Western History and Genealogy

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Colorado Grand Army of the Republic

A B C D E F G H I J K L M Mc N O P Q-R S T U-V W Y-Z
Index of GAR Post numbers

Introduction

The Colorado Civil War Grand Army of the Republic membership data consists of these files:

Index of GAR Post numbers

Members in alphabetical order from A to Z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M Mc N O P Q-R S T U-V W Y-Z

Suggested search procedure after reading About the Grand Army of the Republic:
1. Search the member list for a surname, bearing in mind that there may be variations in spelling.
2. After a successful search, make a note of the post number and search the Index of Colorado GAR Posts. This will give the location of the post.

About the Grand Army of the Republic

Colorado Civil War GAR Members
by Gerald E. Sherard
January 1995

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was the organization that embraced veterans who had served in the United States on land or sea during the Civil War, 1861 - 1865. Its purpose was the cultivation of fraternity, comradeship, and patriotism among Union Veterans. The GAR also exercised a political role and during the late 19th century was able to wield considerable influence in state and national politics.

The GAR sprang up in Illinois in 1866 and spread rapidly throughout the country. The plan of organization provided for individual posts at the local or precinct level. County organizations were called districts. At the state level, the organizations were known as Departments, e.g. Department of Colorado. All post meetings, district meetings, and national encampments were designed to promote the growth of the order, to protect and assist disabled soldiers and their families, and to engender appreciation of service to the United States through moral, social and political activity.

In the accompanying files are listed most of the Civil War veterans who were members of Colorado GAR posts. The sources of information for this listing were the Colorado GAR rosters of members for the years 1895, 1910, and 1931. Also less than a third of the Civil War veterans who ever lived in Colorado ever were members of the GAR.

Two other major listings of Colorado Civil War veterans are the WPA Colorado Veterans Grave Registration file cards which were compiled in 1940 and Colorado service men in the 1st , 2nd, and 3rd Colorado Cavalrys. Both of these latter two listings have alphabetical name indexes and are available at the Colorado State Archives Library in Denver. A large collection of Union regimental histories is provided in A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by F.H. Dyer.

Copies of a soldier's military and pension records may be obtained by writing the Reference Services Branch (NNRG-P), National Archives and Records Administration, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20408.

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