The Grand Army of the Republic

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded in Decatur, Illinois on April 6, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson, membership was limited to honorably discharged veterans of the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps or the Revenue Cutter Service who had served between April 12, 1861 and April 9, 1865. The community level organization was called a Post and each was numbered consecutively within each department. Most Posts also had a name and the rules for naming Posts included the requirement that the honored person be deceased and that no two Posts within the same Department could have the same name. The Departments generally consisted of the Posts within a state.

The GAR founded the soldiers' homes, was active in relief work and in pension legislation. Five members were elected President of the United States and, for a time, it was impossible to be nominated on the Republican ticket without the endorsement of the GAR voting block.

In 1868, Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan issued General Order No. 11 calling for all Departments and Posts to set aside the 30th of May as a day for remembering the sacrifices of fallen comrades, thereby beginning the celebration of Memorial Day.

With membership limited strictly to veterans of the late unpleasantness, the GAR encouraged the formation of Allied Orders to aid them in its various works. Numerous male organizations jousted for the backing of the GAR and the political battles became quite severe until the GAR finally endorsed the Sons of Veterans of the United States of America (later to become the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War) as its heir.

NH had 94 GAR Posts and most had a Sons of Veterans Camp. Today all GAR Posts are gone and 5 Sons of Union Veterans Camps remain.

Post Name # Location
Storer - 1 - Portsmouth
E.E. Sturtevant - 2 - Concord
Louis Bell – 3 - Manchester
John Sedgwick 4 Keene
Col. Putnam 5 Hopkinton
Aaron F. Stevens 6 Petersborough
John G. Foster 7 Nashua
Joshua Littlefield 8 Great Falls
W.S. Hancock 9 Alstead
Fred Smyth 10 Newport
Oliver W. Lull 11 Milford
Maj. Jarvis 12 Claremont
James B. Berry 13 Lebanon
Sheridan 14 Hinsdale
Harvey Holt 15 South Lyndeborough
Col. E.E. Cross 16 Lancaster
Charles W. Sawyer - 17 - Dover
George A. Gay 18 Newmarket
E.N. Taft 19 Winchester
Hamilton 20 Washington
John A. Logan 21 Seabrook
John C. Sampson - 22 - Rochester
Col. Emery 23 Lisbon
Carlton 24 Farmington
Senator Grimes 25 Hillsborough Bridge
Moses N. Collins 26 Exeter
Herman Shedd 27 Greenville
Lincoln 28 Charlestown
Willard K. Cobb 29 Pittsfield
J.H. Worcester 30 Hollis
William I. Brown 31 Penacock
Prescott Jones 32 Potter Place
Henry C. Little 33 Hampstead
Gen. H.L. Patten 34 Kingston
O.W. Keyes 35 Ashland
Darius A. Drake 36 Lake Village
John L. Perley 37 Laconia
George F. Sweatt 38 Franklin Falls
Francis D. Green 39 Berlin Falls
Nelson 40 Bristol
Wesley D. Knight 41 Londonderry
Justus B. Penniman 42 Plymouth
G.H. Phelps 43 Amherst
Davis 44 West Concord
Upton 45 Derry
Stark Fellows 46 Weare
Custer 47 Conway
Marshall Sanders 48 Littleton
M.H. Savage 49 Alton
Natt Westgate 50 North Haverhill
Joe Hooker 51 Fremont
Adm. Farragut 52 Enfield
Jonas Nutting 53 New Ipswich
George S. Crain 54 Meredith Village
Almon B. White 55 Whitefield
L.D. Gore 56 Hanover
Carlos Fletcher 57 Colbrook
Robert Campbell 58 Sutton
John E. Willis 59 Gorham
Gilman E. Sleeper 60 Salem
James R. Newell 61 Wolfeboro
Adams K. Tilton 62 Tilton
William H. Bryant 63 Cornish Flat
Cpt. Charles Stinson 64 Goffstown
Merrill 65 West Stewardstown
George H. Hoyt 66 Gossville
Austin Goodell 67 Monroe
Moulton S. Webster 68 Sandwich Center
Charles H. Hoitt 69 Northwood
Jerry E. Chadwick 70 Deerfield Center
A.A. Livermore 71 Wilton
Natt Head 72 Fitzwilliam
Thomas L. Ambrose 73 Centre Ossipee
Bell 74 Chester
C.D. Hall 75 Rumney
Frederick M. Edgell 76 Orfordville
Robert R. Thompson 77 North Stratford
Perkins 78 Hamton
David B. Dudley 79 Candia Village
Albert N. Perkins 80 Epping
George Bowers 81 Warren
Lyman Locke 82 Stafford
James S. Thornton 83 Merrimack
Pingree 84 Salisbury
Anthony Colby 85 New London
Henry H. Stevens 86 Stoddard
Ephraim Weston 87 Antrim
George B. Jaffrey 88 Jaffrey
Eli Wentworth 89 Milton
Walt Harriman 90 Danville
Grant 91 Center Bartlett
Huse 92 Barnstead Center
J.H. Allen 93 Wakefield
J. Freschi 94 Manchester