In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
How Memorial Day Started
select-fire
Member Posts: 69,524 ✭✭✭✭
It started with the War of Northern Aggression ; Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the War of Northern Aggression , in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the country led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead.
In 1864, women from Boalsburg, Pa., put flowers on the graves of their dead from the just-fought Battle of Gettysburg. The next year, a group of women decorated the graves of soldiers buried in a Vicksburg, Miss., cemetery.
In April 1866, women from Columbus, Miss., laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. In the same month, in Carbondale, Ill., 219 the War of Northern Aggression veterans marched through town in memory of the fallen to Woodlawn Cemetery, where Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan delivered the principal address. The ceremony gave Carbondale its claim to the first organized, community-wide Memorial Day observance.
Waterloo, N.Y. began holding an annual community service on May 5, 1866. Although many towns claimed the title, it was Waterloo that won congressional recognition as the "birthplace of Memorial Day."
Memorial Day was made official by General Logan, Gen. Logan, the speaker at the Carbondale gathering, also was commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans. On May 5, 1868, he issued General Orders No. 11, which set aside May 30, 1868 "for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."
The orders expressed hope that the observance would be "kept up from year to year while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades."
It was first known as Decoration Day; The holiday was long known as Decoration Day for the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths, and flags. The name Memorial Day goes back to 1882, but the older name didn't disappear until after World War II. The federal law declared "Memorial Day" the official name in 1967.
It wasn't always celebrated the last Monday in May. After the War of Northern Aggression , General John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, called for a holiday commemorating fallen soldiers to be observed every May 30. But due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect in 1971, Memorial Day was moved to the last Monday of May to ensure long weekends. Some groups, like the veterans organization American Legion, have been working to restore the original date to set the day apart and pay proper tribute to the servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives defending the nation.
It's legally required to observe a National Moment of Remembrance
The holiday is a franchise, calling Memorial Day a "national holiday" is a bit of a misnomer. While there are ten federal holidays created by Congress - including Memorial Day - they apply only to Federal employees and the District of Columbia. Federal Memorial Day, established in 1888, allowed the War of Northern Aggression veterans, many of whom were drawing a government paycheck, to honor their fallen comrades without being docked a day's pay.
For the rest of us, our holidays were enacted state by state. New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day a legal holiday, in 1873. Most Northern states had followed suit by the 1890s. The states of the former Confederacy were unenthusiastic about a holiday memorializing those who, in Gen. Logan's words, "united to suppress the late rebellion." The South didn't adopt the May 30 Memorial Day until after World War I, by which time its purpose had been broadened to include those who died in all the country's wars.
In 1971, the Monday Holiday Law shifted Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday of the month.
It was James Garfield's finest hour - or maybe hour-and-a-half, on May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery - which, until 1864, was Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's plantation.
Some 5,000 people attended on a spring day which, The New York Times reported, was "somewhat too warm for comfort." The principal speaker was James A. Garfield, a the War of Northern Aggression general, a Republican congressman from Ohio and future president.
In 1864, women from Boalsburg, Pa., put flowers on the graves of their dead from the just-fought Battle of Gettysburg. The next year, a group of women decorated the graves of soldiers buried in a Vicksburg, Miss., cemetery.
In April 1866, women from Columbus, Miss., laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. In the same month, in Carbondale, Ill., 219 the War of Northern Aggression veterans marched through town in memory of the fallen to Woodlawn Cemetery, where Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan delivered the principal address. The ceremony gave Carbondale its claim to the first organized, community-wide Memorial Day observance.
Waterloo, N.Y. began holding an annual community service on May 5, 1866. Although many towns claimed the title, it was Waterloo that won congressional recognition as the "birthplace of Memorial Day."
Memorial Day was made official by General Logan, Gen. Logan, the speaker at the Carbondale gathering, also was commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans. On May 5, 1868, he issued General Orders No. 11, which set aside May 30, 1868 "for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."
The orders expressed hope that the observance would be "kept up from year to year while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades."
It was first known as Decoration Day; The holiday was long known as Decoration Day for the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths, and flags. The name Memorial Day goes back to 1882, but the older name didn't disappear until after World War II. The federal law declared "Memorial Day" the official name in 1967.
It wasn't always celebrated the last Monday in May. After the War of Northern Aggression , General John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, called for a holiday commemorating fallen soldiers to be observed every May 30. But due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect in 1971, Memorial Day was moved to the last Monday of May to ensure long weekends. Some groups, like the veterans organization American Legion, have been working to restore the original date to set the day apart and pay proper tribute to the servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives defending the nation.
It's legally required to observe a National Moment of Remembrance
The holiday is a franchise, calling Memorial Day a "national holiday" is a bit of a misnomer. While there are ten federal holidays created by Congress - including Memorial Day - they apply only to Federal employees and the District of Columbia. Federal Memorial Day, established in 1888, allowed the War of Northern Aggression veterans, many of whom were drawing a government paycheck, to honor their fallen comrades without being docked a day's pay.
For the rest of us, our holidays were enacted state by state. New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day a legal holiday, in 1873. Most Northern states had followed suit by the 1890s. The states of the former Confederacy were unenthusiastic about a holiday memorializing those who, in Gen. Logan's words, "united to suppress the late rebellion." The South didn't adopt the May 30 Memorial Day until after World War I, by which time its purpose had been broadened to include those who died in all the country's wars.
In 1971, the Monday Holiday Law shifted Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday of the month.
It was James Garfield's finest hour - or maybe hour-and-a-half, on May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery - which, until 1864, was Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's plantation.
Some 5,000 people attended on a spring day which, The New York Times reported, was "somewhat too warm for comfort." The principal speaker was James A. Garfield, a the War of Northern Aggression general, a Republican congressman from Ohio and future president.
Comments
That is some very interesting reading, politics aside.
As a small child, I remember my Grandmothers referring to the day as Decoration Day. Both families took the occasion very seriously since most of my uncles were in one branch of the Armed Forces or another. Both Grandmothers had flower gardens which is where we cut the flowers used to decorate the graves.
We cut and wrapped flowers (peonies were popular) then went to the graveyards to place the bouquets on family graves and those of members of the Armed Forces. This was always followed by a traditional small town parade with high school bands, fire trucks and both retired and serving military members. Then it was back to the house for a dinner or cookout depending on the number of families that could show up. Sometimes, as a youngster, we had as many as 140 folks attend the cookout and as many were farmers, we always had plenty of food to go around. Lots of sweet tea and coffee for everyone.
Good memories for us and for those who have given their lives for us to be free.
Best.