Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.)
Compiled by Karen Christofferson
2008

Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was a society of men who fought for the North in the Civil War.  It was founded by Benjamin F. Stephenson, M.D., at Decatur, Illinois, on April 6, 1866.   Dr. Stephenson was a former surgeon of the Illinois infantry.   The G.A.R. wielded considerable political clout nationwide.  Between 1868 and 1908, no Republican was nominated for president without G.A.R. endorsement.

In 1881, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was created to ensure the preservation of the G.A.R. mission after the Union War veterans had all died.  Other allied organizations were Women's Relief Corps, the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.  The Women's Relief Corps was the only allied order open to women who did not have an ancestor who would have been eligible for the G.A.R. 

The largest G.A.R. enrollment was 409,489 in 1890.  Six Civil War veterans attended the final national encampment at Indianapolis in 1949. The G.A.R. had one woman member.  Sarah Edmonds (aka Frank Thompson, Pvt., Michigan Volunteer Infantry) served in the Civil War disguised as a man. 

The last living Civil War veteran and G.A.R. member was Albert H. Woolson (1847-1956) of Minnesota, a bugler-drummer in the Union Army.  At age 17 he enlisted in Company C, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment, and served from October 10, 1864 to September 7, 1865.  Woolson fought in no Civil War battles.  Woolson was the sole survivor of the men of the Union armed forces and the last survivor of the G.A.R.  He died in Duluth August 2, 1956, at the age of 109 years.  The G.A.R. was discontinued in 1956 after his death.  G.A.R. records were turned over to the Congressional Library in Washington and flags, badges, and official seal were sent to the Smithsonian Institution.  Woolson's last comrade of the Union Army was James A. Hard of Rochester, N.Y., who died in 1953 at the age of 111.  James Hard was the last surviving combat veteran of the Civil War and he lived to be the oldest Civil War veteran.

A recent discovery of an 1850 census record indicated that Albert Woolson was less than one year old in 1850, which would put his age in doubt.  Nevertheless, Woolson is still the undisputed last man standing of the more than 2,200,000 men of the Union armed forces.  Albert Henry Woolson was born in Antwerp, New York.    

History of Wright County, Volume II, 1915 notes six G.A.R. posts in Wright County: Annandale, Monticello, Clearwater, Buffalo, Howard Lake and Montrose.  A request was made by the authors of History of Wright County for all posts to submit rosters for publication in order to preserve the names of the soldiers.  Only three of the posts responded:  Clearwater, Buffalo, and Monticello.  Buzzell Post, No. 24, G.A.R. of Annandale unfortunately did not respond to the authors requests.

Frank Daggett Post 35 in Litchfield was the first G.A.R. post built in Minnesota and is the only authentic G.A.R. Hall remaining in Minnesota.  It was designed by a post member to look like a military fort, and it was built in 1885 for about $5,000.  The G.A.R. Hall has hundreds of portraits of G.A.R. members and Civil War veterans, along with larger paintings of battle scenes.  Tall showcases display old military rifles, flags and other Civil War artifacts, including medals and ribbons.  The Meeker County Historical Society added a two-story museum to the G.A.R. Hall in 1960.  (www.garminnesota.org)

Dassel in Meeker County also had a G.A.R. post.  The records of the Dassels Colfax Post are lost.  Minnesota posts were numbered 1-192.  Post No. 1 was Stillwater and Post No. 192 was in Minneapolis.  Many of the post numbers were vacant.   

Rules for naming posts included the requirement that the honored person be deceased and that no two posts within a department (state) have the same name.  The Wright County posts were as follows:

         24        Buzzell Annandale

         52        Sedgwick - Monticello

         86        Goodsell Howard Lake

         112      Collins Clearwater

         154      Whipple Montrose

         164      Cochrane, Buffalo

Fair Haven sent 25 men to fight in the Civil War.  Minnesota provided 26, 717 volunteers from its relatively small population of 170,000.  The Minnesota volunteers served in the 1st through 11th Volunteer Infantry Regiments, 5 Cavalry units and 4 Artillery Units.  The 1^st Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, was noted in particular for its gallant service and heavy casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.  

Brian Partridge has compiled a list of 108 Buzzell Post members.  A few members of Buzzell Post No. 24, Annandale, were identified in their biographies in History of Wright County, Vol. I.  They are as follows:

         Samuel A. Gordon, Co. K, 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865.

         Jacob Lambert, 3rd Battery , New York Light Artillery

         Frederick S. Mears, Co. E, 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1864

         Phineas Rudolph, Co. A, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865

         Albert Thayer, 7th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 1864-1865

         George Walters, Battery B, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, 1861-1865     

Civil War deaths, including those from disease, are an estimated 620,000.   Disease killed more men than bullets.  The Civil War took more American lives than any other war in history.  (www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm)  More people are interested in the Civil War than in any other period in United States history.  

Compiled from various sources by Karen Christofferson, 
Secretary Annandale History Club