Decoration Day Civil War

After the american civil war a battered united states was faced with the task of burying and honoring the 600 000 to 800 000 union and confederate soldiers.

Decoration day civil war. It is a short speech but one of the best of its type i ve ever encountered. 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. For 50 years decoration day was observed to honor and remember civil war dead. The civil war in american memory by david w.

States on various dates since the end of the civil war to remember the estimated 258 000 confederate soldiers who have died in military service. On may 5 1868 general john a. It was a long road from decoration day to an official memorial day. On the first decoration day general james garfield made a speech at arlington national cemetery after which 5 000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20 000 civil war.

Memorial day was born out of necessity. With his proclamation logan adopted the memorial day practice that had begun in the southern states three years earlier. I ve posted it before but it think it s something worth re reading and contemplating every. From its civil war origins to its modern day traditions find out more about america s most solemn holiday.

Confederate memorial day called confederate heroes day in texas and florida and confederate decoration day in tennessee is a cultural holiday observed in several southern u s. Logan issued a proclamation calling for decoration day to be observed annually and nationwide. He was commander in chief of the grand army of the republic gar an organization of and for union civil war veterans founded in decatur illinois. The holiday is observed in late april in many states to recall the.