Photo By George Gonzalez | Kristina Whitney, Archaeologist and Historic Preservation Specialist discusses...... read more read more
In 1868, Army General John A. “Blackjack” Logan issued a decree designating May 30 as “Decoration Day” (Memorial Days first name). In choosing that date, Logan - raised on an Illinois farm - considered May as the peak harvest period for blooming flowers to grace the graves of the fallen.
In establishing this new tradition, Logan declared, “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravanges (sp?) of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2015, April 17). Memorial Day Order. https://www.cem.va.gov/history/memdayorder.asp
But that’s not the whole story about Memorial Day’s foundations. Recently, a Yale professor uncovered a new Memorial Day chapter while sifting through Civil War documents. They stumbled across a folder labeled “First Decoration Day” with an amazing narrative of an impromptu 1865 South Carolina ceremony honoring deceased Union soldiers at an abandoned prisoner of war camp a full three years before “Decoration Day” was officially held at Arlington National Cemetery.
It was here where Charleston’s Washington Racetrack and Jockey Club was turned into a makeshift prison for Union war prisoners where 260 soldiers had died and were buried in a mass grave behind the grandstand. When Charleston fell, locals to include freed slaves led the way in exhuming this mass grave and ultimately reentered the bodies in an actual cemetery.
On May 1, 1865, 21 days after the end of the Civil War, a crowd of 10,000, mostly made up of freed slaves, staged a parade around the grounds of the prior prison camp and racetrack.
It’s reported that children carried bouquets of flowers while a union regiment followed them behind them singing. Eventually, the track was torn down and the graves located by the racetrack cemetery were moved to the Beaufort National Cemetery in South Carolina.
The significance of this event, even though it has been nearly forgotten, serves as a heartfelt display honoring each of the prisoners of war that gave their life at that prison camp and is coincidentally part of the string of celebrations that pre-dated Logan’s formal “Decoration Day” ceremony.
Currently, the Beaufort National Cemetery along with 41 others is preserved by the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration. The National Cemetery Administraion honors the legacy of all Veterans and their families by ensuring an honorable, pristine resting landscape that commemorates the service and sacrifice.
Locally, members from the U.S. Army Corps’ St. Louis District have not only had the honor of working to restore structures at Arlington National Cemetery whose Memorial Day services alone attract 5,000 visitors, but also have worked with the NCA at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in South St. Louis County, Missouri.
Jefferson Barracks, located on the banks of the Mississippi River, served as the largest military garrison in the country and housed soldiers passing through, in route, to every major American War from the Blackhawk War of 1832 to World War II.
This almost 200 year old site now serves as the final resting place for eight Medal of Honor recipients and more than 20,000 U.S. soldiers. The work of the NCA, the respect paid by the 1865 post war Charleston community, and the words of General Logan along with so many others express our humanity for the “cost of a free and undivided republic”.
Serving this country with honor isn’t just about getting what you want, sometimes it involves giving up the things you love for what you love even more.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2021 12:00 |
| Story ID: | 399175 |
| Location: | ST. LOUIS, MO, US |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Memorial Day Revelation Casts New Context on an American Tradition, by Janet Meredith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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