“Our One Great Hope”: The Interdependence of the Woman’s Relief Corps and the Grand Army of the Republic

• Author: Adam Chamberlain,Alixandra B. Yanus
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211001536
• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Date: 01 July 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211001536

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(3) 679 –700

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211001536

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Article

Original Manuscript

“Our One Great Hope”:

The Interdependence of

the Woman’s Relief

Corps and the Grand

Army of the Republic

Adam Chamberlain

1

and Alixandra B. Yanus

2

Abstract

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) played a critical role in the lives of many

Union veterans after the Civil War. Its efforts were supported by its women’s

auxiliary, the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC). Yet scholars do not know much about

the evolution of the relationship between the rising WRC and the slowly declining

GAR, whose members were dying away in the early 20th century. Here, we evaluate

state-level membership and local group data for both associations to determine the

nature of their connection from 1884 to 1924. The evidence reveals that the WRC’s

auxiliary role helped sustain the GAR while providing an organizational structure

that allowed women to chart an independent course.

Keywords

political science, veterans, civil–military relations, North America

The Civil War catalyzed the expansion of civil society through the creation of new

associations. The voluntarism of the war effort, coupled with the Union victory and

1

Department of Politics, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA

2

Department of Political Science, High Point University, High Point, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Adam Chamberlain, Department of Politics, Coastal Carolina University, P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC

29528, USA.

Email: achamber@coastal.edu

680 Armed Forces & Society 48(3)

subsequent commemoration efforts, spawned a new commitment to large, federated

voluntary associations that lasted into the early 20th century.

A variety of fraternal and political organizations were created, and the member-

ship of those groups grew exponentially

1

(Crowley and Skocpol, 2001; Schlesinger,

1944; Skocpol, Ganz, and Munson, 2000; Skocpol et al., 2002).

Among the most prominent of these associations was the Grand Army of the

Republic (GAR), a group devoted specifically to Union veterans. Founded in 1866 in

Springfield, Illinois, the GAR established local chapters, known as posts, throughout

the nation. It eventually became the largest and mos t powerful Union veterans’

organization, helping to reshape American society and government. Yet, scholars

have devoted little attention to women’s important role in supporting the GAR

and Union veterans. The largest association dedicated to this cause was the

Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC), founded in 1883 as the official auxiliary of the

GAR. The WRC’s only criteria for membership was women’s ability to prove

loyalty to the Union, regardless of residency during or after the war. For much of

its first 40 years, the WRC worked closely with the GAR, assisting in its initiatives

and supporting local GAR posts and the aged, dying veteran population. But, by the

1910s, the decline of the GAR forced the WRC to become increasingly independent.

The interplay between the WRC and the GAR appears to be a critical link in

understanding veterans’ politics, postwar commemoration, and the rise of indepen-

dent, political women’s associations during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A number of qualitative studies discuss this relationship; however, no quantitative,

empirical study examines the interdependence of the WRC and the GAR. Thus, we

explore the connection between the WRC and the GAR by studying changes in the

associations’ memberships and local affiliates.

Using state-level data over four time periods (1884–1890, 1891–1907,

1908–1917, and 1918–1924), the evidence reveals that the WRC and GAR were

closely linked throughout their histories although their relationship evolved over

time. The GAR’s growth until 1890 helped foster early membership and local groups

(called corps) of the WRC. Later, however, the roles reversed; the GAR did not

decline as rapidly in states with stronger WRC associations. The WRC’s auxiliary

role was clear, even as it sought to lessen organizational ties to its declining parent

organization and grow in its own right. These findings reveal an interdependent

relationship, whereby the WRC’s auxiliary role helped sustain the GAR while also

providing the organizational structure for a powerful, more independent women’s

association.

Connecting the GAR and the WRC

The GAR was the most prominent Union veterans’ organization, restricted to men

who had fought for the Union cause. Founded in 1866, it initially was closely

affiliated with the Republican Party, but this relationship became strained as Repub-

lican support for Reconstruction and reform in the South dissipated. By the late

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