Patriotic Events: Grand Army Encampment – Milwaukee, 1889
The 23rd National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic was a reunion of soldiers who had served for the Union during the Civil War. Trainload after trainload of veterans arrived in Milwaukee for the August 28-30, 1889 Encampment.
Milwaukee was determined to be a grand host: marching bands performed impromptu concerts, local breweries provided free small bottles of beer, and one company gave away 50,000 walking canes the first day of the encampment. A mid-day parade of marching veterans, on the first day, drew a crowd of 100,000. The finale on the last day was a mock naval engagement viewed by 300,000 people in a specially constructed amphitheater. Fifty thousand blank cartridges were fired during the mock battle and at the climax a gunboat “was blown to pieces in a fire ball.”