At the very conclusion of hostilities, the discharged veterans of the conflict began to establish fraternal societies and organized posts to maintain comradeship gained during their service, to promote patriotism and love of country and to provide material assistance to the widows and orphans of their comrades who had fallen and to their incapacitated fellow veterans. They also sought to commemorate their brave service to the nation and memorialize their deeds. A number of groups were organized to meet these goals, and Philadelphia became a center for the movement. In the post–Civil War period and into the twentieth century while still they lived, they created monuments to preserve their memory in towns and cities and on battlefields where they and their units had struggled. The monuments are still evident and visible in Philadelphia, though nowadays they are somewhat forlorn and forgotten.
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) had its inception on the day the nation learned that President Abraham Lincoln had died at the hand of an assassin.
In honor of that illustrious leader and of the great cause for which we had fought; in recognition of the affectionate friendship which had been inspired among the officers of the Army and Navy; in historic recollection of role of the Society of the Cincinnati, which had embraced the officers of the Revolutionary Army, it was determined to form a similar Order; and at a meeting of a few officers in the city of Philadelphia the initial steps were taken for its organization. It was the first of the military societies which followed after the close of the War.364
On April 15, 1865, a meeting was held at the office of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ellwood Zell, in Philadelphia, to propose that the officers and ex-officers of the army and navy act as a guard of honor to the remains of the president. It was determined by those present to call a meeting of those who had served in the war on April 20, 1865, when Colonel Zell presented a proposal that a society should be formed to commemorate the events and principles of the War for the Union, and that resolutions should be adopted to found such an organization. Following this, additional meetings of those interested were held, and a provisional organization was created at a meeting held May 31 in Congress Hall on Independence Square.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ellwood Zell and Captain Peter Dirck Keyser were there designated as the founders of the order, with Colonel Mitchell’s insignia and diploma bearing No. 1.
The plan for a permanent organization having been adopted, the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania was organized November 4, 1865, to date from April 15, commemorating the day of the first meeting.365
Beside the campfires of the veterans of the Union armed forces, the men had dreamed and talked of the preservation of the comradeship they had enjoyed under adversity in service to their country. It was an army surgeon in Springfield, Illinois, the home city of the martyred war president, who took the first step to create an organization. Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson organized the first post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) at Decatur, Illinois, on April 6, 1866, thus becoming the founder of the order. He called together veterans from throughout the nation to gather to build the greatest association of military veterans ever known.
Ellis’ Post #6, Grand Army of the Republic Monument on Market Square, Germantown. A lithograph of the soldiers’ memorial commemorating the service of local veterans. GAR Museum Collection.
The first meeting was held in Springfield on July 12, 1866. With Dr. Stephenson as provisional commander in chief, he called the first National Encampment to convene at Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 20, 1866. Prior to this, many states had organized departments that began to accept individual posts into the order.
The Second National Encampment was held in Philadelphia on January 15, 16 and 17, 1868, and hosted by the posts of the city. Major General John A. Logan was elected commander in chief. Logan instituted the annual Memorial Day for May 30 each year at this convention. The principles of the order were exemplified in the motto “Friendship, Charity and Loyalty.” Former military rank was not officially recognized in the order. All honorably discharged veterans were eligible for membership, regardless of whether a major general or a private soldier; all were equal in the post hall, including colored (African American) veterans.
Membership in the order reached its zenith at circa 500,000 members in 1890, organized into over eight thousand posts nationwide and in several foreign countries. The last member of the Grand Army, Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota, died at age 109 in 1956, and with him the order ceased to exist. The Grand Army of the Republic did, however, create a descendant organization that carries on its principles and mission: the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. This organization was inaugurated by a Philadelphia post—Anna M. Ross Post #94—when it created a cadet corps in 1879 to assist the post with its ceremonials and carry on its work.366
Three National Encampments (reunions) of the Grand Army of the Republic were held in Philadelphia: January 15, 1868, Second Encampment; June 30, 1876, Tenth Encampment; and the September 6, 1899 Thirty-third Encampment, which was attended by seventeen thousand veterans, making it the largest in the history of the Grand Army.
