[[File:Unidentified Civil War veteran in United Confederate Veterans uniform with Southern Cross of Honor medal LCCN2016652271 (cropped).tif|alt=|thumb|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]]
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-[[soldier]]s and [[sailor]]s of the [[Confederate States of America]] as a merger between the Louisiana Division of the Veteran Confederate States Cavalry Association; [[Nathan Bedford Forrest|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.<ref>''Minutes U.C.V.'', I, Constitutional Convention Proceedings, pp. 3–8.</ref><ref name="auto">Hattaway, 1971, p. 214.</ref>
[[File:Unidentified Civil War veteran in United Confederate Veterans uniform with Southern Cross of Honor medal LCCN2016652271.jpg|thumb|right|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]]
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-[[soldier]]s and [[sailor]]s of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]] as a merger between the Louisiana Division of the Veteran Confederate States Cavalry Association; N. B. Forrest Camp of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], [[Tennessee]]; Tennessee Division of the Veteran Confederate States Cavalry Association; Tennessee Division of Confederate Soldiers; Benevolent Association of Confederate Veterans of [[Shreveport]], Louisiana; Confederate Association of [[Iberville Parish, Louisiana|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.<ref>''Minutes U.C.V.'', I, Constitutional Convention Proceedings, pp. 3–8.</ref><ref name="auto">Hattaway, 1971, p. 214.</ref>
The Union equivalent of the UCV was the [[Grand Army of the Republic]].
==History==
==History==
Line 26:
Line 24:
===Background===
===Background===
There had been numerous local veterans associations in the [[Southern United States|South]], and many of these became part of the UCV. The organization grew rapidly throughout the 1890s culminating with 1,555 camps represented at the 1898 reunion. The next few years marked the zenith of UCV membership, lasting until 1903 or 1904, when veterans were starting to die off and the organization went into a gradualdecline.<ref name="auto"/>
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.<ref name="auto"/>
===Purpose===
===Purpose===
The UCV felt it had to outline 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.<ref name="auto1">Hattaway, 1971, p. 215.</ref>
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.<ref name="auto1">Hattaway, 1971, p. 215.</ref>
According to [[Paul H. Buck]] in his Pulitzer-Prize winning history of the reconciliation of North and South, educator [[Jabez L. M. Curry]] played a major role in promoting reunification of the sections. He told the 1896 UCV annual convention that their organization was not formed, "in malice or in mischief, in disaffection, or in rebellion, nor to keep alive sectional hates, nor to awaken revenge for defeat, nor to kindle disloyalty to the Union." Rather their "recognition of the glorious deeds of our comrades is perfectly consistent with loyalty to the flag and devotion to the Constitution and the resulting Union." The convention agreed with him and formally resolved the Confederate veteran has: "returned to the Union as an equal, and he remains in the Union as a friend. With no humble apologies, no unmanly servility, no petty spite, no sullen treachery, he is a cheerful, frank citizen of the United States, accepting the present, trusting the future, and proud of the past."<ref>Paul H. Buck, ''The Road to Reunion: 1865-1900'' (1937) p. 242 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.156456/page/n257/mode/1up online] </ref>
The UCV sponsored ''[[Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy]]'' (1915).
The UCV sponsored ''[[Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy]]'' (1915).
===Reunions===
===Reunions===
[[File:Cherokee Confederates Reunion.gif|right|325px|thumb|Cherokee confederates (Thomas' Legion) at the U.C.V reunion in New Orleans, 1903.]]
[[File:Cherokee Confederates Reunion.gif|right|325px|thumb|Cherokee Confederates (Thomas' Legion) at the U.C.V reunion in New Orleans, 1903.]]
[[Image:UCV Reunion.jpg|thumb|right|<center>Confederate veterans reunion May 1911</center>]]
[[Image:UCV Reunion.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|Confederate veterans reunion May 1911}}]]
[[File:United Confederate Veterans 1951 3c.JPG|thumb|right|<center>1951 Commemorative postage stamp<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2028907|title=Arago: United Confederate Veterans Final Reunion Issue|website=arago.si.edu}}</ref></center>]]
[[File:United Confederate Veterans 1951 3c.JPG|thumb|right|{{center|1951 Commemorative postage stamp<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2028907|title=Arago: United Confederate Veterans Final Reunion Issue|website=arago.si.edu}}</ref>}}]]
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 too, further swelling the crowds. Many Southerners considered the conventions major social occasions. Perhaps thirty thousand veterans and another fifty thousand visitors attended each of the mid and late1890 reunions, and the numbers increased. In 1911 an estimated crowd of 106,000 members and guests crammed into [[Little Rock, Arkansas|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|Selma]], [[Alabama]].<ref name="auto1"/> The following year, 1951, the United Confederate Veterans held its sixty-first and final reunion in [[Norfolk, Virginia|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://civilwartalk.com/threads/61st-and-final-ucv-reunion-in-1951.88018/|title=61st and final UCV reunion in 1951|publisher=}}</ref> The last verified Confederate veteran, [[Pleasant Crump]], died at age 104 on December 31, 1951.
