This historic and patriotic order was named after the famous Roman
Dictator and Patriot, Cincinnatus, and was founded in May, 1783, on
the banks of the Hudson, by the American and French officers who had
gathered there at the close of the Revolutionary war.
The resolution adopted at the forming of the society contained these
words: “To perpetuate, therefore, as well the remembrance of this vast
event as the mutual friendships which have been formed, of common
danger, and, in many instances, cemented by the blood of the parties,
the officers of the American Army do hereby, in the most solemn manner,
associate, constitute and combine themselves into one society of
friends to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of their eldest
male posterity, and in failure thereof the collateral branches who may
be judged worthy of becoming its supporters and defenders.”
Owing to the great distances between the different States, and the fact
that at that time the means of transportation were slow and uncertain,
it was deemed best to form societies in each of the thirteen States.
This was done. One was also organized in France under the patronage of
Louis XVI.
The original members included the names of Washington, Greene,
Hamilton, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and Paul Jones; in fact, all the
historic military and naval characters of the Revolution. Among the
honorary members elected for their own lives only were the names of
many signers of the Declaration of Independence.
On the pages of the country’s history appears no darker spot than
that placed there by the Congress of the United States in its failure
to give its soldiers the promised half pay for their services, forcing
them to leave their homes and emigrate to the wild lands west of the
Alleghenies, which were given to them in lieu of money. On this account
several of the orders in the different States went out of existence.
The patriotic societies of the country, the names of which are given
here, were all formed for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of
events and of the men who in military, naval and civil positions of
high trust and responsibility, “kept step to the music of the Union.”
The preservation of historical records and manuscripts and the
promoting of fraternal intercourse among their members are the main
inspirations of all of these patriotic societies:
Society of Colonial Wars.
Sons of the Revolution.
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Grand Army of the Republic.
Sons of Veterans U. S. A.
There are three great patriotic societies, organized by the women of
America, known as the Daughters of the Revolution, Colonial Dames, and
the Mayflower, that may outstrip all other societies in the value and
importance of their work.