Confederate Veterans, Benning Camp Collection (SMC 83)

Organizational Note

This note is taken from Wikipedia. The United Confederate Veterans, also known as the UCV, was a veteran's organization for former Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War, and was equivalent to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) which was the organization for Union veterans.

Prior to 1889, Confederate veterans had no national organization similar to the Grand Army of the Republic. Several separate fraternal and memorial groups existed on a local and regional level. Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1889, several of these groups united and formed the United Confederate Veterans Association. The organization was founded to serve as a benevolent, historical, social and literary association. The UCV was active well into the 1940s. Its final reunion was held in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1951.

The primary functions of the organization were to provide for widows and orphans of former Confederate soldiers, preserve relics and mementos, care for disabled former soldiers, preserve a record of the service of its members, and organize reunions and fraternal gatherings. At its height, membership in the organization was approximately 160,000 former Confederate soldiers organized into 1,885 local camps. A privately produced magazine called Confederate Veteran was popular with UCV members, with articles about events during the war and providing a forum for lost comrades to locate one another.

The organizational structure of the UCV was based on a military-style hierarchy with a national headquarters, three departments, divisions within those departments, and finally the local camps. The national officers were at first known as "Generals Commanding" and later as "Commander-in-Chief." Commanders were not based on the actual rank of the veteran while in service. Commanders-in-Chief ranged from former generals to former privates. Former Confederate General John Brown Gordon was the first commander of the UCV in 1890, holding this position until his death in 1904, when he was succeeded by Stephen D. Lee. Later commanders included former generals Clement A. Evans, William L. Cabell and George W. Gordon.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of one volume of minutes from the Benning Camp of the UCV, with newspaper clippings inserted about the organization and its activities. 1893-1901 1 folder (.1 l.f.)

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the United Confederate Veterans, Benning Camp Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives at Columbus State University. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required: United Confederate Veterans, Benning Camp Collection (SMC 83) Columbus State University Archives Columbus, Georgia

Provenance

Given to the archives by Stephen Barber who got it from John Lassiter.

Folder List

• Folder 1 - Benning Camp meeting minutes, 1893-1901