In Cleveland, Ohio, the Democratic-aligned Soldiers and Sailors Union, holds its first annual convention.

The newly formed Soldiers and Sailors Union was designed as a Democratic-supporting veterans' group to counter the Republican-oriented Grand Army of the Republic. The Union held its first national convention in Cleveland, Ohio, with its famous head, Union cavalry hero George Armstrong Custer in the chair. The meeting largely backed all of President Johnson's reconstruction policies.  (By John Osborne)