Lot of two Civil War National Officers badges of the GAR Grand Army of the Republic for the years 1) 1914 Detroit MI for the 48th National Encampment August 21st to September 5th. The badge is made of four parts attached by metal loops: a bald eagle gripping a sword and scrolls, a representative GAR badge with the letters ‘GAR' in red, white and blue, a badge featuring men sailing the sea and the date July 24, 1709, and a bronze medal bearing the image of GAR Commander Washington Gardner. Attached to the verso is a yellow ribbon. Overall 6 in. in length. The GAR would hold these National Encampments every year in a different big city for veterans to attend with their families. 2) 1918 Portland Oregon for the 52nd National Encampment held in August of 1918. Badge is surmounted by a large spread-winged eagle over crossed cannons and artillery shells. Reverse has the original pin. Suspended from this top piece is a gold silk ribbon approx. 6.00 inches long. The top bar has several drops. The first is of brass and is very colorful with a full color US flag above a laurel wreath with a red, white and blue “GAR.” Across the bottom of the drop is riband with “REPRESENTATIVE” in black enamel. The second drop is of white metal and shows a scene of Mount Hood with a riband at bottom that reads “MOUNT HOOD PORTLAND 1918.” The final drop is a bronze circular disc with a bust of Orlando A. Somers, Commander –in-Chief of the GAR. During the war Somers served as a Private with the 8th Indiana Cavalry and was engaged at Shiloh, Stones River and Chickamauga. Reverse has “52ND NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT GAR AUG. 1918 PORTLAND, ORE.” Both badges are in excellent condition. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" (local community units) across the nation (predominantly in the North, but also a few in the South and West). It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at 410,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies. It was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), composed of male descendants of Union Army and Union Navy veterans.