Clinton Hatcher Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, was founded in 1896 in Loudoun County, Va. It was attached to Clinton Hatcher Camp #8, Confederate Veterans, organized in 1888. Confederate Veterans (later United Confederate Veterans Association) was founded to provide aid to indigent Civil War soldiers and their families, and to serve as a memorial organization. United Confederate Veterans was formally organized in June of1889 at a meeting in New Orleans. Its organization was based on a military hierarchy, from a commander-in-chief down to local camps. At its height, United Confederate Veterans' membership was nearly 160,000, about 25% of surviving southern soldiers. The last reunion was held in 1951. By 1896 sons of veterans were expressing interest in forming an organization to preserve and promote southern history. United Confederate Veterans members urged them to do so, noting that the number of surviving veterans was steadily declining. With this encouragement, they met in Richmond to found United Sons of Confederate Veterans and 1 July 1896 adopted a constitution. The organization's primary goals were to preserve and promote southern history and memorialize southern soldiers. It was organized into three "Armies," states grouped together regionally. Individual states, called divisions, were divided into brigades, and the brigades into camps. Like the United Confederate Veterans, Sons of Confederate Veterans' camps were named for Confederate soldiers. Following the end of the Civil War, women's organizations formed throughout the south to provide aid to veterans, maintain cemeteries and create monuments. One of the earliest was the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Confederate Soldiers Home in Tennessee, founded in 1890. In 1892 the name was changed to Daughters of the Confederacy, and as time passed it became the custom to call all women's Confederate organizations by this name. By 1894 it was decided that it would benefit the separate groups to come together as one organization. First called National Daughters of the Confederacy, the name was changed to United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1895. The organization was incorporated in 1919.
From the description of Clinton Hatcher Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans collection, 1888-1945 (bulk 1896-1939). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123379499
