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5 Interesting Facts About Memorial Day

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Twitter
1. Originally Meant for Union Dead
If the question was asked, "Who was and still is the most hated and despised man in the history of Georgia" the response would be William Tecumseh Sherman. From the onset of hostilities in the Atlanta Campaign on May 6, 1864 and the March to the Sea ending two days before Christmas 1864 with him capturing Savannah, no one created more destruction.
If the question was asked, "Who was and still is the most hated and despised man in the history of Georgia" the response would be William Tecumseh Sherman. From the onset of hostilities in the Atlanta Campaign on May 6, 1864 and the March to the Sea ending two days before Christmas 1864 with him capturing Savannah, no one created more destruction. | (Photo: Courtesy of State of Georgia, Archives, History)

Memorial Day's origins go back to just after the American Civil War, as an observance known as "Decoration Day," where people would decorate the graves of fallen soldiers on May 30.

It was also specifically focused on Union dead, as it was originally organized by the veterans group the Grand Army of the Republic. The first observance was held in 1868.

"After speeches, children from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns," explained the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As a result, for a time the holiday was not observed in the South. Rather, the former secessionists held their own "Confederate Memorial Day" observances.

"At the outset, Memorial Day was so closely linked with the Union cause that many Southern states refused to celebrate it," noted Time Magazine in 2009.

"Most Southern states still recognize Confederate Memorial Day as an official holiday, and many celebrate it on the June birthday of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy."

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