Union Veterans Union (UVU)

[KevinBeyer]

The Union Veterans Union is not listed in "American Society Medals" directly, but by reference. At the time of printing of Bishop & Elliot's book, they had not come across an insignia for this organization.

 

The UNION VETERANS UNION is still in existence today. Their website provides this information for the group's origins:

 

"The Union Veterans Union was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1886 to fill a need that many Civil War Veterans felt was lacking. There was no question that the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was the strongest of all Union Veterans organizations. But many felt they had become an 'elitist' group, loosing touch with some of the real concerns of the typical Union Veteran. MOLLUS, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S., in which only officers were admitted, was viewed as an 'aristocratic' Society and provided no real comraderie [sic] to the enlisted veteran."

 

"...MICHAEL AUGUSTUS DILLON, a Union veteran and MEDAL of HONOR recipient was concerned about the above issues along with many others. DILLON had been instrumental in forming two GAR POSTS, which he Commanded and also credited with starting an Auxillary. He turned his leadership and organizational skills into establishing the UNION VETERANS UNION. It's total membership exceeded 100,000 veterans!"

 

"By establihing local Precinct Command Posts along with [the] Women's Relief Corps, they were able to deliver assistance to ALL Veterans on a personal level. The COMMAND POSTS carried the names of Civil War Heroes or battlesights. They maintained a LOYAL GUARD, which was a uniformed group that took part in ceremonial activities. They adopted a member 'badge' and held National Encampments each year. Officers carried military rank, which could quickly identify their position in the Order. "

 

[SCF-Collector]

Good information Kevin. Thought I'd try to add to it.

 

I have what I think is a variant to the standard membership badge. It's different in two regards. First, the ribbon is coarser - notice the clear thread patterns in the picture. I don't think this is a replacement as I've seen others like this - but of course I can't be sure. The second difference is the ribbon with this example. Sorry, I don't have any other pics handy - but the medal itself obscures the word "Union" (you'll have to trust me on that). This ribbons appears to go with the medal - but again, I can't be sure. It might well just be something a Veteran added from another event/source.

 

 

I'm not sure if the UVU used the same naming convention as the GAR - National and Annual Encampments (National and State level events). Does anyone know? I'd like to know if the Findlay, Ohio ribbon pictured is a State level event - or the 3rd National meeting of the UVU(1889). I'm fairly certain the 1900/Washington DC medal is a National Encampment piece.

 

 

Definitely an interesting organization that paralleled the more mainstream CW Veteran organizations. In some ways it's similar to the UVL. Neither is that actively collected - nor as well documented as perhaps it should be.

[SARGE]

This is an interesting organization. Here is an example of a bullion UVU cap insignia from the Appomattox commmand post in Brocktonm Mass.

 

[KevinBeyer]

I had no idea that the UVU had such ornate reunion badges. Thanks for sharing that.

 

That embroidered hat badge is really nice. Would it be attached to the front of the hat, or the side.

 

Kevin

[SARGE]

That embroidered hat badge is really nice. Would it be attached to the front of the hat, or the side.

 

Kevin

 

 

I presume that the bullion would be sewn to the front of the cap or hat in the same manner as the GAR insignia was worn.

 

[SCF-Collector]

I had no idea that the UVU had such ornate reunion badges. Thanks for sharing that.

 

What's interesting is that while this 1900 badge is ornate - it's not made as well as it might look. This particular badge is made entirely of pressed (fairly thin I might add) medal - vs. what you might see in a solidly cast GAR National medal. Even the top pin bar is pressed. I guess they didn't have pockets as deep as the GAR <g>.

[KevinBeyer]

I went to a Civil War show last month and I saw a dealer selling what was purported to be an early version of the Union Veterans Union membership badge. As of this forum entry, there is one up for auction on eBay. From the words "Unitate Veteranorum Unio" I surmise that this might indeed be an early UVU badge. If it is, I do not know why this organization made the change from this first version to what is understood to be their more commonly known version.

 

How long did this first version exist? Were there any other ribbon colors? Who designed either badge? I do not have answers to these questions.

