Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-27

The total number, of individuals enlisted
insthe armies of the. United States during
! ,i.sSs the same time the total enlistment in
tss armies of the confederacy is estimated
at 6uU.eU0.
The present total enlistment of the Grand
Army is 2SS,0GO.
b During the rebellion 81. 05S union soldiers
were killed In battle: 43.032 died of wounds
died Of disease: "a, SIC died from causes not
classified, The total death roll in the ..alon
armies was $50. SIS. nearly lW,0 300 more than
thhe present membership of the Grand
Army Of survivors.
1t took more than 2,0OO engagements to
decide the rebellion, many of them were
skirmishes. bit some. tremendous battles,
in which many thousands OF men Were en-
gagged on both sides. During the contin-
uance OF the war there were one and a
half engagements per day on the average.
During the rebellion 122, COO men were en-
p.oyed in the navy of the United States.
Nearly 10000 veteran soldiers took part
in the grand review which took place IN
Washington at the close of the war on May
% and "a. 1865. The Army of the Poton:ac
had so.Wo men in 'ioe. the Army of The
Tennessee $4,000, and the Army of Georgia
3,CC2. Painted upon a strip of canvas
which was stretched along the front Of
the capitol building was the legend: THE
only national debt we can never pay is
the debt we owe the victorious union SOL
diels.'
Since the close Of the war Of the rebel
lion the United States government has paid
in pensions to union soldiers more than
81, iGa.0t 0,0GoAtwo billion four hundred mil
lion dollars. At present the government is
paying SlFi,IW,N a year for pensions. OF
this sum $4,000 goes to the army and
S4eGo,cp to the navy. Under the present
law Z soldiers widow is entitled TO a pen
son Of IS per month. The latest figures
show that names are being taken from
the pension rolls faster than they are be-
ing added. 50 that the amount needed for
pensions is slightly diminishing. In 1867
the expenditures for pensions were $27,-
G01,CGO.
The southern states pay more than s1,oOo,-
WO annually to veterans of the confederate
army. .
The Third Army corps union was the first
military order formed during the progress
Of the rebellion. 1t was organized March
l6, 1862, and General Daniel f. Sickles was
its commander.
The Loyal Legion was the first society
formed by officers of the union armies. 1t
was organized in Philadelphia the day
after the assassination of President Lin
coin.
The idea Of forming the military order of
the Grand Army Of the Republic was first
suggested by the Rev. w. J. Rutledge.
fantry. during Sherman's expedition to
Meridian. Miss, in February, 1864. One son
OF Chaplain Rutledge enlisted in the Third
Illinois cavalry at the age of 16, and am
other was a drummer boy at the age of IL.
The first post Of the Grand Army Of the
Republic was organized at Decatur, Ill.
April 6, 1865, by Major b. r. Stephenson.
assisted by Captain John S. Phelps. The
first post or encampment had II charter
members.
Benjamin Franklin Stephenson, the
founder of the Grand Army, was born in
Wayne county, Ill. He. studied medicine.
and in 1861 was elected surgeon of the
Fourteenth Illinois infantry, in which ca
pacity he served for three years. He died
at Rock Creek, H., in 1871.
Grand Army Post No. 2 was organized
at Springfield, Ill.,, where also the first de-
partmental encamnment of the order was
held in July, 1866. By the time Of this en-
General John NJ. Palmer was elected the
first department commander.
BY October l, 1866. departments had been
formed in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana,
Iowa and Minnesota, and posts in Ohio,
Missouri. Kentucky, Arkansas, District of
Columbia, Massachusetts,. New York and
Pennsylvania
Ile first national "encampment of the
Grand Army was held at Indianapolis, Ind,
on November 20, 1866. The first commander,
in-chief of the Grand Army was Genera
Stephen A. Hurlburt, who was born in
Charleston, S. c., in 1915. General Hurl-
burt was a resident of Belvidere, Ill, when
the war broke out. After the war he was
sent as United States minister to Peru. He
died in Chile. South America, in 1872, ane
his remains were brought to his home al
Beivldere for interlnent.
The question Of whether the G. A, r
should as a body take part in partisan poll
tics vas decided at the second nationa,
e~ncalnDnent of the order. held at Phila.
delphia in January, 1868. At that meeting,
after a warm debate, an amendment to the
constitution was adopted which declares
that this association does not design tc
make nominations for office or to use its
influence as q secret organization for parti
san purposes An article prohibiting the
Introduction of any partisan questions was
adopted at the next session..
Memorial day was suggested by a Ger
man-American veteran, who wrote from
Cincinnati in May, 1868, to the national ad
jutant general of tho order, General Chip
man, stating that in the fatherland it wa:
a custom for tae people to assemble il
the spring time for the purpose OF strew
ing flowers on the graves of the dead
and suggesting that the Grand Army in
%augurate a similar observance in memor!
Of the union dead.
: On May 5. 1868. the first order settint
apart May 80 as Memorial day was ISSUED
by General John A. Logan, as commander
in-chief of the Grand Army.
At the present time Memorial day is
legal holiday in all the states and terri
, tories except Alabama, Arkansas, Florida
, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana. Mississippi
New Mexico, North Carolina, South Caro-
/ lima, Texas and Virginia.
The first organization of women for &C
tive cooperation with the Grand Army o
the Republic was formed at Portland, Me.
in 1869, under the title of the Boswortl
Relief corps. The first state organization
of women was perfected at Fitchburg
| Mass in 1879 under the title of the Wn