The book
Cullings From the Confederacy by
Miss Nora Davidson presents a lengthy statement under the by-line of
Mrs. John A. Logan which provides some insight into the origins of Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day because the graves of the fallen soldiers were decorated with flags and flowers.
Following the Civil War,Mrs. Logan wrote in 1866, in part,
"We were in Petersburg, Virginia.....As we passed through the graves I noticed that many of them had been strewn with beautiful blossoms and decorated with small flags of the dead Confederacy,.....The idea seemed to me to be a beautiful tribute to the soldier martyrs.....General Logan was at the time Commander-in-Chief of the G. A. R..... and as soon as he met me at the station (on her return to Washington D. C.) I told him of the graves of soldiers.....He listened with great interest and then said 'what a splendid idea.....I will issue an order at once for the decoration of the graves of all those noble fellows who died for their country'."
Memorial days wherein the graves of the heroes of various communities were decorated with flowers and garlands is an ancient custom that began in Greece 2,500 years ago.
It did not begin in Virginia, nor in New York. Although Petersburg, Virginia clearly has a series of historical events making it the inspiration for and origin of our country's National Memorial Day, and despite the fact the city of Waterloo, New York was officially acknowledged as the place where the first memorial services were held after the Civil War, memorial days, days commemorating the contributions of community heroes, is a tradition that is universal.
Today on Memorial Day 2007 as we remember all the soldiers, who battled in all the wars, those combatants who have died and sacrificed themselves in ourstead we also remember the civilians who have died in all the wars, because we understand when war comes it is a major disruption-a disturbance of the peace, in the lives of all humans.
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