Reconstruction (1866-1877)

Civil War Commander in Chief John A. Logan declared the first official Memorial Day in 1868

The First Official Memorial Day
May 30, 1868
Do you celebrate Memorial Day? In 1868, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic issued what was called General Order Number 11, designating May 30 as a memorial day. He declared it to be “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.”

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived”