Unidentified Civil War veteran in United Confederate Veterans uniform with Southern Cross of Honor medal. From the Library of Congress Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs
There had been numerous local veterans associations in the Southern United States, many of which became part of the UCV. The organization proliferated throughout the 1890s, culminating with 1,555 camps at the 1898 reunion. The next few years marked the zenith of UCV membership, lasting until 1903 or 1904 when veterans started to die off and the organization gradually declined.[2]
Purposeedit
The UCV outlined its purposes and structure in a written constitution based on military lines. Members holding appropriate UCV "ranks" officered and staffed echelons of command from General Headquarters at the top to local camps (companies) at the bottom. Their declared purpose was emphatically nonmilitary – to foster "social, literary, historical, and benevolent" ends.[3]
The national organization assembled annually in a general convention and social reunion presided over by the Commander-in-Chief. These annual reunions served the UCV as an aid in achieving its goals. Convention cities made elaborate preparations and tried to put on bigger events than the previous hosts. The gatherings continued to be held long after the membership peak had passed, and despite fewer veterans surviving, they gradually grew in attendance, length, and splendor. Numerous veterans brought family and friends along, further swelling the crowds. Many Southerners considered the conventions significant social occasions. Perhaps thirty thousand veterans and another fifty thousand visitors attended each of the mid- and late-1890 reunions, and the numbers increased. In 1911, an estimated crowd of 106,000 members and guests crammed into Little Rock, Arkansas—a city of less than one-half that size. Then the passing years began taking a telling toll, and the reunions grew smaller. But still, the meetings continued until, in 1950, at the sixtieth reunion, only one member could attend, 98-year-old Commander-in-Chief James Moore of Selma, Alabama.[3] The following year, 1951, the United Confederate Veterans held its sixty-first and final reunion in Norfolk, Virginia, from May 30 to June 3. Three members attended: William Townsend, John B. Salling, and William Bush. The U.S. Post Office Department issued a 3-cent commemorative stamp in conjunction with that final reunion.[5] The last verified Confederate veteran, Pleasant Crump, died at age 104 on December 31, 1951.
The Confederate Veteranedit
In addition to national meetings, another prominent factor contributed to the growth and popularity of the UCV. This monthly magazine became the official UCV organ, the Confederate Veteran. Founded as an independent publishing venture in January 1893 by Sumner Archibald Cunningham, the UCV adopted it the following year. Cunningham personally edited the magazine for twenty-one years and bequeathed almost his entire estate to ensure its continuance. The magazine was of very high quality, and circulation was wide. Many veterans penned recollections or articles for publication on its pages. Readership always greatly exceeded circulation because numerous camps and soldiers' homes received one or two copies for their numerous occupants. For example, an average of 6500 copies were printed per issue during the first year of publication, but Cunningham estimated that fifty thousand people read the twelfth issue.[6]
Cimbala, Paul A. Veterans North and South: The Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2015). xviii, 189 pp.
Dorgan, Howard. "Rhetoric of the United Confederate Veterans: A lost cause mythology in the making." in Oratory in the New South (1979): 143–73.
Hattaway, Herman (Summer 1971). "Clio's Southern Soldiers: The United Confederate Veterans and History". Louisiana History. Louisiana State University. XII (3): 213–42.
Marten, James Alan. Sing Not War: The Lives of Union & Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2011).
Primary sourcesedit
United Confederate Veterans (1907). Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans. Vol. I. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1907). Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans. Vol. II. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1909). Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans. Vol. III. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1910). Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans. Vol. IV. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1910). Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans. Vol. V. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1920). Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: Rogers Printing Co. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1926). Minutes of the Thirty-sixth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: Rogers Printing Co. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1896). Organization of 850 United Confederate Veteran Camps. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1897). Organization of 1026 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1903). Organization of 1523 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association. New Orleans, La. Retrieved April 27, 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
United Confederate Veterans (1908). Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1910). Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: J. G. Hauser. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1912). Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: J. G. Hauser. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1914). Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans. New Orleans, La.: A. W. Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United Confederate Veterans (1921). List of Organized Camps of the United Confederate Veterans Corrected to August 31, 1921. New Orleans, La.: Rogers Printing Co. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
United States. Cong. Senate (1918). Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Annual Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Confederated Southern Memorial Association, and the Twenty-Second Annual Reunion of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Washington, D.C.: GPO. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Confederate Veterans.
