by seeing the graves of the Confederate dead all
marked by little white flags, faded wreaths of laurel,
and such tributes to their memory, that had been
placed there by their friends. His tender heart was
deeply touched. He said it was most fitting;, that
the ancients, especially the Greeks, hail honored their
dead, particularly their heroes, by chaplets of laurel
and flowers, and that he intended to issue an order
designating a day for decorating the grave of every
soldier in this land, and if he could he would have it
made a National holiday.
"He issued the order and secured an appropriation
of money to preserve the proceedings of the first Memo-
rial day, which were compiled from the reports that
weir sent to the headquarters of the Grand Army.
But. owing to the voluminous character of these pro-
ceedings, I think hut one volume entitled " Memorial
Day" was ever published by Congress. These records
have been left to each State to take such action as
they desired in the matter, consequently they are
very incomplete. * * * * The order is so elo-
quent in its appeal for its perpetuity that we are sure
it will be observed as long as tin- is a tree and grateful
nation.
" He appealed to the ex-soldiers and sailors all over
the country to join the organization, lie interested
many prominent officers, who promised active co-
operation in their States, that the veterans might be
banded together in some common interest that would
insure assistance when any of them was in trouble,
and would commemorate the deeds of both the living
and the dead. He was always thinking of something
for the benefit of the men who had served their
country."
In concluding a long order. Gen. Logan said:
"Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed
grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and
going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no
vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time
testify to the present or to the coming generations that
we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and
undivided republic. If other eves grow dull, other
hands slack and other hearts cold in the solemn trust,
ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth
of life remain to us.
"Let us, then, at time of appointment, gather round
their sacred remains, and garland the passionless
mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring
time. * * * * Let us in this solemn presence
renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they.
have left among us, a sacred charge upon a nation's
gratitude — the soldier's and sailor's widow and
orphan.
"It is the pleasure of the Commander-in-Chief to
inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will
be kept up from vear to year while a survivor of the
war remains to honor the memory of his departed
comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to
lend its friendly aid in bringing this order to the
notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time
for simultaneous compliance therewith."
The foregoing suggests. the fitness of the assertion
that in all the thirty years no Southern man has ever
been irreverent at the graves of Union soldiers. Con-
federates have often helped to strew flowers and oth-
erwise honor the brave men who fell in battle for the
Union.
COysiDERATIOX FOR OLD SOLDIERS
Mrs. M. Louise Myrick, of Americus. Ga., whose
father. Col. Seudder. a Tennessean, lost an eye in
Mexico, and whose uncle. Gen. B. Davidson, was a
well-known Confederate, concludes an article about
soldiers in this way :
To my thinking, nothing is too good for the old sol-
lier. He should be crowned with every available
honor, ami if there are any soft places in the rank- of
business, gratefully bestow them upon him. Whether
they wore the blue or the gray, true SOldierS deserve to
be honored by this generation, who now live in peace
and prosperity.
The common soldier who fought and spilled his
blood in the defense of the South can hope for no
comforting government pension. If in need or dis-
tress, hi- only source of relief in bis declining years
must come from sympathetic and generous voting
Southern men. who arc bound by the ties of blood and
memories ever sacred, to the Old South, which pro-
duced some of the most chivalric spirits that ever left
an impress upon a nation's history.
To the dead we owe a more sacred duty. Their
memory should ever be kept fresh and green. The
noble women of this broad land will remain faithful
to this (rust. They will teach their children to per-
petuate the beautiful memorial custom. When the
faithful of this age are silent in death, generations yel
unborn will be found ready to don the mantle of pa-
triotism so honorably worn by their mothers and
grandmothers.
Yes. there will ever be patriotic women, who will
wreathe ill garlands nature's choicest offerings, the
laurel and the rose, with which to cover the mounds
of the heroic dead.
The time-honored custom will live as long as lasts
the country that holds tin 1 sacred dust, and as the
South grows richer, shining shafts of marble will be
raised in every lodge and hamlet, emblazoned with
golden inscriptions for those whose lives of sacrifice
are now a blessed memory.
Ohio's MoNIWIK.NT AT THE WoRI.n's FaIU — The Ohio
monument, in honor of Ohio's heroes in civil and
military life, will be one of the attractions of the
World's Fair. It will stand in front of the Ohio
building, ami. when dedicated, ex-President Have-
will deliver the oration. It represents Ohio standing
proudly above the sculptured features of six eminent
sons and saying, " These are my jewels." The figures
ure of (irant, Garfield, Sherman, Chase, Stanton, Sher-
idan. The sculptor is Levi T. Schofield, an architect
of Cleveland, and the State of Ohio pays him 125,000
for the work. The height of the entire monument 'is
31 feet, the Ohio figure being 10 feet, and the figures
below each being over 7 feet high. After the Fair the
monument will be placed in the State-house at
Columbus, ( ).
Page:Confederate Veteran volume 01.djvu/27
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
CONFEDERATE VETERAN.
21