This hostility can be seen in the case for the Department of Tennessee and Georgia which was created in August 1868 composed of 17 posts. When former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest was quoted by a newspaper correspondent that the Ku Lux Klan had established in the Tennessee as a ‘protection against Loyal Leagues and the Grand Army of the Republic’. Many G.A.R. members, given the choice of leaving the state or disavowing their membership in the G.A.R., dropped out resulting in the collapse of the G.A.R. in that state. It was not until May 1883 that four new posts were organized and in February the following year that Department status was regained by that state.


By 1889, the Department of Tennessee had expanded to well over 100 posts including one post in Huntsville, Alabama—Huntsville Post 53! This was an example of a Department composed of multiple states.


“A G.A.R. Post has been organized in our city with the following officers: Comrade Swinehart, Post Commander; J. H. Speakman, Adjutant; Dan Schiffman, S.V.C.; G. Hubert, J.V.C.; W. F. Struve, QM; John D. Blackwell, OD; J. Arthur, OG; J. H. Bliss, Chaplain; W. S. Crilly, Surgeon. The Post was organized by Col. E. S. Jones, commander of the G.A.R., Dept. of Tennessee and Georgia, and will be known as Huntsville Post, No. 53, G.A.R.” {Article in The Huntsville Weekly Democrat newspaper, Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, dated Wednesday, October 27, 1886}


“Local Post of Grand Army of the Republic. Col. Ed S. Jones, of Nashville, organized in this city, Tuesday night, a post of the Republic, composed as follows: Comrade Swinehart, Post Commander; J. H. Speakman, Adjutant; Dan Schiffman, S.V.C.; Geo. Hubert, J.V.C.; W. F. Struve, Q.M., John D. Blackwell, O.D.; J. Arthur, O.G.; J. H. Bliss, Chaplain; W. S. Crilly, Surgeon.Messrs. Hubert, Schiffman and Blackwell were appointed to secure a hall for future meetings and there was an adjournment to the night of November 2.” {Article in The Huntsville Independent newspaper, Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, dated Thursday, October 28, 1886.}


“Election of Officers for Huntsville Post. At a regular meeting of the Huntsville Post No. 53 G.A.R., on the 14th day of Dec. 1886, the following officers were elected for the year 1887.
Comrade S. F. Sweinhart, Post Commander.
Comrade Dan. Schiffman, 1st Vice Post Commander.
Comrade George Hubert, 2nd Vice Post Commander.
Comrade Dan. C. Clark, Quarter Master.
Comrade Chris. Hauer, Surgeon.
Comrade W. S. Crilly, Chaplain.
Comrade John G. Blackwell, Officer of the Day.
Comrade Wm. C. Wells, Outside Guard.


The Post Commander appointed Comrade J. H. Speakman, Adj. Quartermaster Clark appointed Comrade W. F. Struve, Q.M. Sergt. Adj. Speakman appointed Comrade E. R. Bliss, Sergt. Maj.


The Post elected 1st Vice Commander Dan. Schiffman as Representative and Post Commander S. F. Sweinhart alternate to represent the Post in the Department Encampment to be held at Knoxville, Tenn., Feb 26th, 1887. {Article in The Huntsville Independent newspaper, Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, dated Thursday, December 16, 1886.}


By December 1888, what Alabama G.A.R. Posts that existed were still part of the Department of Tennessee and Georgia. Department Commander Rule issued orders dated December 14th of that year detaching the posts in the states of Georgia and Alabama reconstituting them as the “Provisional Department of Georgia and Alabama.” {Article in The Chattanooga Daily Times newspaper, Chattanooga, Tennessee dated Sunday, December 16, 1888} The Alabama posts included the George A. Custer Post 49 in Birmingham, the Huntsville Post No. 53 in Huntsville and the M. Harrison Post No. 75 in Larkinsville. Within months, the Department of Alabama would be formed on March 12, 1889 headquartered in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.


The number of Posts being organized in Alabama grew rapidly with the Department of Alabama. The new department installed 12 Posts—George A. Custer Post No. 1 (redesignated from No. 49), Birmingham; John Reynolds Post No. 2, Cullman; Huntsville Post 53, Huntsville; M. Harrison Post 4 (redesignated from No. 75), Larkinsville; W. B. Woods Post No. 6, Montgomery; John A. Logan/Daniel Tyler Post No. 7, Anniston; U.S. Grant No. 8 (redesignated from No. 55), Decatur; R. W. Thompson Post No. 10, Steel’s Depot (Gadsden); Goldwood Post No. 11, Mobile; General Thomas Post No. 12, Fort Payne; Joe Hooker Post No. 54, Double Springs and W. T. Sherman Post No. 13, Athens.


G.A.R. Will Hold Its Annual Meeting Here in April Next. The Alabama Department of the Grand Army of the Republic will hold its annual meeting and encampment in Birmingham early in April. At the encampment a permanent State department will be organized. Fifteen posts from fifteen different localities in the State will be on hand, and a grand time is expected by all. Elaborate preparations are being made for the occasion. The encampment will probably hold forth a week or two. At the same time the Sons of Veterans of the G.A.R. of Alabama and Tennessee will hold their annual encampment in this city. Twelve camps will be present, representing a membership of from 300 to 450 persons. Birmingham is the State headquarters of both these organizations. Brigadier General F. G. Sheperd, of the G.A.R., and Col. M. D. Friedman, of the Sons of Veterans, both reside in this city. They are making big preparations for the two encampments.” {Article in The Evening News newspaper, Alabama, dated Saturday, February 16, 1889}


Alabama would continue to convene annual encampments often at different cities within the state until 1940. 


