Mythical and Actual Origin of the Grand Army of the Republic
From: bernhard1848@att.net
The existence of a huge postwar voting bloc of ex-Northern
soldiers was enticing to politicians eager to use it to their advantage
-- promises of generous pensions and benefits quickly ensued. The
venerable Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina argued against pensions for
War of 1812 veterans as he saw that they fought against an invader
threatening their freedom, and won. He felt that was sufficient
compensation for patriots. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and
its political influence became an important part of the "Myth of Saving
the Glorious Union." Read more at http://www.ncwbts150.com/TheMythoftheLostCause.php.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Mythical and Actual Origin of the Grand Army of the Republic:
"The legendary version of the founding of the Grand Army of the
Republic [GAR, organization of Northern veterans after the war] goes
something like this: In 1866 a gentle former Union Army surgeon, Dr.
Benjamin Franklin Stephenson, and several of his former comrades were
pining for the camaraderie of camp. Envisioning a broad brotherhood of
veterans [it was to be] suffused with brotherly love and dedicated to
the relief of fellow veterans.
The real story is more complicated, and much more interesting.
[Stephenson] undoubtedly envisioned his new veterans' group as a tool
to further the political ambitions of two Illinois Republicans, General
John A. Logan and Governor Richard Oglesby. These two men, firmly on
the Radical side of the gathering storm over Reconstruction policy,
were the political movers behind an organization which Stephenson's
professions of benevolence and charity lent a nonpolitical veneer.
[The] new order worked effectively for the Grant-Colfax [presidential]
ticket during the campaign of 1868.
To soldier-politicians like Logan, Oglesby, and [ambitious
Republican politico] Norton P. Chipman….the GAR was a voting machine,
which they fondly hoped to ride to political prominence. What such [a
voting machine] army could accomplish when properly drilled was already
apparent to these political officers from their experience in
marshalling the massive "soldier vote" for Lincoln in 1864 and Grant in
1868."
(Glorious Contentment, The Grand Army of the Republic, Stuart McConnell, UNC Press, 1992, pp. 24-25)
