The Center for Civil War Research

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

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