The Grand Army of  the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army.(United States Army) Union Navy (U.S. Navy) Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois by Benjamin F. Stevenson on April 6th, and grew  to include  hundreds  of posts (local community units) across the nation, mostly  in the North, but also a few in the South and West. It linked men through their experience of the war. The G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress  establish regular veteran’s pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at 410,000, was in 1890. It was disbanded in 1956 at the death of its last member Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota. There were three Grand Army of the Republic “posts” in Scotland County Arbela had two. Thomas Weber  post and William T. Kays post. The  one at Memphis was  Capt. W. G. Murray post.

From Jauflione Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution