The National tribune., 1905-12-21

"Gen. Gresham will report the name.
or officers and charter members Of Dis
tricts and Posts established by him Il
these these Headauarter.. and WIN issue t
which will be forwarded by them with
their application for q charter.
by order OF B. +. Stephenson, Com
manding Department.
Robert Mann Woods, Adjutant-Gen
sral."
This was accompanied by full let
ter OF instructions and a batch Of Con
situations and Rituals. Gen. Gresham
wrote that he could not find time t.
organize. and suggested the substitu
ton Of Col. A. J. HAWKE in his place
which we did.
| Col. HAWKE organized some Posts
but failed to make any reports But
find he was present at the first En-
campment of the Department OF In
diana. Nov. p, 1865. and was elected
Observation-Disclosures Of the Depart
| ment, and was appointed Inspector
| General. so that / have no doubt he die
good work because of his appointment
By DR.. Stephenson.
In the month of June, 1866, DR.
Crawford, Of Terre Haute, to organize
Fosts In Indiana. No reports were ever
received from Col. Crawford. AS h,
appeared at the Department Encamp
nent. commanding the District, 1 as
sumo he organized some Posts in tn,
District.
| On May %, 1865, the District of Har
rlson and the Post of Corydon wer.
organized at Corydon, Ind, with Col
w. T. Jones, Commander; Col. Ber
Gresham and Col. Ed. Mathey The,
were chartered by DR.. Stephenson, anc
ton and Rituals
| But these persistent efforts to organ
! ize Indiana finally brought Gen. r. s
Foster from indianapolis to see DR.
Stephenson, while l was absent organ
izing the Department of Missouri
Wilson to Springfield. They seem, from
Wilson's book, to have held the same
conversation with the same persons
The report of Gen. Foster, Endorsed
| by Gen. James r. Carnahan and Com.
rade William H. Armstrong and adopt.
ed and Endorsed by the Department En-
| campment Of Indiana, April Is, 1901
states in substance as follows:
Gen. Foster and DR.. Stephenson.
I'm July. 1866. Gen. Foster called or
DR.. Stephenson at Springfield. He read
portions OF a Ritual to me from the
manuscript. He administered the OBJ.
| legation to me from strip of paper
No commission or warrant was giVer
me by any one claiming authority. Such
an assumption was never claimed OF
| exercised by Stephenson. Returning te
Indiana, obligated Messrs Wilson
Macauley, Schlager, Dobbs, Scott, Rit.
| ter and two or three others, and they
elected me Department Commander
under the form of the Constitution
had brought from Maj. Stephenson
(Oh, he got Constitution.) Our names
were enrolled upon our charter. ooh
he got blank charter.)'
Then Maj. 0. M. Wilson went to
Springfield along in July. He says
During all my interviews with DR.
Stephenson he never once alluded tc
any Grand Army organization in ILL
nois or anywhere else. He left the i'm
preston by his words and acts that
there was no such organization as a
Department, especially in his State.
vas not introduced to any comrades as
Grand Army men. He never spoke OF
any Post organizations. The whole
tenor of his conversation was in lament
alton that he could not get the boys to
take hold of It,
II met other soldiers there, among
them Gems. Mather and Weber. Math-
er said: The boys here don't seem to
take to it. Gen. Mather was the Com
mander Of Post No. % Gen. Weber
said: You Hoosiers are the boys to
take hold Of it. He doubted If DR.
stephenson could make a success Of It.
Gen. Weber was DR.. Stephenson's A.
d. c. and Chief Of Staff, and had al
that time organized so Posts and Dis
tricts.)"
The report goes on to say:
"At the time Of the organization OF
the Grand Army Of the Republic in
Indiana, in July, 1866, no authority
for such organization was given or re-
ceived from any person, officer or body
OF men assuming to be or to represent
the Grand Army of the Republic
There was absolutely no authority
or constituted body. to whom applica-
ton could be made"
The only warrant for Gen. Foster
was the request Of DR.. Stephenson to
take the Ritual and Constitution, which
coat pockets, from his office desk and
from his residence, and placed In Gen.
Fosters hands, saying, "Organize 1t in
Indiana"
The report goes on to say:
Gen. r. 8. Foster was elected De-
partment Commander of Indiana in
August, 1866. and his General Order
No. l was issued Aug: 20. 1865. At
this time he was the first Department
Commander, and there had not been
nor was there at that time any other
Department Commander Of the Grand
Army Of the Republic in existence.
Maj. Oliver M. Wilson was the first
ttSSlStdHl OF the
Grand Army, having been appointed
by Gen. Foster. He was also the first
Acknowledgement Of the National Or
ganizatiOn, for after the National Or
ganiZation was affected he served in
that capacity"
The report says:
1.-THE author Of the first Ritual and
Regulation was Surgeon B. F. Stephen
son, and, as will be seen from the facts
herein set forth, with the writing OF
these two documents his work in
the original organization practically
ceased"
The material furnished by his
Ritual and Constitution was magnificent
but with this material he was unable
either to plan and lay the foundation
or rear the superstructure. The special
object to be obtained does not seem to
have been very clearly defined in his
mind
This slur upon the great organizer of
this Order, upon the wonderful genius
whose mind conceived and worked out
to its ultimate conclusion the splendid
structure Of the Grand Army Of the
Republic, is SO unwarranted as to de-
serve condemnation from every COM
rade of this Order.
The Facts.