Little more than two months after the battle flags transferred to the Wisconsin Historical Society building near the University of Wisconsin campus, debate in the Assembly began on a bill introduced by GAR members to return the battle flags and relics to the capitol. The Assembly had received “petitions from

A news article from the Wisconsin State Journal – July 20, 1895 reports, “The center of the capitol rotunda is now a place of much interest to GAR men and others who take an interest in the history of the war. All the flags carried by the Fifty-second Wisconsin regiments

On the battlefield, flags signal place and position. Oftentimes, the communities from where Union regiments originated raised funds and sewed their own battle flags. After the Civil War the flags of the 53 Wisconsin regiments were revered as markers of a nation’s progress, memorials to comrades lost, and points of

In September 1901 the GAR Memorial Hall opened on the second floor of the south wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol. General George E. Bryant, superintendent of public property, oversaw the project. The Memorial Hall served as the headquarters for the Wisconsin Department of the GAR, a meeting space, and

Hosea W. Rood, the first custodian, or caretaker, of the GAR Memorial Hall, was a Civil War veteran, teacher, and author. Rood began his state service with the 12th Wisconsin Infantry in 1861 under Col. George E. Bryant. He mustered out at the rank of captain July 16, 1865.  After

The roots of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum are deeply linked to the desire of Wisconsin’s Civil War veterans to preserve the legacy of their accomplishments and the memory of their comrades. After the Civil War, the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice lived on in the minds of

In April of 1901 the Wisconsin legislature passed Act 125 which reads in part: “AN ACT to provide for a memorial hall in honor of Wisconsin soldiers and sailors who served in the army or navy of the United States in the civil war of 1861 to 1865 or any

In late spring of 1866, Union veterans of the Civil War formed the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR ) in Illinois, an organization for fellowship, support for veterans, and education. At its peak, the GAR had 410,000 members of all races and included two women and it became an