05/23/2024
The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and resulted in the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.
By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers. On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.
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