The Grand Army of the Republic in Clay County
3rd Floor Hall
through May 2, 2021

A year after our nation's Civil War ended, veterans of the war organized a fraternal group called the Grand Army of the Republic. The Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R., valued brotherhood, loyalty, and charity, and membership in the organization swept across the nation — reaching approximately one million veteran members at its peak. The organization also left a lasting legacy advocating for veterans: establishing pensions, building homes, and lobbying for major state and federal legislation.

The Grand Army of the Republic in Clay County, originally conceived in collaboration with Siouxland Heritage Museums on Boys in Blue: The Grand Army of the Republic, offers a fascinating, multimedia history of Clay County's Civil War histories. Panels and artifacts from highlight the legacy of this important group, and they're supplemented with Clay County's own Civil War materials, including newspaper publisher Luther Osborn's saber and stories of men like Adam Stein, a Bavarian radical and the county's sole surviving veteran, and Felix Battles, a veteran of the United States Colored Troops who was born a slave in Tennessee.