Memorial Day 2005

As I was researching some of my Civil War ancestors, I stumbled across information that I should have been taught in history class, but wasn’t. The Memorial Day Holiday in America has its roots all the way back in the post-Civil War days. It seems that the same idea sprung up in various places; honoring those who died for “the cause.” Of course what “the cause” was depended on which side you were on, but in any case, fallen soldiers were remembered.

I found several web sites with lots of useful information. One of the best is U.S. Memorial Day , not only because of the information given but also because of the many links to other sites it provides.

For instance, the link to The Origins of Memorial Day leads you to a page where you find (in part) the following:

“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans - the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) - established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30. It is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The ceremonies centered on the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials presided. After speeches, children from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

Local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.”

I find the 3rd paragraph particularly touching as it shows the beginning of healing and forgiveness on the part of these Southern women, who no doubt had lost sons and husbands who were buried where ever they fell.

My direct ancestors were not killed in battle. They went home and resumed their lives as best they could with their battered bodies, and died 30-40 years later from their wounds and injuries. One from New York had a brother who died in battle in Texas. I have not yet located his grave. Another had a son who starved to death in the Andersonville Prison Camp. I have a photo of that grave.

They gave much for their country. If you are near the grave of a friend or relative who died in battle or served their country in the military, go put flowers on the grave. Teach your children and grandchildren about sacrifice and appreciation and respect. And go celebrate the freedom others died so you could have.