John Bowie Strange Camp of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV)

The John Bowie Strange Camp was a local Civil War veterans' organization. A member of the Virginia Division of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), the organization was named in honor of Confederate hero Lieutenant Colonel John Bowie Strange (VMI 1842). Co-founded in 1889 by R. T. W. Duke, Sr., this camp was on"ly the fourteenth of its kind in any Southern state and symbolized the depth of Confederate feeling in the community." The UCV itself was organized in 1889, and held its last reunion in 1951.

After the Civil War, the two sides generated a type of veterans program. The Confederates had the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), the Union counterpart was the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The local chapter of the UCV was supported by businessmen such as Paul Goodloe McIntire and the Albemarle Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The UCV was similar to the GAR, however the pensions generated by these groups were not as high paying as the Union.

Reunions

UVC Background

There had been numerous local veterans associations in the South. The organizations grew rapidly throughout the 1890's culminating with 1,555 camps represented at the 1898 reunion. The next few years marked the peak of UCV membership, lasting until 1903 or 1904, when veterans were starting to die off and the organization went into a gradual decline.

Organization

Members held appropriate UCV "ranks" with command from General Headquarters at the top to local camps (companies) at the bottom.

Purpose

The UCV outline its purposes and structure in a written constitution, based on military lines. Their declared purpose was emphatically nonmilitary – to foster "social, literary, historical, and benevolent" ends.