 

Images taken from above mentioned eBay auction. Used under Fair Use guidelines.

 

If anyone can shed more light on this matter, please do so. I welcome all comments.

 

Kevin

[USAFnav]

Kevin,

That's a nice looking badge. Are there any maker's marks anywhere?

Pete

[KevinBeyer]

Pete,

 

This early version of the UVU badge is not in my possession. As I mentioned, it was being auctioned on eBay. It fetched quite a pretty penny. To say they are uncommon is probably accurate.

 

Kevin

[USAFnav]

Thanks for the reply. It's interesting to see how many different Civil War veterans groups there were.

Pete

[SCF-Collector]

As far as I know this is the earlier UVU Membership medal Kevin. I have one in my collection.

 

They do apparently come with different color ribbons - as mine has what I believe is an original deep/dark red ribbon - and the example you showed is blue. I was told, but cannot vouch for it since I have not independently verified the information - that the color of the ribbon reflected the branch of service. It sounded similar to the 1913 Virginia Gettysburg ribbons - red for artillery, blue for infantry. I've never seen a yellow ribbon on a UVU Membership medal of this type - but maybe they exist? Like I said - I was told this - can't verify it. Makes sense though.

 

BTW, the maker on these is A. Demarest. The front of the drop, near the bottom, on two lines you'll find "Pat. 1879" then "A. Demarest SC New York". If you put a magnifying glass on the picture you posted Kevin you can barely make it out. The Demarest is along the bottom edge of the front of the drop.

 

Can't tell you when they changed - but I suspect they might have due to cost. One theory is that the earlier membership medals, made in small quantities for the initial enthusiastic participants, were of higher quality - and cost. These earlier UVU medals are very nicely done - very thick/heavy drops - with really crisp castings - and intricate. The later UVU membership badges that are much more common are, at least IMO, lower quality - perhaps made so to lower the price for members as the organization attempted to grow? It's a theory anyway. I know Demarest was one of the higher-quality medal makers of that era. The patent date would also tend to support the "earlier" theory.

 

Anyway, that's what I can add.

[USAFnav]

Mickey,

Thanks for the info, I hadn't heard of Demarest before. You mentioned "casting" -- were these cast rather than struck?

Pete

[SCF-Collector]

NP Pete.

 

I typed too fast - used the term "cast" too freely. I pretty sure this one is "struck" - judging by the quality. I believe all of the Demarest pieces I've seen have been die-struck. Most of what I've read about Demarest seems to indicate he was an engraver of the highest caliber. He appears to have done a variety of things, not just Civil War Veteran pieces - including Rev-War anniversary medals/coins - and I believe also wedding/stationary engraving?

 

Demarest (I've seen it spelled "Demerest" in some places) was actually fairly active right after the war. I did a little quick research - he apparently did the 1869 Type III GAR Membership medal - and he also did the West Virginia Service medals (Yankee). The latter BTW is the same heavy type medal - beautifully engraved and "struck" - similar to this early UVU piece. The West Virginia medals were commissioned in 1866 if memory serves.

 

Guess what - I also think I got lucky in my searching. Check out this link. It's a Google Book link. Read down below the part about the GAR medal - the UVU section. It says that that this UVU Membership medal, done by Demarest, was adopted in 1879. No picture that I saw - but the description matches!

[USAFnav]

Thanks for the update -- I'll check out that link.

Pete

[KevinBeyer]

In order to see the picture (No. 3) , you need to scroll up to the page right before page 49. There are images of various medals including this UVU badge.

 

According to the text, the medal is backed with a blue ribbon. (Possibly "Union" blue.) There is no mention of colors matching a particular branch of service. It might be that yours is an early replacement ribbon? Or, there is a possibility that it was re-ribboned and a story was made up to go with it. That doesn't detract, however, from your having an outstanding example of an early UVU membership badge.

 

Kevin

[SCF-Collector]

Cool, you found more information and a picture from that link. I honestly didn't have time to look too deeply the day I made my post - it's still open in my browser to read more carefully at some point <g>.

