Who founded the Grand Army of the Republic and when was it established?
Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson founded the Grand Army of the Republic on the 6th of April 1866 in Decatur, Illinois.
Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson founded the Grand Army of the Republic on the 6th of April 1866 in Decatur, Illinois.
The Grand Army of the Republic functioned as the most powerful single-issue political lobby of the late nineteenth century by securing massive pensions for veterans and helping elect five postwar presidents from its own membership.
General John A. Logan issued General Order No. 11 dated the 5th of May 1868 declaring May 30 to be Memorial Day and called upon the GAR membership to make this observance an annual occurrence across the nation.
In 1956 after the death of the last member Albert Woolson the Grand Army of the Republic was formally dissolved following a final encampment in Indianapolis Indiana in 1949 where six members voted to retain existing officers until dissolution.
Kady Brownell served in the Union Army with her husband Robert and was admitted as a member in 1870 while Sarah Emma Edmonds served disguised as Franklin Thompson and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker served as a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War.