P. P. Zimmerman, member of the United Confederate Veterans in 19051914 Confederate Veterans Convention at The World Digital Library
Works by or about United Confederate Veterans at Internet Archive
February 15, 2024
united, confederate, veterans, simply, confederate, veterans, american, civil, veterans, organization, headquartered, orleans, louisiana, organized, june, 1889, soldiers, sailors, confederate, states, america, merger, between, louisiana, division, veteran, con. The United Confederate Veterans UCV or simply Confederate Veterans was an American Civil War veterans organization headquartered in New Orleans Louisiana It was organized on June 10 1889 by ex soldiers and sailors of the Confederate States of America as a merger between the Louisiana Division of the Veteran Confederate States Cavalry Association N B Forrest Camp of Chattanooga Tennessee Tennessee Division of the Veteran Confederate States Cavalry Association Tennessee Division of Association of Confederate Soldiers Benevolent Association of Confederate Veterans of Shreveport Louisiana Confederate Association of Iberville Parish Louisiana Eighteenth Louisiana Adams County Mississippi Veterans Association Louisiana Division of the Army of Tennessee and Louisiana Division of the Army of Northern Virginia 1 2 United Confederate VeteransAbbreviationUCVSuccessorSons of Confederate VeteransFormationJune 10 1889 1889 06 10 DissolvedDecember 31 1951 1951 12 31 TypeAmerican Civil War veterans organizationPurposeSocial literary historical and benevolentHeadquartersNew Orleans LouisianaPublicationThe Confederate VeteranAffiliationsUnited Daughters of the ConfederacyUnidentified Civil War veteran in United Confederate Veterans uniform with Southern Cross of Honor medal From the Library of Congress Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War PhotographsThe U S equivalent of the UCV was the Grand Army of the Republic Contents 1 History 1 1 Background 1 2 Purpose 1 3 Reunions 1 4 The Confederate Veteran 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 4 1 Primary sources 5 External linksHistory editSee also List of commanders in chief of the United Confederate Veterans Background edit There had been numerous local veterans associations in the Southern United States many of which became part of the UCV The organization proliferated throughout the 1890s culminating with 1 555 camps at the 1898 reunion The next few years marked the zenith of UCV membership lasting until 1903 or 1904 when veterans started to die off and the organization gradually declined 2 Purpose edit The UCV outlined its purposes and structure in a written constitution based on military lines Members holding appropriate UCV ranks officered and staffed echelons of command from General Headquarters at the top to local camps companies at the bottom Their declared purpose was emphatically nonmilitary to foster social literary historical and benevolent ends 3 The UCV sponsored Florida s Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy 1915 Reunions edit nbsp Cherokee Confederates Thomas Legion at the U C V reunion in New Orleans 1903 nbsp Confederate veterans reunion May 1911 nbsp 1951 Commemorative postage stamp 4 The national organization assembled annually in a general convention and social reunion presided over by the Commander in Chief These annual reunions served the UCV as an aid in achieving its goals Convention cities made elaborate preparations and tried to put on bigger events than the previous hosts The gatherings continued to be held long after the membership peak had passed and despite fewer veterans surviving they gradually grew in attendance length and splendor Numerous veterans brought family and friends along further swelling the crowds Many Southerners considered the conventions significant social occasions Perhaps thirty thousand veterans and another fifty thousand visitors attended each of the mid and late 1890 reunions and the numbers increased In 1911 an estimated crowd of 106 000 members and guests crammed into Little Rock Arkansas a city of less than one half that size Then the passing years began taking a telling toll and the reunions grew smaller But still the meetings continued until in 1950 at the sixtieth reunion only one member could attend 98 year old Commander in Chief James Moore of Selma Alabama 3 The following year 1951 the United Confederate Veterans held its sixty first and final reunion in Norfolk Virginia from May 30 to June 3 Three members attended William Townsend John B Salling and William Bush The U S Post Office Department issued a 3 cent commemorative stamp in conjunction with that final reunion 5 The last verified Confederate veteran Pleasant Crump died at age 104 on December 31 1951 The Confederate Veteran edit In addition to national meetings another prominent factor contributed to the growth and popularity of the UCV This monthly magazine became the official UCV organ the Confederate Veteran Founded as an independent publishing venture in January 1893 by Sumner Archibald Cunningham the UCV adopted it the following year Cunningham personally edited the magazine for twenty one years and bequeathed almost his entire estate to ensure its continuance The magazine was of very high quality and circulation was wide Many veterans penned recollections or articles for publication on its pages Readership always greatly exceeded circulation because numerous camps and soldiers homes received one or two copies for their numerous occupants For example an average of 6500 copies