 

It's very possible that what I "heard" is a myth that's grown up around the medals. It may have some basis in truth - members informally changing the color of their ribbons for some reason (not unheard of). There are only two things I know for sure - 1) the ribbon on my example looks period - including how it's sewn on, and 2) I've only seen maybe 4-5 of these medals myself to-date, and the one you showed us for-sale on eBay was the first to have the blue ribbon. Every other one I've seen had the dark red ribbon like my example - or no ribbon at-all actually. Maybe the original ribbons were fragile (can't really tell from the pictures unfortunately) and were replaced early-on? It's kind of strange to see what seem to be replacement ribbons that are so similar, don't you think?

 

Who knows - I guess that's the type of mystery that keeps us collecting!

 

Now I want one with a blue ribbon

[frederick]

Gentlemen,

 

The Union Veterans Union is one of those elusive Civil War groups that is difficult to find organization information and badge information. Here is what little I have learned.

 

The first photo is from Roger Heiple's The Great Republic; a privately published newsletter from 1980 to about 1986. From previous correspondence with him, he allows reprinting of anything from his newsletter if credit is given. This document is quite valuable to military veteran badge collectors since it comes from A. Demarest and completely explains the first version of the UVU badge--including the fact it comes on five different ribbons.

 

(Roger Heiple is an extraordinary Civil War researcher and historian, His early newsletter helped lead to the formation of The Civil War Veterans Historical Association which currently plublishes a newsletter four times a year on Civil War badges and collectables. They have a website.)

[frederick]

Photo two is probably as close as I will ever get to own a Type 1 badge. It is printed on a ribbon about the size of a U.S. Dollar bill.

[frederick]

Photo three illustrates two additional versions of the UVU badge. The officer's badge on the right was acquired in the early 1970s and I thought it was only an officer's badge version until the badge on the left appeared several years ago on ebay. Its plain lettered top bar causes me to believe this may be a second version of the UVU membership badge. Certainly it is not as costly as the first version and is well made with heavy stamped pieces. It seems I read or heard somewhere that the UVU had local groups and a national body, but no intermediate groups such as States or Departments. I have only seen one other officer badge and it too had yellow enamel. While this style badge is not rare, it is not common either; and I do not see enough of these badges to know how they fit into the UVU history.

[frederick]

Photo four illustrates the slightly more common Type 3 badge. It uses much of the symbolism of the Type 2 badge, but in a lighter metal spamping and conversion to the more popular design (in later years) where the focus piece of the badge is pendent to the ribbon. The badge on the right is a much cruder cast piece. I have seen this cast badge almost as often as the thin, stamped version. I assume it represents the final years of the organization when this badge was the best they could afford. The ribbon on the cast badge is much wider that the stamped badge ribbon and shows evidence of very acidic color dies. This cast badge is know to exist with better ribbons either by the manufacture or replacement by the veteran.

[KevinBeyer]

I stand corrected about the ribbon! I am one to be skeptical of all atypical occurrences until proven that they are correct. But, this document clearly identifies not two, but FIVE possible ribbon colors. And, I am going to go out on a limb and say that I will go my entire life without seeing proper examples of all five ribbons.

 

Kevin

[frederick]

UVU Women's Auxiliary: I know even less about this group. Think the initials on the badge mean Women's Volunter (or Veteran) Reserve Unit. The back of the badge is plain, but does show the suspension ring as an integral part of the badge. Not visible in the photo is a spot on the center of the lower edge of the top bar. A ring was attached here. It is believed it held devices to indicate office in the unit such as a mallet for president, quill and pen for secretary, etc.

[frederick]

Lapel Pins: These are the only lapel pins I know of for this group. It seems logical that there may be versions of the earlier badges in lapel size, but I have not seen any as of this date.

[USAFnav]

Thanks for posting these. Demarest's notice/letter is very interesting, too.

Pete

[SARGE]

Here are a couple of other UVU items that I was able to photograph for the thread today.

 

First is a reunion ribbon.

 

 

Second is another lapel badge.

 

 

This one has the button back which is unmarked.