Memorial Day was originally established as “Decoration Day” by General John A. Logan and other Union veterans of the Civil War on May 30th, 1868. Three years after the fall of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and the remaining Confederate forces, the war was always a dark reminder over the brutality of this conflict that tore America apart for four years.
These veterans experienced the horrors of the incessant fighting that ranged from the outskirts of Washington, D.C., through the destruction of major cities, towns, resources, and the displacement of civilians. The war was a deadly contest between the North and South that grew from minor skirmishes like the Battle of Philippi that was the first battle on June 3rd, 1861. This opening battle of the war saw General George B. McClellan ordered 3,000 soldiers from the Department of Ohio to advance into Western Virginia. It was McClellan’s goal to protect the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lines and to possibly open a path to Richmond, Virginia, where this state just seceded from the Union. There were 800 Confederate soldiers that were poorly trained, organized, and they retreated once the Union artillery fired at their position. This minor engagement presented the reality that there were no peaceful measures to unify this country.
The fighting became a horrific endeavor by the North and South that had immense casualties through the major battles of Gettysburg: 51,116, Seven Days: 36,463, Chickamauga: 34,624, Chancellorsville: 29,609, and Antietam: 22,726. Grant scored impressive victories at Fort Henry and gained the Unconditional Surrender of Confederate General from his good friend Simon Bolivar Buckner at Fort Donelson on February 16th, 1862. On April 7th, 1862, Grant was surprised by the Confederate attack at Shiloh, Tennessee. While Grant achieved victory at Shiloh, at some points, it was possible to walk across the battlefield on dead bodies without touching the ground. There were 23,760 casualties between both sides and Shiloh proved to Grant that this war would not be easily won. A week later, there was the smaller engagement of Pinal County, Arizona, as 23 soldiers engaged each other with 11 casualties. The Civil War proved that it would be fought within the farthest parts of this nation and there were both small and massive engagements that produced American casualties.
Lincoln demanded his general’s continually fight the South to crush this rebellion. But when Lee was at his most vulnerable after Antietam and Gettysburg, both Generals McClellan and George Meade allowed the Army of Northern Virginia to retreat back toward their supply lines in Virginia. During the Battle of the Wilderness, there were heart-wrenching moments that saw Union soldiers write out their names and addresses and pin them onto their uniforms so they’re bodies could be identified for their families. Atlanta was burnt to the ground and South Carolina was devastated from the fighting. There were mixed loyalties as General George Thomas was a Virginian who was a devoted leader for the Union who won the Battle of Nashville. General John Pemberton from Pennsylvania commanded the Confederate guns overlooking the Mississippi River, and he was defeated by Grant on July 4th, 1863.
At Appomattox, as the Confederates were surrendering, they lacked food and were promised rations by Grant. “With Malice towards None,” were the words of a physically exhausted Lincoln who did not want hangings, but a restored peace between the states. May we always honor the establishment of “Decoration Day" to recall the nearly one million killed Americans from the ferocity of the Civil War.