Reunions

Almost immediately after the end of the Civil War, veterans sought out occasions to gather together, to relive their shared experiences, find solace in their battle-forged bonds, to celebrate their heroic deeds, and commemorate the sacrifices of their fallen comrades.  These reunions of regiments, corps, armies, and fraternal organizations – so important to the soldiers and their families – came eventually to serve as symbol of a wider national reunification, despite the vast majority of reunions remaining purely separate former Union or Confederate affairs.  By contrast, at infrequent “Blue and Gray” reunions, veterans of both sides made conciliatory overtures, enjoyed the hospitality of former enemies and celebrated their collective American identity.  Attended by the hundreds and thousands, reunions of all kinds evoked powerful sentiments and became fertile ground for the construction of Civil War memory.

The location, frequency, attendance, and content of these reunions not only demonstrates the popularity of this form of remembrance, but also the national imperative to commemorate the Civil War in a way that honored its veterans and gave meaning to their sacrifices.

What follows, admittedly incomplete,  is a listing of reunions from 1866 to 1951, both Union and Confederate, as well as the less frequent “Blue and Gray” reunions.  Compiled from the pages of veteran publications, including the Confederate Veteran, Southern Bivouac, the Journals of the GAR Grand Encampments, and The History of the Grand Army of the Republic, this list provides a sense of the power and breadth of this commemorative movement. 

This is an ongoing project, and we will be happy to hear of reunions not yet listed below.

 

 

Union

Blue & Gray

Confederate

20 November 1866
Indianapolis, Indiana
First National GAR Encampment

15 January 1868
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Second National GAR Encampment

12-13 May 1869
Cincinnati, Ohio
Third National GAR Encampment

11-12 May 1870
Washington, D.C.
Fourth National GAR Encampment

10-11 May 1871
Boston, Massachusetts

Fifth National GAR Encampment

8-9 May 1872
Cleveland, Ohio
Sixth National GAR Encampment

14-15 May 1873
New Haven, Connecticut
Seventh National GAR Encampment

13 May 1874
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Eighth National GAR Encampment

12-13 May 1875
Chicago, Illinois
Ninth National GAR Encampment

19 October 1875
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Blue and Gray Reunion

30 June 1876
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tenth National GAR Encampment

26-27 June 1877
Providence, Rhode Island

Eleventh National GAR Encampment

4 June 1878
Springfield, Massachusetts
Twelfth National GAR Encampment

17-18 June 1879
Albany, New York

Thirteenth National GAR Encampment

8-9 June 1880
Dayton, Ohio
Fourteenth National GAR Encampment

15-16 June 1881
Indianapolis, Indiana

Fifteenth National GAR Encampment

21 July 1881
Luray, Virginia

Blue and Gray Reunion
Captain Colwell Post, GAR
ex-Confederates of Luray Valley, VA

21-23 June 1882
Baltimore, Maryland
Sixteenth National GAR Encampment

25-26 July 1883
Denver, Colorado
Seventeenth National GAR Encampment

11 September 1883
Weirs, New Hampshire
Annual NH Veterans Reunion

some Confederate veterans present
20,000 in attendance

23-25 July 1884
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Eighteenth National GAR Encampment

6 August 1884
Dallas, Texas
Confederate Reunion

24-25 June 1885
Portland, Maine
Nineteenth National GAR Encampment

4-6 August 1886
San Francisco, California
Twentieth National GAR Encampment

28-30 September 1887
St. Louis, Missouri
Twenty-first National GAR Encampment

2-4 July 1887
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Blue and Gray Reunion

200 Confederate veterans in attendance

12-14 September 1888
Columbus, Ohio
Twenty-second National GAR Encampment

 

28-30 August 1889
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Twenty-third National GAR Encampment

 

13-14 August 1890
Boston, Massachusetts
Twenty-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

3-5 July 1890

Chattanooga, Tennessee

First National UCV Reunion

5-7 August 1891
Detroit, Michigan
Twenty-fifth National GAR Encampment

 

21-22 September 1892
Washington, D.C.
Twenty-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

8-9 April 1892

New Orleans, Louisiana

Third National UCV Reunion

 

 

2 February 1893
Dallas, Texas

Trans-Mississippi Department UCV Reunion

 

 

1 May 1893
Houston, Texas

Dick Dowling Camp, UCV Reunion

 

 

2 May 1893
Terrell, Texas

J.E.B. Stuart Camp, No. 45, UCV Reunion

 

 

27 May 1893
Dixon Springs, Tennessee

Bradley Bivouac, UCV Reunion

 

30 May 1893 World’s Fair
Chicago, Illinois
GAR and UCV Reunion

“several thousand” Confederate veterans in attendance

 

6-7 September 1893
Indianapolis, Indiana
Twenty-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

