The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is a fraternal organization dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of veteran heroes who fought and worked to save the Union in the American Civil War. Organized in 1881 and chartered by Congress in 1954, SUVCW is the legal heir and successor to the Grand Army of the Republic. Learn more at https://suvcw.org/organization-overview.
There is a Michigan chapter along with a “Camp” in Cadillac named after General Orlando M. Poe. Clare County is within this territory. The group publishes an excellent newsletter and has recently published two articles about Clare residents. They are posted below:
JOHN W. DUNSMORE: SULTANA SURVIVOR & CLARE COUNTY RESIDENT
Michigan Engineer John W. Dunsmore only served in the Union Army for eighteen months, but during that time he
survived wounding and capture at the hands of rebel cavalry, confinement for seven months in Confederate prison camp,
and then the ill-fated journey of the steamer Sultana, a side-wheel steamboat which exploded and sank on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865, killing 1,167 people in what remains the worst maritime disaster in United States history. Article.
RIEGLE AND YOUNGLOVE HONORED AS LAST VETERANS OF CLARE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
Two old men, two final witnesses to the great national tragedy, both residing in the Clare area, the two heroes were the Last Union Veterans of Clare County, Michigan. These well respected old Veterans of Clare County took their final breaths just one single day apart, on the 10th and 11th days of January 1939. Two men with incredible wartime stories that were revisited one last time.
Learn more about the Michigan Chapter at https://www.suvcwmi.org/.