were printed per issue during the first year of publication but Cunningham estimated that fifty thousand people read the twelfth issue 6 See also edit nbsp American Civil War portal nbsp Society portal nbsp United States portalConfederate Memorial Day List of Confederate monuments and memorials Grand Army of the Republic Confederate Memorial Hall Confederate Memorial Hall Museum Southern Cross of Honor Lost Cause of the Confederacy Louisiana in the American Civil War Sons of Confederate Veterans headquartered in Columbia Tennessee United Daughters of the ConfederacyNotes edit Minutes U C V I Constitutional Convention Proceedings pp 3 8 a b Hattaway 1971 p 214 a b Hattaway 1971 p 215 Arago United Confederate Veterans Final Reunion Issue arago si edu 61st and final UCV reunion in 1951 Hattaway 1971 pp 215 16 References editCimbala Paul A Veterans North and South The Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War Santa Barbara Praeger 2015 xviii 189 pp Dorgan Howard Rhetoric of the United Confederate Veterans A lost cause mythology in the making in Oratory in the New South 1979 143 73 Hattaway Herman The United Confederate Veterans in Louisiana Louisiana History The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 16 1 1975 5 37 in JSTOR Hattaway Herman Summer 1971 Clio s Southern Soldiers The United Confederate Veterans and History Louisiana History Louisiana State University XII 3 213 42 Marten James Alan Sing Not War The Lives of Union amp Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America Univ of North Carolina Press 2011 Primary sources edit United Confederate Veterans 1907 Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans Vol I New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1907 Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans Vol II New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1909 Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans Vol III New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1910 Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans Vol IV New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1910 Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans Vol V New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1920 Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La Rogers Printing Co Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1926 Minutes of the Thirty sixth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La Rogers Printing Co Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1896 Organization of 850 United Confederate Veteran Camps New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1897 Organization of 1026 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1903 Organization of 1523 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association New Orleans La Retrieved April 27 2014 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link United Confederate Veterans 1908 Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La Hyatt Stat y Mfg Co Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1910 Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La J G Hauser Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1912 Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La J G Hauser Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1914 Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans New Orleans La A W Hyatt Stat y Mfg Co Retrieved April 27 2014 United Confederate Veterans 1921 List of Organized Camps of the United Confederate Veterans Corrected to August 31 1921 New Orleans La Rogers Printing Co Retrieved April 27 2014 United States Cong Senate 1918 Proceedings of the Twenty Seventh Annual Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Confederated Southern Memorial Association and the Twenty Second Annual Reunion of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Washington D C GPO Retrieved April 27 2014 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Confederate Veterans nbsp P P Zimmerman member of the United Confederate Veterans in 19051914 Confederate Veterans Convention at The World Digital Library Confederate Veteran Organizations at the New Georgia Encyclopedia Minutes of the Annual Meetings and Reunions of the United Confederate Veterans at the Online Books Page Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans at the Online Books Page United Confederate Veterans Association Records Archived August 1 2013 at the Wayback Machine at Louisiana State University United Confederate Veterans Collection Archived April 28 2014 at the Wayback Machine at James Madison University United Confederate Veterans Politicians at The Political Graveyard United Confederate Veterans Reunions held in Memphis at Historic Memphis United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1911 at Encyclopedia of Arkansas United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1928 at Encyclopedia of Arkansas United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1949 at Encyclopedia of Arkansas United Confederate Veterans Tennessee Division Records Archived May 20 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the Tennessee State Library and Archives United Confederate Veterans Virginia Division Records at the Library of Virginia United Confederate Veterans UCV at Encyclopedia of Arkansas Works by or about United Confederate Veterans at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United Confederate Veterans amp oldid 1204860759, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
