Civil War Veteran Souvenir Reunion canteen with crossed flags

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a GAR Reunion Souvenir canteen, having a diameter of 2 ½”. The small tin canteen was manufactured to look identical to the typical US Model 1858 Civil War canteen. It has a light blue cloth cover (now faded), the cork stopper with chain, and twine to represent the sling. The center has crossed Union and Confederate flags. They are surrounded with “THE BLUE & GRAY NOW DRINK FROM THE SAME CANTEEN”.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, and the Marines who served in the Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" (local community units) across the nation (predominantly in the North, but also a few in the South and West). It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota.

The canteen always represented a strong connection among veterans. A common theme at the time was “We Drank from the Same Canteen”, indicating the closeness among comrades, almost like brothers. After the war there were many reunions among veterans and usually the “symbolic canteen” was made available from venders.

In my book “The Civil War Canteen – Third Edition”, I show examples of these souvenir canteens and discuss the importance they had among the veterans (see pictures). The canteen shows its age, but overall, it is in very nice condition for being over 125 years old.