten. Sing not war: The Lives of Union & Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2011), 11-17; Stuart McConnell, Glorious Contentment: The Grand Army of the Republic, 1865 – 1900 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1992), 50-51.

[2]  Paul A. Cimbala, Veterans North and South: The Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2015), 114-117.

[3] McConnell, 56.

[4] McConnell, 121-122.

[5] Robert C. Jones, The Civil War Veterans Organizations: UCV and GAR (     Kennesaw, GA: RCJ Books, 2019), 37.

[6] McConnell, 32, 86-87, 99, 102.

[7] William Simmons. History of the National Association of Naval Veterans from the First to the Tenth Annual Convention, Inclusive (Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing, 1895; Scholar Select reprint, Lightning Source, LLC), 10.

[8] Marten, 284; McConnell, 121-123, 199

[9] Cimbala, 128-131; Jones, 40; Marten 285; McConnell, 204, 237.