Their mission statement makes them sound like a secular political version of the Knights of Columbus.
Sure, or any number of similar organizations like (we can't say "the Boy Scouts" any more) oh... Elks, Shriners, Odd Fellows.
In fact, they were the Tea Party of their day, conservative Republicans who clean up their own mess when the demonstration is over.
But they were also deadly serious, up to half a million strong, and when Civil War came, they volunteered in large numbers.
My guess is that many became the Union army's officer & NCO cadre.