Five Philadelphians served as commander in chief of the order, the highest office in the Grand Army. Philadelphia boasted thirty-six posts of the Grand Army of the Republic at the heyday of the order in 1892. The two largest in membership and considered elite posts were Post #1, General George G. Meade at 1221 Chestnut Street (formerly Concert Hall); and Post #2 (no name) at 667 North Twelfth Street. There were also several specialty posts appealing to certain groups of veterans. Examples were the German-speaking Koltes Post #228 at Keystone Hall, corner of Second and Poplar Streets; the Cavalry Post #35 at Broad and Wood Streets; and Post #77, which had no name, but members were also members of the Patriotic Order Sons of America at POS of A Hall 524 North Sixth Street. Post #191 Pennsylvania Reserves at the southwest corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets (Old City Hall at Independence Hall), later at Industrial Hall, 318 North Broad Street, attracted former veterans of that famous corps. Navy and marine veterans joined Post #400, the Naval Post, at the northwest corner of Eighth and Vine Streets, later 132 South Eighth Street. Two posts were named after beloved volunteer nurses: Post #12, Hetty Jones, on Ridge Avenue in Roxborough; and Anna M. Ross Post #94 at the southeast corner of Girard Avenue and Hutchinson Street. Colored veterans had three posts for African American veterans: Post #27, John W. Jackson at Magnolia Hall, Sixteenth and Lombard Streets; Post #80, Robert Bryan, on the southeast corner Eleventh and Bainbridge Streets; and Post #103, Charles Sumner, at 909 North Ninth Street.367
The veterans of Civil War service sought to venerate the memory of their comrades who had fallen during the war and commemorate their deeds. They also mourned those who followed afterward in death until the last Grand Army veteran died. A ceremony of remembrance was observed annually from 1868 down to the present Memorial Day. On Memorial Day (sometimes called Decoration Day), May 30, appropriate services and ceremonies were held at the burial places of departed comrades and veterans of all wars, and their graves were marked with flowers and wreaths. Armed escorts of the veterans discharged traditional rifle volleys over the dead in salute, and families and friends joined in the solemn proceedings to honor those who had served.
Memorial Day services at Laurel Hill Cemetery conducted by the Meade Post #1, Grand Army of the Republic on May 30, 1901. Abraham Lincoln Foundation of the Union League Archive.
The duties for Memorial Day were divided among the different GAR posts, with each taking charge of the ceremonies year after year at the same cemetery. Often, the post dedicated a burial plot for its comrades at this same cemetery. An example was the Meade Post #1 plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery.368
Over the years, Post #1 hosted impressive ceremonies on Memorial Day that included many famous visitors and guests, including: Generals Grant and Sherman; President Benjamin Harrison, who attended in 1891 and was the guest of honor; and many noted Civil War heroes, such as Joshua L. Chamberlin, a member of the post, Dr. Russell Conwell and many others.
The spirit of fraternity and loyalty to traditions among the veterans in civil life prompted the organization of regimental associations for the perpetuation of friendships and for mutual aid in the years to come for members of the same commands.
Some of the activities of the regimental associations have been excursions to the scenes of their campaigns and battles as soldiers and the publication of regimental histories of the unit. One of the most important of the many things accomplished by the associations was the placement of beautiful memorials and monuments, often erected with state assistance, and dedicated on the site of their positions on the battle line, marking for all time the scenes where they fought. This has conspicuously been done at the sites of victories such as Antietam, Gettysburg and around Chattanooga, but also at former prison camps.
These memorials have been turned over to the care of the federal and state governments.369
The first organization of Union veterans of the navy was the Farragut Naval Veteran Association No. 1, formed in Philadelphia within two years of the close of the war. The order included, as eligible, any officer or enlisted man who served in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Marine (Coast Guard) during any portion of the Civil War. The Second National Convention met at Philadelphia in the hall of Naval Post 400 in September 1888. Generally, the annual conventions were held at the same places and coincident with the National Encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic, with which the majority of the navy veterans were also identified. This included GAR posts composed exclusively of seamen, one of which, Post 400, was organized in 1883 in Philadelphia.
An independent association that existed in Philadelphia was the Naval Veteran Legion, which was closely allied to Naval Post 400. The legion originated in a reunion of the survivors of the crew of the sloop of war Jamestown who were shipwrecked during a voyage around the world in the course of the Civil War.370
The Grand Army of the Republic conferred official standing upon this organization of patriotic women as a national auxiliary to the GAR. The Women’s Relief Corps was formed from a large number of local and state corps, generally composed of the female relatives of soldiers and informally attached to various posts. All loyal women were eligible for membership. The officers and delegates were accorded every courtesy by the Grand Army of the Republic and were invited to witness ceremonies and post activities.
The mission of the Women’s Relief Corps was to specially aid and assist the members of the Grand Army of the Republic and to perpetuate the memory of the heroic dead, as well as to inculcate lessons of patriotism and love of country not only the membership but also among children.371
An act was passed by the Congress of the United States and approved by the president on July 12, 1862, authorizing the War Department “to cause Medals of Honor to be prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented in the name of Congress to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.”
By a further act approved March 3, 1863, commissioned officers were included among those eligible for heroism in action for the distinction of the Medal of Honor.
Under an act approved December 21, 1861, the secretary of the navy was authorized “to cause Medals of Honor to be prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, for presentation to such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seaman-like qualities during the present war.” Under a further act approved July 16, 1862, seamen “distinguishing themselves in battle or by extraordinary heroism in the line of their profession” were eligible to promotion, “as they were best qualified, upon recommendation of their commanding officer, approved by the commander and the Department.” Such promotion carried with it the right to the Medal of Honor.
By virtue of these acts, Medals of Honor were presented to those found to be worthy of them in the armed services during the Civil War. By later enactment, Congress provided for awarding Medals of Honor to soldiers, sailors and marines who distinguished themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States” down to the present time.
At Washington, D.C, on April 23, 1890, veterans of the army and navy holding Medals of Honor met and organized a military and naval order named the Medal-of-Honor Legion of the United States of America. Gatherings of this order were often held in Philadelphia at the Union League.372