Cincinnati

Society of the, an organization of the officers of the American Revolution. The suggestion came from General Knox, while the army was yet encamped upon the Hudson. The organization was perfected May 10, 1783. The members had left their home at the call of duty, so they named the society in honor of the Roman Cincinnatus, who left the plow to defend the land. All Continental officers who had served with honor and resigned after three years' service as officers, or who had been rendered supernumerary and honorably discharged, in one of the several reductions of the American army, or who had continued to the end of the war, and all French officers who had served in the cooperating army under Count d'Estaing, or auxiliary army under Count de Rochambeau, and held or attained the rank of colonel for such services, or who had commanded a French fleet or ship of war on the American coast, were entitled to become original members, and upon doing so were required to contribute a month's pay. Many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were invited to become honorary members.

These words were used: "To perpetuate, therefore, as well the remembrance of this vast event as the mutual friendships which have been formed under the pressure 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 members." A constitution was adopted. Washington was the first president-general. Meetings were to be held in the several states on Independence Day, and a general encampment was to be held in May. A golden eagle fastened to a blue ribbon edged with white was chosen as a badge. The objects of the Society were to cement the Union and to provide for needy widows and children of members.

An idea got abroad, however, that the organization was political and un-American. A "howl of popular indignation" went up. To appease popular resentment Washington suggested the abandonment of the principle of heredity. The plan was recommended by the national society, but was not carried out. The society had in 1909 a state society in each of the thirteen original states. A society in France, which was disbanded during the Reign of Terror, 1793, has been reestablished.

In 1908 there were 842 hereditary members. Jackson, Grant, Cleveland, and other presidents have been honorary members. Monroe and Washington were original members. President Pierce was a hereditary member. Roosevelt, Dewey, Ex-President Loubet of France, and other men of repute are on the roll of honorary membership. The city of Cincinnati was named for the society.

See Cincinnatus