 

 

 

23-24 November 1893
Augusta, Georgia
Confederate Veteran Survivor’s Association reunion

 

 

5-7 April 1894
Waco, Texas

TX UCV Reunion

 

 

25-26 April 1984

Birmingham, Alabama

Fourth National UCV Reunion

 

 

2 June 1894
Orlando, Florida

Orange County Camp UCV Reunion

 

 

11-12 July 1894
Belton, Texas

Bell County ex-Confederate Association Reunion

628 members and "eight to ten thousand" in attendance

 

 

19 July 1894
Hawkinsville, Georgia

Pulaski County Confederate Veterans Association Annual Reunion

 

 

21 July 1894

Aiken, South Carolina

Barnard E. Bee Camp with Aiken Camp, UCV Reunion

 

 

2-3 August 1894
Lackland Springs, Arkansas

Camp Walter Bragg, UCV Reunion

 

7-9 August 1894
Dublin, Texas

Erath and Comanche ex-Confederate Association Annual Reunion

“a large number of the gray and blue joined”

 

 

 

15-16 August 1894
Coleman, Texas

John Pelham Camp, No. 76, UCV Reunion

6 September 1894
Rodgersville, Tennessee

East TN UCV Reunion

5,000-8,000 in attendance

 

 

12-13 September 1894
Gallatin, Tennessee

Annual Reunion of TN Confederate Veterans

12-13 September 1894
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Twenty-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

 

 

2-3 October 1894
Birmingham, Alabama

UCV reunion

 

 

19 October 1894
Mt. Airy, North Carolina

Confederate Veterans of Surry County

 

 

22-24 May 1895

Houston, Texas

Fifth National UCV Reunion

 

 

20 July 1895
Hico, Tennessee

Stonewall Jackson Bivouac, Camp 42, UCV Reunion

11-13 September 1895
Louisville, Kentucky

Twenty-ninth National GAR Encampment

18-20 September 1895

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Blue and Gray Reunion

at least 1,000 Union veterans in attendance, along with representatives from 22 states

 

4 July 1896

New York, New York

GAR Reunion

 

30 June-2 July 1896

Richmond, Virginia

Sixth National UCV Reunion

“many thousands” in attendance

 

 

21 July 1896
Hico, Tennessee

Stonewall Jackson Camp of McKenzie, No. 42, UCV

 

 

13 August 1896
Johnson’s Lake
Brownsville, Tennessee

Fifth Annual Hiram S. Bradford Bivouac, UCV Reunion

3-4 September 1896
St. Paul, Minnesota

Thirtieth National GAR Encampment

 

 

 

22-24 June 1897
Nashville, Tennessee

Seventh National UCV Reunion

25-27 August 1897
Buffalo, New York

Thirty-first National GAR Encampment

45,000 in attendance

August 1897

Mammoth Spring, Arkansas

Blue and Gray Reunion in association with the Winnie Davis Chapter,

No. 122, UDC

 

 

 

11 September 1897

Louisville, Kentucky

Confederate Reunion

3,000 in attendance

 

 

22 May 1898

Mount Hope Cemetery

New York, New York

Confederate Veteran Camp of NY

200 in attendance

 

 

20-23 July 1898

Atlanta, Georgia

Eighth National UCV Reunion

5-10 September 1898

Cincinnati, Ohio

Thirty-second National GAR Encampment

Attended by members of John Morgan’s Kentucky Cavalry, CSA and the Seventh Ohio Cavalry, USA

 

 

 

 

3-4 May 1899

Austin, Texas

Eighth Annual TX UCV Reunion

 

 

10-13 May 1899

Charleston, South Carolina

Ninth National UCV Reunion

3,000-5,000 in attendance

 

 

26-27 July 1899
Chester, South Carolina

UCV Reunion

 

 

25 August 1899

Clarksville, Virginia

Seventh Annual L.A. Armistead Camp, UCV Reunion

6-7 September 1899

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thirty-third National GAR Encampment

 

16-17 September 1899
Sturgis, Kentucky

Captain Adam Johnson, UCV Reunion

700-800 in attendance

 

10-13 October 1899

Evansville, Indiana

National Blue and Gray Reunion in association with Farragut Post, GAR

11-12 October 1899

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

State Division of TN Veterans Reunion

12,000 in attendance

 

 

30-31 May-1-3 June 1900

Louisville, Kentucky

Tenth National UCV Reunion

 

 

18 July 1900

Abbeville, South Carolina

Abbeville Regiments, SC Division, UCV Annual Reunion

200 veterans in attendance

 

19-20 July 1900

Atlanta, Georgia

Blue and Gray Reunion

5,000 GAR and UCV members in attendance

18-20 July 1900

Fairfield, Texas

W. L. Moody Camp, UCV Reunion

29-30 August 1900

Chicago, Illinois

Thirty-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

 

 

 

27-28 September 1900

Warrensburg, Missouri

MO ex-Confederate Veterans Reunion

400 in attendance

12-13 September 1901

Cleveland, Ohio

Thirty-fifth National GAR Encampment

 

27-30 May 1901

Memphis, Tennessee

Eleventh National UCV Reunion

20,000 in attendance

9-10 October 1902

Washington, D.C.

