Confederate Memorial Day

[SouthernByGrace]

Confederate Memorial Day

in Georgia

 

In 1874, the Georgia General Assembly approved legislation adding as a new public holiday "The 26th day of April in each year--commonly known as Memorial Day." April 26 marks the anniversary of the end of the Civil War for Georgia, for it was on this day in 1865 that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's surrender to General William Sherman in North Carolina became official. Johnston had been in charge of Georgia's defense, so this day marked the end of the war for Georgia.

Exactly when Georgians began commemorating April 26 as Memorial Day is unclear, but the language of the 1874 act clearly recognizes that April 26 was already being celebrated as an unofficial holiday. The day of observance may trace to the women of Columbus, Georgia, who on April 12, 1866 organized a memorial association and began a campaign to have a special day for "paying honor to those who died defending the life, honor and happiness of the Southern women." Three days later, the Atlanta Ladies' Memorial Association was organized, and on April 26, 1866, the association held a Confederate memorial observance at Oakland Cemetery.

I have the distinctive pleasure of also celebrating this day in another fashion. It's my birthday! 
Is it any wonder that the War For Southern Independence and all the fascinating topics surrounding it, and this time in our history, holds such passion for me? After all, I was born exactly 100 years to the day after those special ladies of the Atlanta Ladies' Memorial Association held their first observance of such a historic event and in honor of some of the bravest men in American history! I can't help but wonder if they truly understood the implications of their actions that day, 143 years ago. And it falls upon OUR shoulders, fellow Southerners, to carry on the tradition started by these special people.

How will you spend Confederate Memorial Day?
However you spend it, it would be fun to hear about it here on GBO. No matter how big a deal it is with you or even if it's not a big deal at all. Maybe you never gave it much thought. Maybe this will be the first time you do. In any case, let us hear from you and "Tell The Tales" of your own ancestors' involvement in the war. Tell who they were, where they served, if they lived through the war, or where and when they died. How about the families left behind during the war? What did they go through? Tell us your family's stories.

This is a Great way to keep their memory alive. To let them see, we remember and appreciate what you went through for our freedom and liberty. To tell them, on this day, We Will Never Forget!

After spending an afternoon with a HUGE family "April Birthday Dinner", (There are about 20 people in my family with birthdays in April, so we have one BIG dinner for all of us, at one time), I plan on visiting some of our fallen Heroes, especially my Great Grandfather, and celebrating their sacrifices and showing them,
WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

God Bless the men in Gray! The Confederacy lives on through YOU,
 
The Sons of Confederate Veterans! 


SouthernByGrace

DEO VINDICE

[Gary G]

Happy Birthday SBG!
I had no idea it was Confederate Memorial Day. Thanks for pointing it out to me. It is a little late for me to do anything special. However, I am fortunate to have a ninety-six year old great uncle still living and I like to hear him talk about his grandfather's war experiences. I would have liked to have visited him today. Of course he was young when his grandfather died, but he still has a clear memories of all the old stories. My gggrandfather fought with Colquitt's brigade, so you know he was in the worst of the worst from Florida to Pennsylvania. His brother was one of those Jackson sacrificed in the battle of the wilderness. He died in a Yankee prison camp. My gggrandfather survived because he was wounded the day earlier pulling wounded soldiers out of the woods fire.

[SouthernByGrace]

Thanks Gary...

WOW!! Now, that's some history! How cool is it that your ancestors fought in the Wilderness Campaign? That's exactly what I was talking about. These kinds of stories should be Told, and Often!
Your Great Uncle would still appreciate a visit from you tomorrow. Any time you can visit, DO. You won't ever regret it!
If you have the means to do so, RECORD every conversation you have with him! It will be Priceless someday!

I visited 4 nearby cemeteries where a total of about 15 Confederate soldiers are resting. To my surprise, 2 of the cemeteries had already been visited and new Confederate flags had been placed on their graves. It was a nice thing to see. My own Great Grandfather fought in Co. H, Georgia Infantry and he survived the War, and lived until 1925! He was 84 years old when he died. How I wish I could have talked to that man! He was 19 when he enlisted, a month after Georgia seceded, and turned 20 four months later. He enlisted with 6 of his brothers, all of who survived the war. Two of his brothers were wounded in battle and were home, recuperating when Sherman came through Georgia. They were both taken prisoner (literally kidnapped, because they were too sick to get up) by Sherman's men and were held until the end of the war. One lost a leg from being moved and not getting proper medical attention. They witnessed the last 100 miles of Sherman's March through Georgia, first hand. They did not have anything kind to say about him, to say the least. That could be another topic all on it's own...

