Evening star., 1944-01-23
BY John Clagett Proctor.

oy 0OlIIl NldSCCG I4OCGOl.
The recent death of William F. Dorsey
leaves but one survivor of the once vast
Department of the Potomac, Grand
Army of the Republic, founded by Ben
jamin Franklin Stephenson, in Decatur,
Ill., April 6, 1866. Six months later, on
october IL, John A. Rawlins Post, No. l,
was granted the first charter in the
District of Columbia, the Department
Of the Potomac itself being organized on
February 13, 1869. The first department
commander was Samuel A. Duncan and
the last one, John Montgomery Kline,
who has outlived all of his fellow COM
rades of this department.
In 1941, when the local branch of this
famous body of men had dwindled to
two men, their membership was taken
over by the national headquarters at
Springfield, ILL.,, and Mr.. Kline and the
late Mr.. Dorsey were given the rank of
past department commanders, and now
only the former remains of this once
great department of Civil War veterans.
1t Is interesting to note that this Or
ganization originated with an Army
surgeon who thought it out while per-
suing. his benefcent labors among the
wounded, sick and suffering, as a means
to further a lasting bond between those
who fought for the Union.
Origin of the GAR
According to B. F. Beath, in his his
tory of this order, published in 1889, DR..
B. F. Stephenson and the Rev. W. j.
Rutledge, chaplain of the 14th Illinois
Infantry, were close friends and COM
panions during the war and that while
on Sherman's expedition to Meridian in
February, 1864, Chaplain Rutledge sug-
gested to DR.. Stephenson that the SOL
diers who mad been so closely allied in
the fellowship of suffering would, when
mustered out of the service, naturally
desire some form of association to pre-
serve the friendships and the memories
Of their common trials and dangers.
"As they talked together, on the march
or in bivouac, this thought expanded
into the widest fields of conjecture as
to the capacity for good in such an or
ganization of veterans and they agreed
that If spared they would together work
out some such project.
After the close of their Army serv-
ice this subject formed the basis of their
correspondence until March, 1866, when
Chaplain Rutledge met DR.. Stephenson,
by appointment, in Springfield, Ill., and
spent some time with him in arranging
a ritual for the proposed organization"
City's First Post
AS before stated the first Grand Armv
post formed in this city was John A.
Rawlins, No. l, which, according to the
city directory OF 1867, had its headquar-
ters at 222 F street north (old number
1ng. This now would be on the north
side OF F street between Fourteenth and
Fifteenth streets, near Fourteenth.
An item also of interest in this direc-
tory is brief statement as to the object
the aims of the organization, which
goes on to say: The Grand Army of the
Republic is an organization of the true
and tried honorably discharged soldiers
to aid with its charity the manned and
helpless soldiers and the dependent
families of the fallen, to secure for those
returned soldiers who have vainly sought
for it themselves, and whose very tat
tered uniforms seem an evidence of de-
merit in the eyes of many who never
dared to clothe themselves with 1t and
Its dangerous responsibilities Whatever
secrecy there is about this organization
Is only such as surrounds the most be-
nign and powerful civil orders of the
day as a necessity for their protection
and strength and to better secure their
charitable objects"
Department Commanders
The department commanders of this
body, and the years they served, fol-
lows: L. E. Dudley, provisional COM
mander, 1878; Samuel A. Duncan,
1869; Timothy Luby, 1870-1872; Frank
H. Sprague, 1873-1875; Benjamin F.
Hawkes., 1876; A. H. G. Richardson,
1877; George E. Corson, 1878 Harri-
son Dingman, 1879; Charles c. Royce,
1880; William Gibson, 1881; Samuel S.
Burdette, 1928; D. S. Alexander, 1884
Newton M. Brooks, 1885; Jerome B.
Burke, 1867; Charles P. Lincoln, 1888
William S. ODell, 1889; M. Emmett
Urell, 1890; James M. Pipes, 1891;
A. F. Dinsmore, 1892; Solomon E.
Faunce, 1893; Nathan Bickford, 1894;
Those Were the