Thirty-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

22-25 April 1902

Dallas, Texas

Twelfth National UCV Reunion

114,000 in attendance

 

 

17 April 1903
Charleston, South Carolina
Camp Sumter, UCV Reunion

 

 

19-22 May 1903

New Orleans, Louisiana

Thirteenth National UCV Reunion

 

 

15-16 July 1903

Sherman, Texas

Annual TX Division, UCV Reunion

495 members in attendance

 

 

30 July 1903

Brownsville, Tennessee

Twelfth Annual Reunion of Confederate veterans in association with Hiram S. Bradford Bivouac

 

 

12-14 August 1903

Gatesville, Texas

Annual Gatesville Camp, UCV Reunion

20-21 August 1903

San Francisco, California

Thirty-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

20-21 August 1903

Durant, Indian Territory

Second Annual Indian Territory Division, UCV Reunion

over 6,000 in attendance

 

 

25-26 August 1903

Norman, Oklahoma

OK Confederate Veterans Reunion

 

 

29 August 1903

near Warrenton, Virginia

Joe Kendall Camp, UCV Reunion

60 veterans in attendance

 

 

4-5 September 1903

Franklin, North Carolina

Confederate Reunion

153 veterans in attendance

 

 

24-26 September 1903

Columbia, Missouri

Confederate Soldier Veterans of MO Reunion

 

 

25-26 September 1903

Los Angeles, California

Pacific Division, UCV Reunion

 

 

15-16 October 1903

Paducah, Kentucky

Second Brigade, Kentucky Division, UCV Reunion

650 veterans in attendance

 

 

4-5 November 1903

Birmingham, Alabama

AL UCV Reunion

 

 

14-16 June 1904

Nashville, Tennessee

Fourteenth National UCV Reunion

25,000 in attendance

17-18 August 1904

Boston, Massachusetts

Thirty-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

14-16 June 1905

Louisville, Kentucky

Fifteenth National UCV Reunion

35,000 in attendance

7-8 September 1905

Denver, Colorado

Thirty-ninth National GAR Encampment

 

25-27 April 1906

New Orleans, Louisiana

Sixteenth National UCV Reunion

16-17 August 1906

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fortieth National GAR Encampment

 

25-27 April 1906

New Orleans, Louisiana

Sixteenth National UCV Reunion

12-13 September 1907

Saratoga Springs, New York

Forty-first National GAR Encampment

 

30 May-3 June 1907

Richmond, Virginia

Seventeenth National UCV Reunion

3-4 September 1908

Toledo, Ohio

Forty-second National GAR Encampment

 

9-11 June 1908

Birmingham, Alabama

Eighteenth National UCV Reunion

12-13 August 1909

Salt Lake City, Utah

Forty-third National GAR Encampment

 

8-10 June 1909

Memphis, Tennessee

Nineteenth National UCV Reunion

22-23 September 1910

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Forty-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

26-28 April 1910

Mobile, Alabama

Twentieth National UCV Reunion

24-25 August 1911

Rochester, New York

Forty-fifth National GAR Encampment

27 September 1911

Memphis, Tennessee

Blue and Gray Reunion

15-18 May 1911

Little Rock, Arkansas

Twenty-first National UCV Reunion

9-14 September 1912

Los Angeles, California

Forty-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

7-9 May 1912

Macon, Georgia

Twenty-second National UCV Reunion

18-19 September 1913

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Forty-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

27-29 May 1913

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Twenty-third National UCV Reunion

3-4 September 1914

 Detroit, Michigan

Forty-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

6-9 May 1914

Jacksonville, FL

Twenty-fourth National UCV Reunion

30 September-1 October 1915 Washington, D.C.

Forty-ninth National GAR Encampment

 

1-3 June 1915

Richmond, Virginia

Twenty-fifth National UCV Reunion

28 August-2 September 1916

Kansas City, Missouri

Fiftieth National GAR Encampment

 

16-18 May 1916

Birmingham, Alabama

Twenty-sixth National UCV Reunion

20-25 August 1917

Boston, Massachusetts

Fifty-first National GAR Encampment

 

5-7 June 1917

Washington, D.C.

