Taken sometime between 1896 and 1918, this is a group portrait of Union veterans belonging to Bartholomew GAR Post #136 out of Nunica, Michigan, a small Ottawa County farming community. The men, most with the white beards of old age, pose outdoors beneath tall trees with American flags and what appears to be a post banner behind them. Seated second from right in the front row is Henry E. Plant, who received the Medal of Honor in 1896 for his actions during the Civil War. The Grand Army of the Republic organized thousands of local posts like this one across the country, and Post #136 remained active until 1918, when its dwindling membership finally made continuation impossible.
Unidentified Civil War Veterans in Grand Army of the Republic Uniforms with Unidentified Members of Daughters of Union Veterans of Denver and Greeley, Colorado
A 1938 group portrait of Civil War veterans in Grand Army of the Republic uniforms alongside members of the Daughters of Union Veterans from Denver and Greeley, Colorado, photographed by Mark D. Miller of Fort Collins. The banners visible in the crowd identify D.U.V. Tent No. 2 from Denver and a delegation from Greeley. By 1938, the surviving Union veterans were well into their nineties, and gatherings like this were becoming increasingly rare. The Grand Army of the Republic, founded in 1866, had once been one of the most powerful veterans organizations in the country, with over 400,000 members at its peak in 1890.