Department Encampment 2026
The 2026 Department of Texas and Louisiana Annual Encampment will take place at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on May 16, 2026 at 1:00 PM, in Waco, TX. The Department website has the Schedule, Registration Form and everything else you need to know.
CLICK HERE to go there and read all about it. Then head on up to Waco and VOTE for John Vander Meulen for Department Commander!
FRATERNITY – CHARITY – LOYALTY
San Jacinto Day Celebration
The members of Sarah Emma Seelye Auxiliary #1 thought it would be a good idea to get out in front of the public at a new event, and it was! For the first time our organization had a booth at the San Jacinto Day Celebration, on April 18, 2026. Nice tent with flags and banners, many displays, fundraisers including the Opportunity Quilt drawing and sale of Patriotic Cockades and, of course, membership information to hand out to visitors were all a big success.
Sisters Vali Reyes, Jana Marsh, Lisa Riley and Annette Kinslow attended in either Civil War-era attire or ASUVCW gear, along with Brother Robert Riley from Camp 2. The ladies explained the importance of Patriotic Cockades back to Revolutionary War days plus showed housewife (sewing) kits that soldiers would keep with their gear. Check out the pictures and start planning for next year when the Brothers will join the Sisters in force at San Jacinto Day, complete with uniforms and displays of our own.
There we many participants at this event… reenactors, living history, heritage societies, vendors and more… here are pictures of some of them.
March 2026 Newsletter
In addition to all of the usual amazing content this issue of The Harriet Lane contains the biography of Captain Edwin N. Ketchum, 176th New York Volunteer Infantry.
Captain Edwin N. Ketchum’s life was colorful and action-packed – born at sea, Civil War soldier, Indian scout, cattle herder, Chief of Police, businessman, U.S. Customs Examiner, Grand Army of the Republic officer, survivor of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, and long-time owner of Menard House, the oldest surviving residence in Galveston.
Kudos to Brothers Michael Lance and Terry Sutton for all their great research and for this story that will give you a real taste of what life was like for a GAR member in Southeast Texas.
CLICK HERE to read all about it.
Happy reading and Huzzah!
The Unionist – February, 2026
CLICK HERE to read about all of the latest Department of Texas and Louisiana happenings in the current issue of our newsletter, The Unionist.
National Encampment 2026 Hotel Reservations
National Encampment in Gettysburg (July 30 – Aug 2) is the one you do not want to miss! Word is that a very strong turnout is expected so now is not too soon to start making plans.
CLICK HERE for the hotel reservations page on the National website. THIS LINK will take you to the main information page.
Who is planning to go? Who is thinking about going? Let us know in the comments.
Here is a cool video from the 2025 Houston Encampment. It is not too long . . . see if you recognize anyone!
Galveston 2026
It was a spectacular day in Galveston on January 3, sunny but not too hot and just enough breeze to unfurl the flags, which made for some quality photo and video opportunities. Here is a nice group photo, a gallery with lots of pictures, plus a video at the end. All of the best and some of the rest.
Great day. Great event. Huzzah!
December 2025 Newsletter
CLICK HERE to read the latest issue of The Harriet Lane.
Did you know that the Harriet Lane is still on patrol? Yes, the modern-day version, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane, was commissioned in 1984 and sails the high seas from her home port in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Click here for the full story on Wikipedia.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
It will be hard to top our amazingly successful 2025 campaign but we are going to give it our best shot starting this Saturday, January 3, at the 32nd annual Battle of Galveston Commemoration Ceremony. Setup starts at 8:30 and the ceremony begins promptly at 10:00 AM.
This year we are very happy to welcome SUVCW Commander in Chief Kevin Tucker, who will join us in the ceremony and conduct the installation of Camp 2 officers at our meeting immediately following the ceremony.
Click HERE for a map to Trinity Episcopal Cemetery.
We look forward to seeing you in Galveston!
Crown Hill Cemetery Veteran’s Day Celebration
Veteran’s Day week kicked off on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at historic Crown Hill Cemetery in Pasadena, TX. Many veterans are buried at Crown Hill including 2 Union veterans of the Civil War. The cemetery recently acquired and installed permanent headstones for these 2 veterans, 2LT Milton H. Lakin of Co. H, 97th OH Infantry and PVT Horace C. Plumb of Co. A 95th IL Infantry, which previously had only temporary markers. We were honored to be invited to the event by association President Mike Murphey and to participate in the dedication of the headstones. Brother Michael Lance, PDC was the Grave Guard and fired a 3-round Honor Guard volley with Brother Daniel Pourreau, CC acting as Captain of the Guard. Brothers Richard Carson and Robert Riley also represented Camp 2.
