Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 June 1891 — MEMORIAL DAY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MEMORIAL DAY.

HEN the cadets at Charleston fired tho first gun on fated Sumter early ou that beautiful April morning in 18(31, its roverber a t i n% echoes sent a

tingle all over the Union. The first bloodshed in the streets of Baltimore quickened the patriotic pulse of the nation, and inspired the grand uprising of •the North. The first call for _ 75,000 'troops that followed the evacuation of •Sumpter,” and the alarming Confederate ■cry of “On to Washington” that moved President Lincoln to a second call for 83,000 troops, indicated to the world that the greatest conflict of modern times was imminent. The battle of Bull Run •and the defeat of the Union forces *added -much to' the enthusiasm of the Confederates and the belief in their military prowess. Disheartening as its’ tf-esu't was to the Pederals, it iiredthe .Northern circle with fre-li fuel for the ■cause of- liberty The results of the campaigns of 1802 in the region of Virginia were not encouraging, hut along the Atlantic coast lino and the Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mis'alssippUFederal arms had been crowned with many ’successes. The war was n being- waged on an enormous scale;" of thousands of men were in tho field; both sides had long -since discovered that secession was no 'trifling matter. The tide of b’attle, tho trod waves of war surged over tho South for five long years; it detloured her youth, it freed her slaves, her cause was lost, but tho flag of the Union was sustained, and the integrity of tho'sister? /hood of States preserved at frightful ‘cost of human life and suffering. Thousands of the brave boys w ho" marched '•way under tho flaunting flags to the music of war returned not from the (bloody fields of battle in the Southland Every home felt the stress of suffering; while 'the enthusiasm of victory filled every loyal breast, the death-rolls were depressing. Fathers, brothers, lovers had passed away; the widows,'The sisters and the sweethearts were loft to walk -alone and in the shadow. Years have'

’•passed, the children of war-time have .frown to manhood and womanhood, but -the green graves of the soldiers are a perpetual reminder of the men who gave .their lives that the Nation might live. Long before 1 the war had ended the -soldiers’ graves became marked ob'ects es interest from the famous cities of the dead to the little groups in the hamlet, ®r the single ones on the lonely farm, °«nd had been decorated with flowers at each returning spring. The observance ■hf decorating the soldiers’ graves came <*s a patriotic impulse, and while it did -«ot have immediate authoritative recognition as a national ceremony, it was -carried on with patriotic •bowed how nearly it touched the great heart of the people. IThe second national encampment of <the Grand Army of the Republic met in Philadelphia on Jan. 15, 1868. The order •had gained amazing strength in the meantime, and the roster showed the ■existence of 2,5C0 posts, with a memberchip believed to exceed 250,000 of the best men of the war. General John A. Logan was elected Commander-in-chief, and to that gallant and typical volunteer soldier belongs the honor of issuing the first order for the observance of Memorial Day. To whom *the credit should be given of originally the beautiful ceremony of decorating the graves of dead comrades is not fully settled. It is thought, however, that the first suggestion came from ,m former private of the army, who addressed a letter on the subject to Col. N. iP. Chipman, General Logan’s adjutant •general. The letter came from Cipcin‘•att. 'and the writer, a native of Geronany, spoke of the custom prevailing in ■the fatherland of assembling in the 4pring-time and scattering flowers upon 'the graves of the dead. He advised that ■the Grand Army inaugurate such an observance in memory of their dead. It Is much to be regretted that Adjutant General Chipman failed to preserve the •Istier and was unable to remember the

writer’s name. General Logan, however, warmly approved of the suggestion and issued the now famous general order to the Grand Army of the Republic commanding that the day be properly observed.