It was expected that each office of the local G.A.R. Posts or Departments would be responsible for maintaining its own records and files. As time marched on and the rolls of the Boys in Blue began to thin, Posts began to disband. As they did, their records were evidently treated a s personal property with some materials being thrown out or burned by disinterested executors or descendants. Some may have even made their way into private collections. Fortunately, some records managed to make their way in local, state or national archives. It’s unknown how many may still exist stored away and forgotten in attics!


For Alabama, no records are listed among the materials in the State Archives in Montgomery. None have been discovered yet in any of the cities or counties the G.A.R. Posts originally were in. There are scattered newspaper articles that have been found the provide snippets into their histories. For instance, on July 17, 1890, it was reported in the Huntsville Post 53 had installed James H. Bone as the Post Commander and announced “the order is now in a flourishing condition, which we are glad to say.”


In another lengthy article, dated July 29, 1890, a reunion was described of Confederate veterans of the 4th Alabama Cavalry, 4th Alabama Infantry, and other former Southern soldiers of Madison County. In a spirit of reconciliation between the former adversaries, sweeping the Nation at that time, the Federal veterans were invited. Over 23 Union veterans, including two African American, accepted invitation and led by Commander Bone, they marched in a parade that began at the Calhoun House, wound through downtown Huntsville and ending at the courthouse.


Regulations then required Posts to be numbered consecutively within a Department. Post 53 continued until 1892 when it was disbanded. But in 1897, a new Post in Huntsville was organized as Post 3. This post was apparently disbanded sometime between 1900 and 1907. By 1907, there were only 7 active Posts remaining in the Department of Alabama—W. B. Woods Post No. 3, Montgomery, Daniel Tyler/John A. Logan Post No. 7, Anniston, U. S. Grant/Decatur Post No. 8/55, Decatur, Garfield Post No. 16, Rowland (Tanner), Phil Sheridan/James S. Negley Post 9/18, Florence and with two Posts in Birmingham, George A. Custer Post No. 1 and Abe Lincoln Post No. 17.


“Two Veterans At G.A.R. Conclave. With two veterans of the War Between the States present, Henry Austin, 95, and James A. Ashworth, 91, the annual meeting of the Department of Alabama, Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans’ organization of the Union soldiers of 1861-1865 controversy, was held in Birmingham Wednesday. During the last year Charles E. Jones, Tuscaloosa, who was department commander, and George F. Jackson, Birmingham, for many years assistant adjutant general of the state organization died. There are less than 10 members of the Grand Army of the Republic still alive in Alabama. It has been decided to keep the state organization going as long as there are two or more living. The attendance at the encampment in Birmingham Wednesday was limited because of inability of others to travel, through proxies were received. Mr. Ashworth becomes department commander and Mr. Austin will be assistant adjutant general. Mr. Austin is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Elks and other fraternal bodies here.” {Article on The Birmingham News newspaper, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, dated Wednesday, April 25, 1934}


“G.A.R. Membership In State Almost Gone. Annual meeting of the Department of Alabama, Grand Army of the Republic, veterans of the Federal Army in the War Between the States, 1861-1865, will be held in Birmingham next month. Rapidly vanishing, this meeting may consist of two men, possibly three, the membership of the department now including but a few men, ranging in ages between 94 to 102. The oldest member resides in the county but will hardly be able to get to the convention.” {Article in The Birmingham News newspaper, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, dated Saturday, April 25, 1936}

The Department of Alabama of the G.A.R. passed into history in 1940. Eighty years later, it’s successor organization, the SUVCW organized a Department of Alabama in June 2020. Formed with three camps, within it’s first year of existence, two additional camps were organized.

Grand Army of the Republic in Alabama

By Richard Blanton

In 1866, Union Veterans of the Civil War organized into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and became a social and political force that would control the destiny of the nation for more than six decades. Membership in the veterans’ organization was restricted to individuals who had served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War, thereby limiting the life span of the GAR. The GAR existed until 1956.


In 1881 the GAR formed the Sons of Veterans of the United States of America (SV) to carry on its traditions and memory long after the GAR had ceased to exist. Membership was open to any man who could prove ancestry to a member of the GAR or to a veteran eligible for membership in the GAR. In later years, men who did not have the ancestry to qualify for hereditary membership, but who demonstrated a genuine interest in the Civil War and could subscribe to the purpose and objectives of the SUVCW, were admitted as Associates. This practice continues today


Following the Civil War, several Union veterans of that conflict formed what would grown to be a National fraternal organization. Departments would form encompassing individual camps formed by veterans of those communities. Most, if not all of the initial camps were formed in the North as initial attempts to establish Posts in the former Southern Confederate states were unsuccessful in the early post-war years. It was felt too soon after the war along with the volatile political climate resulting from the Union occupation in the defeated South and the forced Reconstruction policies.