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. On August 20, 1954, by an act of the US Congress, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was declared the legal heir to the GAR.
At one time New Hampshire had 95 GAR Posts. Some Post numbers were reused when an earlier organization surrendered its charter and a new one was formed. Almost every Post would also have a Woman's Relief Corps as an auxiliary.
Post names highlighted in color indicate an individual page with additional information about them.
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. On August 20, 1954, by an act of the US Congress, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was declared the legal heir to the GAR.
At one time New Hampshire had 95 GAR Posts. Some Post numbers were reused when an earlier organization surrendered its charter and a new one was formed. Almost every Post would also have a Woman's Relief Corps as an auxiliary.
Post names highlighted in color indicate an individual page with additional information about them.
Post Name, Number, Location
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Storer - 1 - Portsmouth
E.E. Sturtevant - 2 - Concord Louis Bell - 3 - Manchester John Sedgwick - 4 - Keene Col. Putnam - 5 - Hopkinton Aaron F. Stevens - 6 - Peterborough John G. Foster - 7 - Nashua Joshua Littlefield - 8 - Great Falls (Somersworth) J. A. Rawlings - 9 - Francestown W.S. Hancock - 9 - Alstead Fred Smyth - 10 - Newport Oliver W. Lull - 11 - Milford Maj. Jarvis - 12 - Claremont James B. Perry - 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 Samuel Hale - 21 - Salmon Falls (1883) 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 - Penacook Prescott Jones - 32 - Potter Place, Wilmot Flat Henry C. Little - 33 - Hampstead (1883) Charles F Smith - 33 - Soldiers Home, Tilton 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 George W Gordon - 39 - Suncook Francis D. Green - 39 - Berlin Falls Nelson - 40 - Bristol Wesley D. Knight - 41 - Londonderry Justus B. Penniman - 42 - Plymouth Chas H. Phelps - 43 - Amherst Davis - 44 - West Concord Upton - 45 - Derry Stark Fellows - 46 - Weare Custer - 47 - Conway Marshall Saunders - 48 - Littleton |
M.H. Savage - 49 - Alton
Natt Westgate - 50 - North Haverhill Joe Hooker - 51 - Fremont/Raymond Adm. Farragut - 52 - Enfield Phil. Kearney - 53 - Canaan/Orange Jonas Nutting - 53 - New Ipswich George S. Cram - 54 - Meredith Village Almon B. White - 55 - Whitefield L.D. Gove - 56 - Hanover Carlos Fletcher - 57 - Colebrook 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 (1887) Garfield - 63 - West Windham (1882) Cpt. Charles Stinson - 64 - Goffstown Merrill - 65 - West Stewartstown George H. Hoyt - 66 - Gossville Austin Goodell - 67 - Monroe Moulton S. Webster - 68 - Center Sandwich Charles H. Hoitt - 69 - Northwood Jere. E. Chadwick - 70 - Deerfield Center Abiel A. Livermore - 71 - Wilton Natt Head - 72 - Fitzwilliam Thomas L. Ambrose - 73 - Center Ossipee Bell - 74 - Chester C.D. Hall - 75 - Rumney Frederick M. Edgell - 76 - Orfordville Robert R. Thompson - 77 - North Stratford Joseph Bernard - 77 - Coaticook, Quebec Perkins - 78 - Hampton David B. Dudley - 79 - Candia Village Albert M. Perkins - 80 - Epping George Bowers - 81 - Warren Lyman Locke - 82 - Strafford James S. Thornton - 83 - Merrimack Pingree - 84 - Salisbury Anthony Colby - 85 - New London Henry H. Stevens - 86 - Stoddard Ephraim Weston - 87 - Antrim George B. McClellan - 88 - Jaffrey Eli Wentworth - 89 - Milton Gen Walter Harriman - 90 - Danville Grant - 91 - Center Bartlett Thomas M Huse - 92 - Barnstead Center J.H. Allen - 93 - Wakefield Capt Joseph Freschl - 94 - Manchester Clark Stevens - 95 - Groveton |
