The G.A.R. was the largest Union veterans’ organization and gets most of the attention, but there were others. The Union Veteran Legion was organized in 1884, incorporated February 1885 in Pittsburgh, and aimed to be more exclusive. A 1911 plaque erected for UVL No. 17 in Altoona, PA, chartered in 1887, notes the organization is, “Composed of Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, of the Union Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. during the War of the Rebellion who volunteered prior to the First of July 1863, for a term of three years, and were honorably discharged for any cause after a service of at least two continuous years, or were at any time discharged by reason of wounds received in line of duty. No drafted person or substitute nor any one who at any time bore arms against the United States, shall be eligible to membership.”

They played down any rivalry with the G.A.R., claiming to have mutual interests, but considered the membership requirements for the G.A.R. too loose in including draftees, paid substitutes, men who signed for a bounty, and others, and also seemed to think pensions were being granted too broadly, notably making no allowance for a soldier discharged for sickness or disease if he had less than two years of service, something that must have rubbed many the wrong way since deaths in the Union army from sickness or disease had outstripped those due to Rebel bullets by about two to one. We illustrate in our listing an 1890 interview with the UVL National Commander that pretty well establishes the tone.

The badge has a white metal pinback bar at top reading “DELEGATE” in an arch amid flourishes with a red, white and blue ribbon suspending a white metal planchet of cloverleaf shape with the UVL shield at center bearing stars along the edges and the dates 1861-1865 over the UVL logo, with “36^th ENCAMPMENT” at top and “GETTYSBURG. PA. 1921” at bottom. The back is maker marked by “THE M.C. LILLY & CO. / COLUMBUS, O.” in small raised letters. The ribbon is solid, with good color and no tears, but minor soiling. The metal shows largely as gray with some rubbing to a muted silver tone.

The encampment was held Sept. 13-15, 1921, and did not reach the 1,000 veterans expected, but was still regarded as the largest gathering of veterans the town had seen since the 1913 fiftieth anniversary commemorations.  [sr][ph:L]

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