This cane or walking stick is carved with the initials G.A.R. just beneath the cap. Along the carved shaft are various images of the war, including a maltese cross, crossed flags and rifles, and five pointed stars. Other images include a crescent moon, a heart, and an oak leaf.

Weight (Lbs): 0.5
Height (In.): 36.50"
Width (In.): 1"
Depth (In.): 1"
Size: 379.5 x 4.0 x 4.0"
Maker: Unknown
Material: Birch
Date: C. 1870
Provenance:
Condition: Light wear and rubbing to the shaft.
History: 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), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War for the Northern/Federal forces. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and growing to include hundreds of posts (local community units) across the nation, (predominately in the North, but also a few in the South and West), it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member, Albert Woolson (1850-1956) of Duluth, Minnesota, died. 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 more than 490,000, 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.