DK - The American Civil War

The War Remembered

The Civil War remains central in the national memory, though how the war is remembered has changed

over time. The initial guardians of that memory were the veterans themselves, who formed organizations

to address their needs, commemorate their sacrifices, and instill the past in the nation’s children.

LEGACIES OF THE WAR

U

nsurprisingly, Northerners

and Southerners held different

perspectives on the origins

and meaning of the Civil War. The

vanquished Confederates fashioned a

set of ideas that became known as the

“Lost Cause.” The term itself emerged

shortly after the conclusion of the war.

It was coined by Richmond journalist

Edward Pollard in his 1866 history of

the war by the same name.

The “Lost Cause” was the Southern

attempt to explain and soothe defeat,

while at the same time protecting

honor. It promoted the view that the

South was defeated by overwhelming

Northern resources of men, industry,

technology, and money. It romanticized

the struggle by emphasizing the

inevitability of Confederate defeat.

The view denied that slavery was the

primary sectional tension, stressing

instead an unbridgeable constitutional

Memorial Day—as a national holiday,

and was also an important constituency

of the Republican Party. The

organization was finally disbanded

in 1956, following the death of its

last member, Albert Woolson.

Voice of the Confederacy
Confederate veterans risked Northern
charges of disloyalty in organizing their
own groups, but, in 1889, they created
the United Confederate Veterans
(U.C.V.). Without the benefaction of
the Federal government, local U.C.V.
“camps” established their own veterans’
relief associations,
providing for
widows and
orphans, and
pressuring state
governments for pensions. By the first
decade of the 20th century, the U.C.V.
had more than 160,000 members.
To an important degree, veteran
groups from the North and the South
were also guardians of the memory of
the war. They tenaciously promoted
their own perspective on the conflict,
especially through the education of
children. The G.A.R. considered a
pledge of allegiance as a valuable tool
in instilling a sense of nationalism.
Gray and blue united
In 1913, veterans from both sides came together at the
Great Reunion on the Gettysburg battlefield. During the
week-long encampment, former enemies put aside their
differences and united on soil once stained with blood.

Remembering the fallen

Civil War battle reenactments have grown in popularity

over the years. Serving as a memorial to the fallen, they are

also an important educational resource. Reenactments

take place all over the United States—here, the Battle

of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley is re-created.

divide over states’ rights. Its authors

further idealized what they saw

as Southern “civilization,” while

demonizing Northern developments

of industry and urbanization. While

the “Lost Cause” began largely as

a Southern view, elements were

absorbed into the national way of

thinking over the course of time.

The most corrosive aspect, however,

was that many

U.S. citizens

lost sight of

the importance

of slavery in

the conflict’s beginnings. Furthermore,

they disavowed the significance of

emancipation as one of the war’s great

legacies. This sorry historical amnesia

lasted well into the 20th century.

Veterans’ organizations

While former soldiers found it difficult

to discuss their time on the battlefield,

they saw the value in creating veterans’

organizations. These groups enabled

them to remain in contact with their

comrades and provided a platform

in which to share their experiences.

Former Union Army surgeon Benjamin

Franklin Stephenson set up the Grand

Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) in

Decatur, Illinois, on April 6, 1866.

The organization was built on the

tenets of “Fraternity, Charity, and

Loyalty,” and soon expanded across

the North and South, as regional posts

were established. The G.A.R. held

conventions nationally and played

prominent roles in local civic rituals.

Its members, who were restricted to the

“veterans of the late unpleasantness,”

numbered more than 400,000 in the

1890s, and the organization wielded

significant political influence. It lobbied

on behalf of its members on issues that

included pensions and the care of

veterans and their families. The G.A.R.

was instrumental in establishing May’s

Decoration Day—which became

BEFORE

“The Civil War is our felt

history—history lived in the

national imagination.”

SOUTHERN AUTHOR ROBERT PENN WARREN, THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1961

The number

of Union Army

veterans in the G.A.R. during the 1890s.

400,000

In November 1863, President Abraham
Lincoln delivered his immortal address on
the battlefield of Gettysburg, foretelling
the “new birth of freedom.”

THE NEW CHAPTER
By late May 1865, when Union veterans of the
great eastern and western armies marched
through the streets of Washington, D. C., in a
final Grand Review, Lincoln was dead. After
the fiery trial of war, a new chapter was opening
in the nation’s history. It would be written by
the hundreds of thousands of Northern and
Southern veterans now returning home.

UNION TROOPS AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG