Colonel William A. Phillips

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines and U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded on April 6, 1866 in Springfield, Illinois on the principles of "Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty" by Benjamin F. Stephenson, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died.

Linking men through their experience of the war, the GAR became among the first organized advocacy group in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, lobbying the US Congress to establish veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 400,000, was in 1890. It was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), composed of male descendants of Union veterans.

The GAR initially grew and prospered as a de facto political arm of the Republican Party during the heated political contests of the Reconstruction era. The commemoration of Union veterans, black and white, immediately became entwined with partisan politics. When the Republican Party's commitment to reform in the South gradually decreased, the GAR's mission became ill-defined and the organization floundered. The GAR almost disappeared in the early 1870s, and many divisions ceased to exist.

In the 1880s, the organization revived under new leadership that provided a platform for renewed growth, by advocating federal pensions for veterans. As the organization revived, black veterans joined in significant numbers and organized local posts. The national organization, however, failed to press the case for pensions for black soldiers. Most black troops never received any pension or remuneration for wounds incurred during their service.^[1]

The GAR was organized into "Departments" at the state level and "Posts" at the community level, and military-style uniforms were worn by its members. There were posts in every state in the U.S., and several posts overseas.^[1]

Commanders-in-Chief were elected by the membership at the National Encampments for one year terms. Several Commanders-in-Chief were re-elected for additional terms.

Grand Army of the Republic commanders-in chief

Image	Name	Term start	Term end	Home department	Notes
	Benjamin F. Stephenson	1866	1866	Illinois	Founder and provisional Commander-in-Chief, April 6-November 21, 1866.
	Stephen Augustus Hurlbut	1866	1868	Illinois
	John Alexander Logan	1868	1871	Illinois	Issued General Order No. 11 on May 5, 1868 designating Decoration Day as May 30. It ultimately became a national holiday and today is known as Memorial Day, the final Monday in the month of May.
	Ambrose Everett Burnside	1871	1873	Rhode Island
	Charles Devens	1873	1875	Massachusetts
	John Frederick Hartranft	1875	1877	Pennsylvania
	John Cleveland Robinson	1877	1879	New York
	William Earnshaw	1879	1880	Ohio
	Louis Wagner	1880	1881	Pennsylvania
	George Sargent Merrill	1881	1882	Massachusetts
	Paul Vandervoort	1882	1883	Nebraska	First enlisted man to be elected Commander-in-Chief. National Woman's Relief Corps recognized as an official auxiliary to the G.A.R. during his term.
	Robert Burns Beath	1883	1884	Pennsylvania
	John S. Kountz	1884	1885	Ohio
	Samuel Swinfin Burdett	1885	1886	Washington, DC
	Lucius Fairchild	1886	1887	Wisconsin
	John Patterson Rea	1887	1888	Minnesota
	William Warner	1888	1889	Missouri
	Russell Alexander Alger	1889	1890	Michigan
	Wheelock Graves Veazey	1890	1891	Vermont	Peak membership of the GAR: 409,489.
	John Palmer	1891	1892	New York
	Augustus Gordon Weissert	1892	1893	Wisconsin
	John Gregory Bishop Adams	1893	1894	Massachusetts
	Thomas G. Lawler	1894	1895	Illinois
	Ivan N. Walker	1895	1896	Indiana
	Thaddeus Stevens Clarkson	1896	1897	Nebraska
	John Peter Shindel Gobin	1897	1898	Pennsylvania
	James Andrew Sexton	1898	1899	Illinois	Died in office, February 5, 1899.
	William Christie Johnson	1899	1899	Ohio
	Albert Duane Shaw	1899	1900	New York
	Leo Rassieur	1900	1901	Missouri
	Eliakim "Ell" Torrance	1901	1902	Minnesota
	John Charles Black	1903	1904	Illinois
	Wilmon Whilldin Blackmar	1904	1905	Massachusetts	Died in office, July 19, 1905.
	John Rigdon King	1905	1905	Maryland
	James R. Tanner	1905	1906	New York
	Robert Burns Brown	1906	1907	Ohio
	Charles Germman Burton	1907	1908	Missouri
	Henry Martin Nevius	1908	1909	New Jersey
	Samuel Rinnah Van Sant	1909	1910	Minnesota
	John Edward Gilman	1910	1911	Massachusetts
	Harvey Marion Trimble	1911	1912	Illinois
	Alfred Bishop Beers	1912	1913	Connecticut
	Washington Gardner	1913	1914	Michigan
	David James Palmer	1914	1915	Iowa
	Elias Riggs Monfort	1915	1916	Ohio
	William James Patterson	1916	1917	Pennsylvania
	Orlando Allen Somers	1917	1918	Indiana
	Clarendon E. Adams	1918	1919	Nebraska
	James David Bell	1919	1920	New York	Died in office, November 1, 1919.
	Daniel Munson Hall	1920	1920	Ohio
	William Alexander Ketcham	1920	1921	Indiana
	Lewis Stephen Pilcher	1921	1922	New York
	James William Willett	1922	1923	Iowa
	Gaylord Miller Saltzgaber	1923	1924	Ohio
	Louis Frederick Arensberg	1924	1925	Iowa
	John Baptist Inman	1925	1926	Illinois
	Francis Augustin "Frank" Walsh	1926	1927	Wisconsin
	Elbridge Lafayette Hawk	1927	1928	California
	John Reese	1928	1929	Nebraska
	Edwin J. Foster	1929	1930	Massachusetts
	James E. Jewel	1930	1931	Colorado
	Samuel P. Town	1931	1932	Pennsylvania
	William Parkinson Wright	1932	1933	Illinois	Died in office, June 15, 1933.
	Russell C. Martin	1933	1934	California
	Alfred Edwin Stacey	1934	1935	New York
	Oley Nelson	1935	1936	Iowa
	Carl Henry William Ruhe	1936	1937	Pennsylvania
	Overton H. Mennet	1937	1938	California
	Robert McKee Rownd	1938	1939	New York
	John E. Andrew	1940	1940	Illinois	Died in office, June 30, 1940.
	Alexander T. Anderson	1940	1940	Pennsylvania
	William Washington Nixon	1940	1941	Kansas
	George Alvin Gay	1941	1942	New Hampshire
	John Simon Dumser	1942	1943	California
	George H. Jones	1943	1944	Maine
	Isaac W. Sharp	1944	1945	Indiana
	Hiram R. Gale	1945	1946	Washington
	John Henry Grate	1946	1947	Ohio
	Robert McKee Rownd	1947	1948	New York
	Theodore A. Penland	1948	1949	Oregon	Last Commander-in-Chief. Died in office, September 13, 1950.

Footnotes