The tragedies of the Civil War extended far beyond the battlefield. One of these ripple effects was the cost to fallen soldiers’ families. The children of dead and disabled veterans, left with no one to provide for them, often ended up living in prisons, infirmaries, and mental asylums when they were not on the street.
The government collected taxes to care for these dependents at first. After it misappropriated the money, though, soldiers from Ohio began to urge their officials to do something. Eventually, a fraternal organization of Union soldiers who served in the Civil War, calling themselves the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), took up the cause.
