Exhibit Highlights Maryland's Veterans

FREDERICK, Md. — The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is showing “Remembrance and Recovery: Maryland’s Civil War Veterans,” an exhibit highlighting the Civil War Veterans of Maryland and the organizations that supported them throughout their lives.

The exhibit, which runs through next Memorial Day, was developed when Daniel Toomey offered to loan a portion of his collection of Maryland veteran memorabilia for one year. Featured items include a United Confederate Veterans uniform, a Sons of Union Veterans uniform, a gavel from the Barbara Fritchie Post of the Daughters of Union Veterans in Frederick, and post medals and commemorative ribbons from various veteran organizations.

Approximately three million men served during the four years of the Civil War with the veteran era lasting more than 70 years. Many veterans carried scars from the battles and at least 60,000 were amputees, which often limited their ability to support themselves. Many more suffered health problems like chronic diarrhea, which affected them for the remainder of their lives.

Common bonds and common problems united these men long after the war was over. As a border state, Maryland had both Union and Confederate veterans, often living in the same towns and sometimes within the same families.

Many national organizations were formed to support veterans, both as social clubs to foster a feeling of comradeship and as a means for giving financial and medical assistance when necessary. Most of these national organizations had Maryland branches, and there were a few organizations solely for Maryland veterans.

These groups had considerable impact on postwar American society. They lobbied the government to recognize soldiers’ claims for pensions and other benefits, supported veterans for public office, honored the Civil War dead, erected monuments on the battlefields and in towns, and offered medical assistance to destitute veterans.

The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was the first national organization for Union veterans. It was founded in Decatur, Ill., on April 6, 1866. Membership was open to anyone who had served in the United States Army, Navy or Marine Corps who had received an honorable discharge.

The G.A.R.’s stated goals were to perpetuate the associations made during the war, to provide aid to those in need, and to insure that the soldiers’ sacrifices for preserving the Union would not be forgotten. The Woman’s Relief Corps and the Sons of Union Veterans supported its activities.

The G.A.R. was organized much like the army and functioned on national, state and local levels, with the smallest unit of operation being the local post. Annual encampments held at the national and state levels featured parades, speeches, receptions and business meetings.

In 1881 the Sons of Union Veterans was organized to be the successor to the G.A.R. once the last veterans had passed away. Today the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War continues to preserve the heritage of the Civil War veterans.

The Confederate equivalent of the G.A.R., the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) was founded in 1889 to foster and support the activities of Confederate veterans. Membership was open to anyone who was honorably discharged from Confederate service.

The organization adopted an elaborate military structure and sponsored annual reunions for the veterans. They were also instrumental in erecting monuments dedicated to the men who served the South. The Sons of Confederate Veterans was founded in 1896 to succeed the U.C.V. once the veterans had passed away and continues as an active organization.

One of the more enduring reminders of Civil War veterans is the national holiday now known as Memorial Day. It was referred to as Decoration Day in the early years since the graves of the veterans were decorated with flowers.
The first officially declared Memorial Day ceremonies were held on May 30, 1868. Many local veterans’ organizations held their own ceremonies and issued postcards and special memorial ribbons to mark the occasion.

In 1900 Maryland dedicated a state monument to its veterans in both armies who had fought in the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862. Each veteran was given a medal and ribbon to commemorate the event. It is the only monument at Antietam that represents service in both armies from veterans of the same state.

In subsequent years, many events were held as joint reunions for both Union and Confederate veterans, culminating in the 1938 reunion at Gettysburg and lighting of the Eternal Peace Light Memorial.

   For information call (301) 695-1864 or visit www.civilwarmed.org