Confederate Memorial Day (called Confederate Heroes Day in Texas, and Confederate Decoration Day in Tennessee) is a holiday observed in several Southern states since the end of the American Civil War to remember the estimated 258,000 Confederate soldiers and sailors who died fighting against the Union.
The holiday is observed in late April in many states to recall the surrender of the last major Confederate field army at Bennett Place on April 26, 1865. The holiday is widely but unofficially observed in some Southern states, although it is an official state holiday in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Video Confederate Memorial Day
Origins
In the spring of 1866 the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia, passed a resolution to set aside one day annually to memorialize the Confederate war dead. Mary Ann Williams, the association secretary, was directed to pen a letter inviting ladies associations in every former Confederate state to join them in the observance. Their invitation was written in March 1866 and sent to all of the principal cities in the former Confederacy, including Atlanta, Macon; Montgomery; Memphis; Richmond; St. Louis; Alexandria; Columbia; and New Orleans, as well as smaller towns like Staunton, Virginia; Anderson, South Carolina; and Wilmington, North Carolina. The actual date for the holiday was selected by Elizabeth Rutherford Ellis. She chose April 26, the first anniversary of Confederate General Johnston's surrender to Union Major General Sherman at Bennett Place. For many in the Confederacy, that date in 1865 marked the end of the Civil War.
In their book, The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America, Bellware and Gardiner determine that the national Memorial Day holiday is a direct offshoot of the observance begun by the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia in 1866. In a few places, most notably Columbus, Mississippi and Macon, Georgia, Union graves were decorated during the first observance. The day was even referred to as Memorial Day by The Baltimore Sun on May 8, 1866 after the ladies organization that started it. The name Confederate Memorial Day was not used until the Northern observance was initiated in 1868.
While initially cool to the idea of a Northern version of the holiday, General John A. Logan was eventually won over as evidenced by his General Order No. 11 of May 5, 1868 wherein he commanded the posts of Grand Army of the Republic to likewise strew flowers on the graves of Union soldiers. The Grand Army of the Republic eventually adopted the name Memorial Day at their national encampment in 1882.
Many theories have been offered as to how Logan became aware of the former Confederate tradition he imitated in 1868. In her autobiography, his wife claims she told him about it after a trip to Virginia in the spring of that year. His secretary and his adjutant also claim they told him about it. John Murray of Waterloo, New York, claims it was he who inspired Logan in 1868. Bellware and Gardiner, however, offer proof that Logan was aware of the Southern tributes long before any of them had a chance to mention it to him. In a speech to veterans in Salem, Illinois, on July 4, 1866, Logan referred to the various dates of observance adopted in the South for the practice saying "...traitors in the South have their gatherings day after day, to strew garlands of flowers upon the graves of Rebel soldiers..."
Maps Confederate Memorial Day
Statutory holidays for state employees
Confederate Memorial Day is a statutory holiday in Alabama on the fourth Monday in April. In Mississippi it is observed on the last Monday in April. In South Carolina it is a legal holiday, observed on May 10. In Texas it is called Confederate Heroes Day and held on January 19 each year. Only one day off is given to workers if it coincides with Martin Luther King Day.
See also
- Commemoration of the American Civil War
- Lee-Jackson Day
- List of Confederate monuments and memorials
- Robert E. Lee Day
References
Further reading
External links
- Confederate Memorial Day at NCpedia (ncpedia.org)
- Works by or about Confederate Memorial Day at Internet Archive
Source of article : Wikipedia
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