After the Civil War ended in 1865 the South suffered through a period of Reconstruction and an invasion of "carpet-baggers." At some point in time the surviving veterans of Ohio County who had served with the Union Army and with the Confederate Army (the Blue and Gray) began having a joint reunion. Hearts had softened and these men forgave those on the other side and became friends. I have been unable to determine exactly when the Ohio County joint reunions started but I think it was September 29, 1885, the twentieth anniversary of the end of the War, although it could easily have started earlier.

Apparently these joint reunions were taking place all over the nation, with perhaps the earliest being in Vicksburg, MS in 1874 where they formed as association known as “The Order of the Blues and Grays.” Another joint reunion was held in Elizabeth, NJ in 1875. These joint reunions continued until at least 1920 – at that time an actual participant in the War would be have been about 75 years old. There was a Blue & Gray Reunion in Gettysburg in 1938 (the 75^th anniversary), at which time an actual participant in the War would have been in his early to mid 90’s. It is thought that most veterans of the Civil War were gone by 1950, although one Union veteran from Minnesota lived until 1956, and one Confederate veteran lived until 1959, although there is much dispute about whether some men that claimed to be Civil War veterans were actual participants or not.

In any event, at “Blue and Gray” reunions, veterans of both sides made conciliatory overtures, enjoyed the hospitality of former enemies and celebrated their collective American identity. Attended by the hundreds and thousands, reunions of all kinds evoked powerful sentiments and became fertile ground for the construction of Civil War memory. Certainly, the veterans themselves gained a lot of satisfaction from these reunions, but the service they provided to their united nation in fostering reconciliation and promoting reunion between the two armies was also extremely important.

I am including a few clippings from the Hartford Herald and Hartford republican about some of these reunions:

September, 1885: