Our Mission

To spread widely the teaching of patriotism, that those who dwell in this broad land of ours will so live that, in peace or in war, there shall be no stain on “The Flag Our Fathers Saved”.

Principles

We firmly believe in Almighty God, and fully realize that it was under his beneficent providence that the free institutions of our land, consecrated to us by the service and blood of our fathers, have been preserved and the integrity and life of the nation maintained,

true loyalty to the government of the United States of America based upon respect for, and devotion and fidelity to its Constitution and Laws, made evident by our disapproval of anything that is disloyal, treasonable or rebellious, or anything that will in any manner impair the efficiency and permanency of our National Union.

Work of the Organization

Projects are designed to perpetuate the memories and aspirations of our Civil War ancestors: genealogical; historical; patriotic, service and community projects. Some of the genealogical projects include recording Civil War discharge papers, recording ancestors’ war and personal records for the headquarters file, recording history of members’ known descendants, maintaining and updating index files, recording personal records of organization members and locating Civil War burial records of various counties and towns.

The historical projects include maintaining our beautiful museum and headquarters in Springfield, Illinois, collecting Civil War artifacts and mementos, placing commemorative plaques and markers at appropriate universities, public buildings, parks and battlefields, recording and preserving Union Civil War monuments throughout the country.

Patriotic projects include flag presentations, participation in patriotic ceremonies on national holidays and cooperating with other patriotic and genealogical societies.

In community and service projects, our organization is highly rated for its outstanding work at veteran’s hospitals and veteran’s homes throughout the country. This is our outstanding service program and we are proud of the many hours of volunteer service for our veterans by so many of our members. The members also work at state homes and hospitals, nursing homes, children’s homes and with many other community groups.

Educationally we maintain a college scholarship program for worthy descendants of Union Veterans and present special awards at the United States Service Academies: United States Military Academy, West Point, New York; United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado and United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut.

In addition, we have established scholarship funds at the following colleges: Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee; Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio; Institute of Logepedics, Wichita, Kansas; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska and Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. An annual award is presented to Gallaudet University, Washington D.C., the only university in the United States for the deaf chartered by Abraham Lincoln.

Our state departments and local tents engage in local historical studies in their own communities and render assistance to schools, colleges and adult learning centers, when called upon to do so. Awards and scholarships are given for excellence in historical studies. Patriotic and flag etiquette programs are presented in the schools each year. Flags are presented to organizations in need of a flag.