GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. A patriotic society organized in Decatur, Ill., on April 6. 1868. Its existence is primarily due to Dr. B. F. Stephenson and Chaplain W. J. Rut ledge, of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, who, in February. 1864, conceived the idea of its formation. The principal objects of the order are to maintain and strengthen the fraternal feelings which bind together the soldiers, sailers, and marines who united to suppress the Rebellion; to perpetuate the memory and history of those who have died; and to lend assistance to the needy and to their widows and orphans. The society admits to membership any soldier or sailor of the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps, who served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865, and was hodorably discharged, and also members of State regiments who were called into active service and were subject to the orders of the United States general officers. The official badge consists of a miniature strap and ribbon showing the national flag, from which is hung the brass star of the membership badge. This star shows a medallion, on which in relief are a soldier and sailor clasping hands in front of a figure repre senting 'Liberty,' while in the foreground are two freedmen; the entire design being supported on the sides by the national banner. The Grand Army is organized into departments, represent ing the States and Territories, and numbers near ly 7000 local societies. The membership in 1890 reached a total of 409,487, but this number has steadily decreased since, and in 1892 was less than 250,000. The annual death-rate is at pres
ent about 9000. Annual meetings, called encamp ments, are regularly held in the leading cities of the Union. The members wear on official occa sions a dark-blue uniform and black slouch hat. To this organization is due the establishment of Memorial Day on May 30th of every year. Be cause of its large membership, its close organi zation, and its nearly unanimous adherence to Republican policies, the Grand Army has neces sarily exerted a powerful, if often indirect, influ ence upon national politics and the choice of national candidates. Every elected Republican President from Grant to McKinley served in the Civil War, and polled practically the entire Grand Army vote. In 1869 the Grand Army laid down the rule that the organization should in no way be used for partisan purposes, partisan discussion, or political nominations. But while the letter of this law was kept, the Grand Army has no doubt influenced the cause of pension legislation. The Disability Act of 1890, doubling the pension roll, was due to it; so were earlier and later laws in some part, and so was the insistence upon a liberal interpretation of the laws. The Army has been also, and beneficently, active in the care and education of the orphans of deceased comrades and in the establishment of soldiers' homes.