The founding principles of the organization were to maintain fellowship with veterans, to provide care for those injured or disabled during the war, and to support widows and orphans; its motto was “Fraternity, Charity, Loyalty.” As veterans’ issues came to the forefront in the decades following the war, the GAR soon became a powerful and vocal political lobby group. The organization also played a critical role in the years of reconciliation, hosting annual reunions on both local and national levels, as well as working with Confederate veteran societies to hold joint commemorative events. A second camp was founded in Springfield later in 1866. Former General John M. Palmer was elected commander of the Department of Illinois. Soon afterward, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri formed their own statewide organizations, and the Grand Army of the Republic was born.1 When John A. Logan was named commander of the GAR in 1868, he made some significant contributions. Most notable was General Order No. 11, establishing Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day. It was meant to be an annual day of remembrance to honor those who had fallen during the Civil War. The date, May 30, was chosen because it did not coincide with any major battle or event of the war. Chicago’s first GAR post was established in 1868 and named in honor of the “Rock of Chickamauga,” George H. Thomas, the Virginia-born general who remained loyal to the Union and ultimately commanded the Army of the Cumberland. Thomas earned lasting fame for the heroic stand he made in September 1863 on Snodgrass Hill at the Battle of Chickamauga in northeastern
General John A. Logan served in the Civil War and had a political career before and after the war. He was influential in establishing Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day.
Georgia. The Chicago post was soon disbanded due to lack of growth, but also as a result of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Not until 1873 did a second George H. Thomas Post reorganize. For years this post would be the largest and most influential of the many in Illinois, and perhaps the largest one in the country.2 The GAR grew slowly. In its early incarnation, the group was too closely tied to partisan politics to thrive despite charters that discouraged this tendency. In 1871, Chicago’s Thomas E. G. Ransom Post ran an appeal to all veterans to form a post or to join an existing one:
John M. Palmer, commander of the Department of Illinois 42 | Chicago History | Winter 2015
On the basis of loyalty and patriotism . . . every honorably discharged soldier and seaman of the Union army and navy . . . is summoned by the Grand Army of the Republic to tally once again at this time, for peaceful communion and pleasant intercourse. Every such comrade is exhorted to assist in the formation of posts, by whose combined action arrangements may be devised and perfected for such charitable relief to the disabled veterans, their widows and orphans.3