The launch of the Civil War, which began with the firing on Fort Sumter, S.C., 150 years ago this month, is being commemorated throughout the nation this year. In Waco, the descendants of the boys in gray will be observing the occasion with a special free public presentation in conjunction with the Waco History Project.

Members and friends of the Mary West Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy invite the public to join them for a Decoration Day program on April 17.

Decoration Day is the old name for Memorial Day, a time of remembrance for those who died in national service. It was known as Decoration Day until after World War I, when the emphasis changed from honoring the Civil War’s combatants to any member of the armed forces who gave the ultimate sacrifice in military conflict.

President Calvin Coolidge donned a fine frock coat to address a group of aged Union veterans gathered at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1925. Decoration Day will be celebrated on April 17.
HistoricalStockPhotos.com

Although more than two dozen cities and towns across the United States claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, there is historical evidence that organized groups of Southern women were decorating graves even before the war’s conclusion in 1865.

One of the first occasions reported was in Columbus, Miss., where on April 25, 1866, a group of women visited a local cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh.

Upon observing the neglected graves of the Union dead of that same battle, it is said the women, overcome with compassion for their former enemy, strew flower petals upon those lonesome mounds as well.

A hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping,” carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are decorating the graves of the Confederate dead.” Composer Nella L. Sweet penned:

Kneel where our loves are sleeping,

They lost, but still were good and true,

Our fathers, brothers fell still fighting,

We weep, ‘tis all that we can do.

Until 40 years ago, Memorial Day was always observed on May 30. But in 1971, federal law changed the official date to the final Monday of Mayr to create a three-day weekend. This year, it just happens fall on May 30.

But many Southern states observe Decoration Day in late April, apparently to mark the month when the Civil War began and ended; May 10 in North and South Carolina, to mourn the death of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson; and June 3 — Jefferson Davis’ birthday — in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Artist Charles S. Reinhart (1844-96) illustrates families paying tribute to America’s war dead by decorating the graves of their loved ones who died in military service to their country. Several American communities claim to have begun the practice of Decoration Day, as it was originally called, but it probably developed spontaneously in various localities during or shortly after the Civil War.
HarpWeek.com

Texas’ official Confederate Heroes Day is Jan. 19 (Robert E. Lee’s birthday).

Among the notable Confederate veterans buried at Oakwood are jurists Richard Coke and Thomas Harrison; Felix Huston Robertson, the only Texas-born general officer to serve the Confederacy during the Civil War; railroad agent Jerome B. Robertson; and Texas Gov. Lawrence Sullivan Ross.

Albert Boggess, a Baylor professor who was a Virginia Military Institute cadet in 1861, also is buried at Oakwood.

Mary Duty, co-chairwoman of the Waco History Project, said Oakwood Cemetery officials will erect a tent at the Felix Robertson grave site, offering shade. But guests are urged to bring their own lawn chairs for seating.

And, of course, people are asked to bring their own floral tributes for the graves they would like to decorate.

United Daughters of the Confederacy members will attend in period costume. Shirley Woodlock, UDC registrar general and past president of its the Texas division, will deliver an address to mark the day.

The Mary West Chapter of the Texas division, United Daughters of the Confederacy in Waco, was first chartered on Feb. 19, 1896, the third such unit in Texas. Known for many years as Waco 3, the chapter was later renamed to honor Mary Eliza (Stark) West, wife of Judge John Camden West of McLennan County.

The chapter was disbanded from 1951 for more than 50 years. In 2004, more than two dozen Confederate descendants reorganized the local chapter.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy, a “benevolent, historical and educational” organization, conducts memorial activities to honor the memory of those who fought and died for their allegiances in the War Between the States.

Additional sources: USmilitary.About.com; TimeAndDate.com; USMemorialDay.org; TexasHistory.unt.edu; WacoHistoryProject.org; and MaryWestChapter26.homestead.com.

Editor’s Note: Terri Jo Ryan is also co-chairwoman of the Waco History Project and has been known to don a hoop skirt from time to time.

“On Decoration Day,” a political cartoon circa 1900 by John T. McCutcheon (1870-1949), depicts a lad telling his girl, “You bet I’m goin’ to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up.”
Lib.Purdue.edu

A 1908 vintage postcard to commemorate Decoration Day (as Memorial Day was known for many decades) depicts a Union widow at the grave site of a fallen soldier.
Library of Congress