Some Thoughts On “Decoration Day”

After I wrote the post “Decoration Day” last night, I started to think about that phrase. It’s one of those things that old timers would say; something they grew up with and continued to say even after the newer, Memorial Day became the standard. I seem to vaguely remember calendars that had Memorial Day (Decoration Day) on them. I guess that once you are in parentheses on the calendar you are soon to be an after-thought.

I like the sound of Decoration Day better. It sounds more human.

Anyway, I got to thinking and did a little research. It seems that Decoration Day loosely evolved after the Civil War. Whenever I read about the Civil War it always strikes me that, in these times, we have nothing to compare it to. More Americans died during the Civil War than any other war we’ve been involved in. 11.1 percent of the U.S. population fought in the Civil War. Of that 11.1 percent, 14.4 percent were killed. More soldiers were killed in combat during WW2 but the overall deaths were lower. There was actually a higher percentage of the population that fought in WW2 (12.2%) but, the percentage of those that fought and died was far lower (2.5%).

Here’s another way to look at it; 1 out every 5 males fought, 3 out of 10 that fought, died. That’s staggering, and it all happened on our soil.

So, in the wake of the Civil War, Decoration Day developed.

I found the sheet music for this hymn, published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” in the Duke University, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. There was a dedication, “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead”.

Kneel where our loves are sleeping,
Dear ones loved in days gone by,
Here we bow in holy reverence,
Our bosoms heave the heartfelt sigh,
They fell like brave men, true as steel,
And pour’d their blood like rain,
We feel we owe them all we have,
And can but kneel and weep again,

Here we find our noble dead,
Their spirits soar’d to him above,
Rest they now about his throne,
For God is mercy, God is love,
The let us pray that we may live,
As pure and good as they have been,
That dying we may ask of Him,
To ope the gate and let us in,

Kneel where our loves are sleeping,
They lost, but still were good and true,
Our fathers, brothers fell still fighting
Weep ‘tis all that we can do

“Kneel Where Our Loves Are Sleeping” by L. Nella Sweet and G.W.R. 1867

In 1868, General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of The Republic (an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors) declared in General Order #11 that:

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. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

Note the line in the lyric, “They lost but, still were good and true” and also note that the General refers to the war as “the late rebellion”.

On May 30th, 1868 there was a Decoration Day celebration. General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. So, maybe this was evidence of the beginning of some wounds starting to heal.

I think I’m going to continue to call it Decoration Day. It’s sunny with a light breeze here in the Ozarks and I hope your Decoration Day is just as fine.

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