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|Selma]], [[Alabama]].<ref name="auto1"/> The following year, 1951, the United Confederate Veterans held its sixty-first and final reunion in [[Norfolk, Virginia|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://civilwartalk.com/threads/61st-and-final-ucv-reunion-in-1951.88018/|title=61st and final UCV reunion in 1951}}</ref> The last verified Confederate veteran, [[Pleasant Crump]], died at age 104 on December 31, 1951.
===''The Confederate Veteran''===
===''The Confederate Veteran''===
In addition to national meetings, another prominent factor contributed to the growth and popularity of the UCV. This was a monthly magazine which 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 insure its continuance. The magazine was of a very high quality and circulation was wide. Many veterans penned recollections or articles for publication in its pages. Readership always greatly exceeded circulation because numerous camps and [[Old soldiers' home|soldiers' homes]] received one or two copies for their numerous occupants. An average of 6500 copies were printed per issue during the first year of publication, for example, but Cunningham estimated that fifty thousand people read the twelfth issue.<ref>Hattaway, 1971, pp. 215–16.</ref>
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 [[Old soldiers' home|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.<ref>Hattaway, 1971, pp. 215–16.</ref>
==See also==
==See also==
Line 51:
Line 51:
* [[Southern Cross of Honor]]
* [[Southern Cross of Honor]]
* [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]]
* [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]]
* [[Louisiana Historical Association]]
* [[Louisiana in the American Civil War]]
* [[Louisiana in the American Civil War]]
* [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]], headquartered in Columbia, Tennessee
* [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]], headquartered in Columbia, Tennessee
* [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]]
==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{reflist}}
==References==
==References==
Line 66:
Line 66:
===Primary sources===
===Primary sources===
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1907 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=I |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria01unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1907 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=I |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria01unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1907 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria02unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1907 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria02unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1909 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=III |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria04 |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1909 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=III |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria04 |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=IV |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria04 |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=IV |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria04 |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=V |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria05unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Minutes of the United Confederate Veterans |volume=V |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsseria05unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1920 |title=Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/MinutesOfTheThirtiethAnnualMeetingAndReunionOfTheUnitedConfederate |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1920 |title=Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/MinutesOfTheThirtiethAnnualMeetingAndReunionOfTheUnitedConfederate |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1926 |title=Minutes of the Thirty-sixth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/MinutesOfTheThirty-sixthAnnualConventionOfTheUnitedConfederateVeterans |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1926 |title=Minutes of the Thirty-sixth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/MinutesOfTheThirty-sixthAnnualConventionOfTheUnitedConfederateVeterans |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1896 |title=Organization of 850 United Confederate Veteran Camps |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationof8501unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1896 |title=Organization of 850 United Confederate Veteran Camps |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationof8501unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1897 |title=Organization of 1026 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationof1000unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1897 |title=Organization of 1026 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationof1000unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1903 |title=Organization of 1523 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1903unit |location=New Orleans, La. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1903 |title=Organization of 1523 Camps in the United Confederate Veteran Association |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1903unit |location=New Orleans, La. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1908 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1908unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1908 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1908unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca00unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= J. G. Hauser |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1910 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca00unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= J. G. Hauser |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1912 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1912unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= J. G. Hauser |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1912 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1912unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= J. G. Hauser |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1914 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1914unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= A. W. Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1914 |title=Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans |url=https://archive.org/details/organizationofca1914unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= A. W. Hyatt Stat'y Mfg. Co. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1921 |title=List of Organized Camps of the United Confederate Veterans Corrected to August 31, 1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/listoforganizedc02unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United Confederate Veterans |year=1921 |title=List of Organized Camps of the United Confederate Veterans Corrected to August 31, 1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/listoforganizedc02unit |location=New Orleans, La. |publisher= Rogers Printing Co. |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United States. Cong. Senate |year=1918 |title=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 |url=https://archive.org/details/ReunionOfUnitedConfederateVeteransProceedingsOfTheTwenty-seventh |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher= [[United States Government Printing Office|GPO]] |accessdate=April 27, 2014}}
