From 1869: Decoration Day

What we call Memorial Day began as a spontaneous honoring of soldiers who had given their lives fighting to keep the Union together during the Civil War. The following article is one of the earliest ones about this ceremony, which was initially called "Decoration Day", a day when friends and relatives put flowers on the graves of all soldiers who had made the ultimate sacrifice. It appeared in the Hartford Courant on April 19th, 1869.

950 soldiers from Middletown served in the Civil War (about 11% of the population--equivalent to having nearly 5,000 Middletown residents in the Afghan and Iraq wars today). 110 men from Middletown died in the Civil War. All information from the Middlesex County Historical Society. Photos of Middletown residents who died in the Civil War are all from the Biographies at the Historical Society.

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It is with lively pleasure that we reprint the order of General John A. Logan which our readers will find below. A year ago we expressed in the strongest language at our command the hope that the ceremony of covering our dead soldiers' graves with flowers, once instituted, would never be suffered to fall into disuse; that the anniversary variously known as Decoration Day and Memorial Day would thenceforth keep its place among our great national festivals. There was such an evident propriety, such a touching beauty in the ceremony, that we had little doubt this would be the case, and this timely order from the head of the Grand Army of the Republic assures us that our confidence was well grounded.

Even if we Americans had as many holy days as our Russian allies, this one would have an irresistable claim to be added to our calendar. It is the visible expression of the nation's unforgetting grief and love for the brave fellows who died in its cause, under its flag, fighting its foes. The least that the country can do for these men who gave it their lives, is to give them one day in the long, busy year in which to recall their deeds, to keep alive the recollection of their great sacrifice, to testify in the simple act of strewing their graves with the fresh, spring flowers that it still cherishes and will ever cherish their memories. We are told sometimes that republics are ungrateful. But here is a case in which ingratitude is impossible. These men of whom we are speaking were not unknown mercenaries. It is not to our patriotism alone that this festival appeals. They were our fathers, our brothers, and our sons. They went to their deaths from

homes here in New England and out there in the West. There is not a village in the land which is not represented in these sacred graves. There is hardly a family to which Decoration Day will not be something tenderer, more personal than a mere patriotic observance. It is not only the country's dead, it is our dead that we are summoned to honor. How can it be possbile, then, that the summons will be neglected. It is not possible, and we are heartily glad that it is not. As a matter of fact we have too few national festivals, and it was a happy thought which has given us Decoration Day. It will partly take the place among us which All Souls Day holds in Roman Catholic countries, but it will have even a greater charm and sanctity, since it will be the expression at once of private grief and of public gratitude.

We repeat that it is impossible that such an anniversary as this should be neglected. There will be no dearth of flowers, of processions, of eloquence, of song. But we are exceedingly anxious that the celebration of the day shall not stop here. These men whom we profess to honor, have left old parents, widows, little children. Many of these are faring hardly without the help of the stout arms which the country needed and took from them. It ought not to be necessary for us to say a word more. We have indicated the way in which the approaching festival can be most worthily kept. The debt which we owe to these bereaved and struggling families is not the less sacred because it is not secured by bond. As we are an honest, high-minded Christian people, we must pay it. Let us make this Decorative Day memorable by a grand munificence, worthy of a rich and grateful nation.

We append General Logan's order. It is issued from the Headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic at Washington, under date of April 12th:

I. The 30th day of May proximo--a day set apart by the Grand Army of the Republic to commemorate the glorious deeds of our departed comrades--will be observed throughout the United States in such manner as befits the solemnities of the occasion, and as will testify teh undying love of a grateful people for the memory of those who died that the nation might live.

This is the second public observance of the occasion, which it is trusted, will recur yearly while there remains a heart loyal to the cause in which our comrades fell, and while the moving principle of that struggle is worth preserving. If our organization had no other object, that alone of keeping green the resting places of our nation's defenders, by this annual commemoration, would be motive enough to hold us together in a fraternal bond.

The commander-in-chief desires to thank those patriotic men and women who gave their aid and sympathy on a former occasion to make successful this national memorial day, and they are cordially invited to unite with the comrades of the Grand Army in the approaching ceremonies; and he thanks the loyal press everywhere, through whose generous aid a lasting record has been made of the observances one year ago. To the Congress of the United States, the comrades are especially indebted for authorizing the publication, in book form, of the proceedings of last May, and for the promise held out that each year a compilation will be made and published, as a national recognition of sympathy with these memorial observances.

II. It has been determined not to prescribe any form of ceremony for universal observance, but each Post, or any number of Posts, may arrange together such fitting services as circumstances will permit. Department commanders will use every effort to perfect arrangements for the occasion. The newspaper press are requested to give publication to this order.

III. Department and Post commanders are specially enjoined to preserve and forward to these headquarters a copy of the proceedings (in printed form so far as possible) which takes place in carrying out this order.

IV. As the 30th of May occurs on the Sabbath, Posts are at liberty to observe either that day, or Saturday, the 29th.