I have in my possession, my Great Grandfather's Confederate Pension Application, as well as my Great Grandmother's, when she applied to have his pension transferred as a Widow's Pension after he died, in 1925. She died in 1939 at the age of 92. I even have the letter my grandfather wrote to the State, informing them of her death, and asking them to stop her pension.

I know most people won't have as complete a history as I do, but that in no way makes their stories any less fascinating. Sometimes, the absence of these things makes the family stories even more important.

Thanks for sharing your story, Gary.

SBG

[Ga.windbreak]

Johnny, my friend, I hope you had a wonderful day. I thought of you several times yesterday and hoped you were really into it! Cake, homemade icecream and all!!

Again HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Oldshooter]

Happy belated Birthday Pard, Here's to ya! Thanks for the post. Was a special day for my family also the new Grandson made his first appearance at church. This G pa was proud!

WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

Hope it was a goodun !

[Oldtimer]

I am in Manassas, Virginia helping Number Two Daughter find another car, since she melted the engine out of her Subaru.  The car we found at a dealership won't be ready until this afternoon, so I have the day to kill.  I am going to the Bull Run Battlefield and am going to spend the day walking around it.  I would have liked to have done so Saturday, but it was devoted to car hunting.  I'll have to check to see how many of the cemeteries are decorated.

[SouthernByGrace]

Thanks, guys! It was indeed a goodun! As far as the food, nothing was store-bought, everything from the potato salad and squash casserole to the cakes, pies, and peach and pear tarts, was home made! GW, we didn't even have ice cream, dang it! That's about all we didn't have though. Anyway, it was a fun day, and I got to meet some cousins for the first time.

Just a couple of side notes about Confederate Memorial Day:

(1) Georgia follows suit with the federal government by officially observing holidays falling on the weekend, the following Monday. So TODAY is the State's Official Observance of the Holiday. Most State offices are closed.

(2) The United States actually adopted the South's "Memorial Day" as an official Holiday. The North had no such commemoration until they adopted the South's Holiday on May 30, 1868, to basically commemorate the end of the War,  two years after the South started observing it. In the North, it was only for those Union soldiers killed during the Civil War, and never honored the Southern dead. It was not until WWII that the U.S. decided to expand the Holiday to honor ALL those killed, or wounded, or those who served in the military.

[SouthernByGrace]

I'm Jealous, Oldtimer! Wish I could be there to see that for myself...

SBG

[Oldtimer]

I walked the 1 Manassas Trail, about 5 1/2 miles.  The day was hot and windy.  I managed to get up close and personal with one copperhead and three ticks.  I doubt I met more than five people until I got back to the Henry House, only about 150 yards from the Visitors Center.  I had lunch on the site of the Carter plantation, the house of which was known as Pittsylvania, the name of my home county.  This will require a bit of investigation on my part.  The only structure above ground is the wall of the family cemetery, and no stones stand in it.  I ate lunch and read some Scripture, then took a nap.  I spent a lot of time thinking about the soldiers on both sides and how they survived the day.  I could smell flowers at the sites of the old houses, and thought about the soldiers going from the smell of flowers to the smell of sulfur and blood.  I wondered how they found clean water to drink or to wash off the powder residue at the end of the day.  I thought about the realization that must have dawned on the leaders that this was not going to be one and done, that the nation was about to be plunged into a war that would not be settled for years. 

The Park Service has maintained the area much as it would have been at the time of the war.  It alternates between open farm fields and thickets.  There are marshy areas around the streams and bluffs that would make frontal assaults suicidal.  Low ground would have been covered with black powder smoke, so that it was even more difficult to tell friend from foe. 

I did not notice any cemeteries or memorial markers that were decorated, but then I did not seek out the cemeteries either.  Now the battlefield is a place of peace.  If it weren't for Lee Highway and Sudley Road cutting through the battlefield, I might not have seen a sign of time having passed at all. 

[Oldshooter]

GOOD REPORT! Oldtimer. I can relate to the part about the nap!    Seems every battleground I have ever been to is remarkably peaceful! Then.

vivid detail and I appreciate the post!