Twenty-seventh National UCV Reunion

18-24 August 1918

Portland, Oregon

Fifty-second National GAR Encampment

 

25-27 September 1918

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Twenty-eighth National UCV Reunion

7-13 September 1919

Columbus, Ohio

Fifty-third National GAR Encampment

 

 

19-25 September 1920

Indianapolis, Indiana

Fifty-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

6-8 October 1920

Houston, Texas

Thirtieth National UCV Reunion

25-29 September 1921 Indianapolis, Indiana

Fifty-fifth National GAR Encampment

 

25-27 October 1921

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Thirty-first National UCV Reunion

24-29 September 1922

Des Moines, Iowa

Fifty-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

20-22 June 1922

Richmond, Virginia

Thirty-second National UCV Reunion

2-8 September 1923

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Fifty-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

11-13 April 1923

New Orleans, Louisiana

Thirty-third National UCV Reunion

10-15 August 1924

Boston, Massachusetts

Fifty-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

3-6 June 1924

Memphis, Tennessee

Thirty-fourth National UCV Reunion

30 August-5 September 1925

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Fifty-ninth National GAR Encampment

 

19-22 May 1925

Dallas, Texas

Thirty-fifth National UCV Reunion

19-25 September 1926

Des Moines, Iowa

Sixtieth National GAR Encampment

 

18-22 May 1926

Birmingham, Alabama

Thirty-sixth National UCV Reunion

11-16 September 1927

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sixty-first National GAR Encampment

 

5-8 April 1927

Tampa, Florida

Thirty-seventh National UCV Reunion

16-21 September 1928

Denver, Colorado

Sixty-second National GAR Encampment

 

8-11 May 1928

Little Rock, Arkansas

Thirty-eighth National UCV Reunion

8-13 September 1929

Portland, Maine

Sixty-third National GAR Encampment

 

4-7 June 1929

Charlotte, North Carolina

Thirty-ninth National UCV Reunion

24-28 August 1930

Cincinnati, Ohio

Sixty-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

3-6 June 1930

Biloxi, Mississippi

Fortieth National UCV Reunion

13-18 September 1931

Des Moines, Iowa

Sixty-fifth National GAR Encampment

 

2-5 June 1931

Montgomery, Alabama

Forty-first National UCV Reunion

18-24 September 1932

 Springfield, Illinois

Sixty-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

21-24 June 1932

Richmond, Virginia

Forty-second National UCV Reunion

17-22 September 1933

St. Paul, Minnesota

Sixty-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

 

12-18 August 1934

Rochester, New York

Sixty-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

6-8 June 1934

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Forty-fourth National UCV Reunion

8-14 September 1935

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sixty-ninth National GAR Encampment

 

3-6 September 1935

Amarillo, Texas

Forty-fifth National UCV Reunion

20-26 September 1936

Washington, D.C.

Seventieth National GAR Encampment

 

9-12 June 1936

Shreveport, Louisiana

Forty-sixth National UCV Reunion

5-10 September 1937

Madison, Wisconsin

Seventy-first National GAR Encampment

 

9-12 June 1937

Jackson, Mississippi

Forty-seventh National UCV Reunion

4-9 September 1938

Des Moines, Iowa

Seventy-second National GAR Encampment

29 June-6 July 1938

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Blue and Gray Reunion

30-31 August-1-2 September 1938

Columbia, South Carolina

Forty-eighth National UCV Reunion

27 August-1 September 1939

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Seventy-third National GAR Encampment

 

22-25 August 1939

Trinidad, Colorado

Forty-ninth National UCV Reunion

8-13 September 1940

Springfield, Illinois

Seventy-fourth National GAR Encampment

 

8-11 October 1940

Washington, D.C.

Fiftieth National UCV Reunion

14-19 September 1941

Columbus, Ohio

Seventy-fifth National GAR Encampment

 

14-15 October 1941

Atlanta, Georgia

Fifty-first National UCV Reunion

13-18 September 1942

Indianapolis, Indiana

Seventy-sixth National GAR Encampment

 

23-26 June 1942

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Fifty-second National UCV Reunion

19-24 September 1943

 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Seventy-seventh National GAR Encampment

 

 

10-15 September 1944

Des Moines, Iowa

Seventy-eighth National GAR Encampment

 

 

30 September-4 October 1945

Columbus, Ohio

Seventy-ninth National GAR Encampment

 

 

25-30 August 1946

Indianapolis, Indiana

Eightieth National GAR Encampment

 

 

10-14 August 1947

Cleveland, Ohio

Eighty-first National GAR Encampment

 

 

28-30 September 1948

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Eighty-second National GAR Encampment

 

5-7 October 1948

Montgomery, Alabama

Fifty-eighth National UCV Reunion

28 August-1 September 1949

Indianapolis, Indiana

Eighty-third National GAR Encampment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 May-3 June 1951

Norfolk, Virginia

Sixty-first National UCV Reunion