• Our annual ceremonies to honor Civil War era Medal of Honor recipients
• Annual Park Day battlefield cleanup at Monocacy and other National Battlefields
• Annual SUVCW Department Encampments
• Memorial Day ceremonies at Mt Olivet Cemetery and other locations
• Annual SUVCW National Encampments
• Annual SUVCW Remembrance Day Observance at the GAR Memorial in Ziegler’s Grove and Remembrance Day parade in Gettysburg, PA
•  Annual Camp Dinner meetings
• Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination

 

Antietam Camp #3 members have also been part of many other great events such as:

• Confederate Decoration Day ceremonies at Mount Olivet Cemetery Frederick, MD and other events in cooperation with the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) groups.
• Many gravesite ceremonies such as the ceremony honoring Brigadier General James Cooper in Frederick, MD and Capt. Adam Martin graveside ceremony in Smithsburg.
• Monocacy National Battlefield 145th Anniversary July 12, 2009 and 150th Anniversary July 2014.
• A Ceremony to commemorate transfer of command to Gen. George G. Meade at Prospect Hall Frederick, MD June 28, 2013 with the Tourism Council of Frederick County and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.

 

Antietam Camp #3 members have set up educational displays at events such as:

• 146th Gettysburg Reenactment SUVCW booth July 2009
• Happy Birthday Montgomery County! Event in September 2007 & 2008 with Col. Wm. Norris Camp SCV
• Montgomery County Historical Society & the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission.
• Living History Day, Civil War Field Display with Col. Wm. Norris Camp SCV, Gaithersburg, MD June 28, 2009
• First Call Civil War Expo (First Call weekend) downtown Frederick, MD June 7, 2014
• Frederick under the Flag Hessian Barracks Frederick MD August 23, 2014

 

Antietam Camp #3 had the honor of having the national SUVCW Commander in Chief and the Commander of the Department of the Chesapeake as members. Antietam Camp #3 has also had members in other important Department and National positions.

 

Antietam Camp No. 3 SUVCW had the rare distinction of three generations of the Martin family as members.

In 2015 the Antietam Auxiliary Camp #3 was formed to support and assist the Sons of Union Veterans Antietam Camp #3.  The lovely ladies of Antietam Auxiliary Camp #3 are part of the National Auxiliary to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

HISTORY of SUVCW

 

In 1866, Union Veterans of the Civil War organized into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and became a social and political force that would control the destiny of the nation for more than six decades. Membership in the veterans' organization was restricted to individuals who had served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War, thereby limiting the life span of the GAR. The GAR existed until 1956.

 

In 1881 the GAR formed the Sons of Veterans of the United States of America (SV) to carry on its traditions and memory long after the GAR had ceased to exist. Membership was open to any man who could prove ancestry to a member of the GAR or to a veteran eligible for membership in the GAR.

 

Many GAR Posts sponsored Camps of the SV. In 1925 the SV name was changed to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), under which its federal charter was issued in 1954. The SUVCW is legally recognized as the heir to, and representative of, the GAR.

 

Today, the National Organization of the SUVCW, headed by an annually elected Commander-in-Chief, oversees the operation of 26 Departments, each consisting of one or more states, a Department-at-Large, a National Membership-at-Large, and over 200 community based Camps. More than 6,360 men enjoy the benefits of membership in the only male organization dedicated to the principles of the GAR - Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty. It publishes "The BANNER" quarterly for its members. The SUVCW National Headquarters is located in the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

 

The SUVCW is one of five Allied Orders of the GAR. The other four Orders are: Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

© 2015-2017 Sons of Union Veterans, Antietam Camp #3