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L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-24-2019 07:48 PM by L Verge.)

I am one of those who wishes that Memorial Day (aka Decoration Day as well as other names in the South) was still observed on May 30 and that more attention was paid to its original purpose. No matter your plans this weekend, I hope you will brush up on the history of this special day.

https://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp

Inspired by the meaning of the day, Francis Finch wrote this famous poem: http://www.civilwarhome.com/blueandgray.html

And one more -- legend or fact? https://www.history.com/news/memorial-da...charleston

LincolnMan · 05-25-2019, 03:33 AM

As a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War-we are charged with honoring May 30th as the day of observance. Right on Laurie!

Steve · 05-25-2019, 03:12 PM

Amen. Let's not forget those who have fallen fighting for our freedom.

JMadonna · 05-25-2019, 06:00 PM

sssh, don't let it be known that the South started the Decoration Day, it would probably be condemned as racist.

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-25-2019 06:47 PM by L Verge.)

(05-25-2019 06:00 PM)JMadonna Wrote: sssh, don't let it be known that the South started the Decoration Day, it would probably be condemned as racist.

Jerry - As you may or may not know, Surratt House now maintains a Facebook page on its website. This week, I was asked to write a short blurb about Mary Surratt's "other" son, Isaac Douglas, who fought in the Civil War, as a lead-in to our participating in the Blue Star Program from Memorial Day through Labor Day (free admission to active military and up to five dependents with current ID and free admission to regular retired veterans with ID). I was very careful not to mention that Isaac fought for the Confederacy; I only said that he went west and joined a Texas cavalry unit known as Duff's Rebel Rangers.

JMadonna · 05-25-2019, 07:32 PM

Good move - they'll probably never figure out that Texas was part of the civil war. Then you can convince them that Duff's Rebel Rangers was the name of his softball team.

LincolnMan · (This post was last modified: 05-27-2019 05:31 AM by LincolnMan.)

(05-25-2019 03:12 PM)Steve Wrote: Amen. Let's not forget those who have fallen fighting for our freedom.

As for today, my SUV Camp will be part of a Memorial Day observe in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. Following that, we will hold the traditional SUV ceremony at Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan for fallen comrade General Israel B. Richardson at his gravesite. He was mortally wounded at Antietam. President Lincoln paid a visit to Richardson while he was being treated for his wounds at the headquarters of General McClellan. Sadly, Richardson did not survive..

LincolnMan · 06-01-2019, 10:22 AM

We had good turnouts for both of our Observances. It was great to have a WWII Army veteran there who was part of the D Day Operation.

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 06-01-2019 02:06 PM by L Verge.)

(06-01-2019 10:22 AM)LincolnMan Wrote: We had good turnouts for both of our Observances. It was great to have a WWII Army veteran there who was part of the D Day Operation.

We had good visitation at Surratt House during the Memorial Day weekend also. It's nice to know that there are still people who pay attention to history instead of car sales, trips to the beach, and beer and BBQ...

As for me, I watched the annual program from the National Mall and cried my way through it, as usual.

Just as an aside, when I was growing up, one of my friends' father had been a prisoner on the Bataan Death March. Though he survived and returned home to his family and a job, he never really regained his strength nor his weight. But, the telling thing was when you looked into his eyes. They were void of life - what I suspect any prisoner of an enemy camp has looked like since the beginnings of time.

Next Saturday, Surratt House is sponsoring a program on Point Lookout Prison Camp for Confederates, which was located on the southern tip of Maryland. It has never been given that much attention compared to the Union Camp Sumter at Andersonville, but the federal government ran just as deplorable prisons (while they had more resources for better treatment) as the Confederates (who lacked resources going into the war and lost even more through the raids and destruction laid down by Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley and the infamous March to the Sea).

It will be interesting to see how our audience reacts to the talk by Dr. Brad Gottfried, Civil War scholar and author of several books, and retired President of the College of Southern Maryland (but not a native to the area and now residing in Pennsylvania). I have heard the talk and came away further convinced that Edwin McMasters Stanton was a cruel, hard man -- even though I think he was crucial to the Union winning the war.

P.S. If interested, the book is entitled Hell Comes to Southern Maryland, and we do sell it at our gift shop. Check out surrattmuseum.org

Steve · 06-02-2019, 01:42 AM

Here's a recent article about a marker placed over a War of 1812 gravesite in Detroit:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/war-of...spartanntp

Never forget.

LincolnMan · 06-02-2019, 07:49 AM

(06-02-2019 01:42 AM)Steve Wrote: Here's a recent article about a marker placed over a War of 1812 gravesite in Detroit:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/war-of...spartanntp

Never forget.

Steve : thank you for posting this. I am a member of the General Society of the War of 1812. However, I’m not actively involved anymore. They meet on Saturdays and I work on Saturdays. That being said, I did not know about this finding. I do remember that there were many artifacts dug up. My understanding is that Wayne State University houses the items.