* {{cite book |author=United States. Cong. Senate |year=1918 |title=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 |url=https://archive.org/details/ReunionOfUnitedConfederateVeteransProceedingsOfTheTwenty-Seventh |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher= [[United States Government Printing Office|GPO]] |access-date=April 27, 2014}}
==External links==<!-- Please do not put individual camp, division, or other webpages in this section. It would quickly become too unwieldy. Thank you. -->
==External links==<!-- Please do not put individual camp, division, or other webpages in this section. It would quickly become too unwieldy. Thank you. -->
Line 98:
Line 98:
* ''[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=ucvminutes Minutes of the Annual Meetings and Reunions of the United Confederate Veterans]'' at the [[Online Books Page]]
* ''[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=ucvminutes Minutes of the Annual Meetings and Reunions of the United Confederate Veterans]'' at the [[Online Books Page]]
* ''[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=ucvcamps Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans]'' at the Online Books Page
* ''[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=ucvcamps Organization of Camps in the United Confederate Veterans]'' at the Online Books Page
* [http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/u1357.html United Confederate Veterans Association Records] at [[Louisiana State University]]
* [http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/u1357.html United Confederate Veterans Association Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801225337/http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/u1357.html |date=August 1, 2013 }} at [[Louisiana State University]]
* [http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/manuscripts/unconvet.aspx/ United Confederate Veterans Collection] at [[James Madison University]]
* [http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/manuscripts/unconvet.aspx/ United Confederate Veterans Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428040334/http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/manuscripts/unconvet.aspx/ |date=April 28, 2014 }} at [[James Madison University]]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/group/un-confed-vets.html United Confederate Veterans Politicians] at [[The Political Graveyard]]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/group/un-confed-vets.html United Confederate Veterans Politicians] at [[The Political Graveyard]]
* [http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/ucv/ucv.html United Confederate Veterans Reunions held in Memphis] at [http://historic-memphis.com/ Historic-Memphis]
* [http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/ucv/ucv.html United Confederate Veterans Reunions held in Memphis] at [http://historic-memphis.com/ Historic-Memphis]
Line 105:
Line 105:
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7915 United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1928] at ''[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]''
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7915 United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1928] at ''[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]''
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7916 United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1949] at ''[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]''
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7916 United Confederate Veterans Reunion of 1949] at ''[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]''
* [http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/1101.pdf United Confederate Veterans Tennessee Division Records] at the [[Tennessee State Library and Archives]]
* [http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/1101.pdf United Confederate Veterans Tennessee Division Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520195512/http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/1101.pdf |date=May 20, 2011 }} at the [[Tennessee State Library and Archives]]
* [http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00497.xml;query=;#adminlink United Confederate Veterans Virginia Division Records] at the [[Library of Virginia]]
* [http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00497.xml;query=;#adminlink United Confederate Veterans Virginia Division Records] at the [[Library of Virginia]]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=6401 United Confederate Veterans (UCV)] at [[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=6401 United Confederate Veterans (UCV)] at [[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]]
Line 123:
Line 123:
[[Category:Defunct clubs and societies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct clubs and societies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct organizations based in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Defunct organizations based in Louisiana]]
[[Category:LostCause of the Confederacy]]
[[Category:Neo-Confederate organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1889]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1889]]
[[Category:Organizations formed by merger]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1951]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1951]]
Latest revision as of 07:32, 3 October 2024
American Civil War veterans' organization for soldiers and sailors of the CSA
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]
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]
According to Paul H. Buck in his Pulitzer-Prize winning history of the reconciliation of North and South, educator Jabez L. M. Curry played a major role in promoting reunification of the sections. He told the 1896 UCV annual convention that their organization was not formed, "in malice or in mischief, in disaffection, or in rebellion, nor to keep alive sectional hates, nor to awaken revenge for defeat, nor to kindle disloyalty to the Union." Rather their "recognition of the glorious deeds of our comrades is perfectly consistent with loyalty to the flag and devotion to the Constitution and the resulting Union." The convention agreed with him and formally resolved the Confederate veteran has: "returned to the Union as an equal, and he remains in the Union as a friend. With no humble apologies, no unmanly servility, no petty spite, no sullen treachery, he is a cheerful, frank citizen of the United States, accepting the present, trusting the future, and proud of the past."[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.[6] The last verified Confederate veteran, Pleasant Crump, died at age 104 on December 31, 1951.
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.[7]
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. XII (3). Louisiana State University: 213–42.
Marten, James Alan. Sing Not War: The Lives of Union & Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2011).
