Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-06-03
Tho Origin Of c:ration Day.
HOW THE NEW HOLIDAY WAS INAUGURATED
IN THE CRADLE or REBELLION.

IN THE CRADLE or REBELLION.
james Redpath thus relates how the
| idea of Decoration Day originated:
- 'Let me tell how it came about
that We inaugurated the new holiday i'll
the cradle of rebellion.
"Col. Woodiorl Cate Lieutenant Gov
ernor of New York; appointed me (as
volunteer aid on his staff to the position
OF Superintendent of Schools. l had
control of all the schools, common and
adult; and this led to the establishment
of library, readin" raOm, home-guard,
orphan asylum for colored children,
national cemetery and Decoration Day.
One Sunday party of lis went out to
the race course to see tho grounds where
our brave soldiers, as prisoners of war,
were starved, blistered and benten-e1-
posed, without shelter, to the sultry heats
of day and the deadly dcws of night, by
that brutal and merciless rabble whose
graves-or the graves of whose comrades
-forsooth We are now taught to regard
with as much favor rs the holy mounds
of our own martyrs. 1t was sight that
fired the blood and choked the speech of
the most phlegmatic of US. There were
their beds still undisturbed-the naked
sod, each bed with little ditch around it
to drain off the rain.
"a South Carolinian joined us and
went over with us to the place where tho
dead WAS buried. 1t was an open space,
near patch Of woods at a short distance
from the race course. Long red trenches
told how they had been buried. But the
Carolinian volunteered an additional YER
bal explanation. If nof our soldiers
were found dead in the morning, for ex-
ample, they caused squad of their COM
rndes to dig trench-a shallow pit sell
dom more than three feet deep-and then
the rebel guard would HroW the corpses
Of our heroes in, place them side by side.
without coffins, and often stripping them
stark naked first Then they were COW
cred up, and little rows were made on the
top of the long mound 10 show how many
corpses lay in the grave beneath. At the
head OF encl row Il piece of board was
planted with number on it-"No l,
''No. q" and so on up to "No. 251."
Nothing more on any Of them! One day
twenty-one died, and were covered up in
one trench.
I'VE felt very sad, and the croaking of
the Carolinian, who excused the bar barity
when he could not deny it, did not tend
to make us less gloomy. Thore were
marks of the hoofs of cattle on the grave,
and finally he put his foot on one of them.
l think he had righteous oath launched
at him, which seemed to tell him, for the
first time, that ut least there was II North.
1--WE all sat down before we left tho
ground, formed ourselves into Il society,
and determined to have tho sacred soil
fenced i'll, and, if possible, to raise money
for monument. General Hatch gave
mo permission to tear down the large
building that the rebels had erected for
the purpose of making saltpetre. The
next Sunday / went to lions Church, and
asked for dozen colorcl carpenters and
labOrers to volunteer to erect the fence,
and for dozen colorcl women TO prepare
u large deserted rebel house for mn or
phan asylum. and thpromptly respond
cd to tho call.
"These men organized II society, and
| fenced in IL large space around the graves
about MI acre, if | remember rightly
and over the gateway We placed an arch,
with the words painted ON it Martyrs
Of the Race Course.
Il asked the people to dedicate one day
every year to the decoration OF these
graves, and fixed the first day of May rs
the date of the celebration.
"On that day, no colurcl man in the
city worked; the whole loyal population
| turned out to do honor IT, our martyrs.
There were 5000 children, and 6OO0 to
5000 people in the procession. Almost
without exception, every one Of them
brought bouquet tu lay ON the graves.
\ Every colOred clergyman took part i'll tho
solemn dedication services The children
marched round the graves first, and soon
covered them with flowers not tiSurutive-
| ly, but literolly cortrod them. After the
| adults had followed them, not the graves
| only, but the spaces between the mounds,
were hidden under these floral Tributes
| Some of the graves were covered from
foot to three feet deep. 1t WAS the most
touching, solemn and beautiful ceremony
that ever saw. And there were few dry
| eyes in all that vast multitude of mourn
ers
"Gen. Hartwcll, at my request. brought
out his brigade of white and colored sol
diers, and they marched round the graves
with arms reversed All the afternoon
WAS devoted to patriotic speeches and the
singing Of patriotic songs at the race
course. Now, here. ,rtJy future of Dec
Grafton Day was inaugurated.
"lt may have been that spontaneous
gatherings of rebel women or loyal mon
had before this time decorated the graves
Of tho soldiers in the South. know l
never heard of it, and certainly no such
holiday, with Nil the features of the
Charleston Decoration Day, Ind or has
ever been recorded in any of tie authoriz-
ed or popular annals of the war.
"No American, or society of Ameri-
cans, can claim the origin of the custom
Of decorating graves 1t has existed from
time immemorial. No American, or go
ciety of Americans, can clam the origin
of the custom Of thanking God for ma
tional blessing. But, what makes Md,iks-
| airing an American institution IL the
special mcdo We hnvo adopted of celebrn-
ting it, for here only IN Chrstcn1om it IL
an annual holiday of regular occurrence,
and uniformly observed i'll the same way
So. also. what makes Decoration Day
national institution is that special com
memoration of civil, military, religious
and political ObsSrvanccs that the union
Of men. women and children i'll procession,
and of soldiers in uniform. and hy regi-
mental organization which, for the first
time. M far M the evidence now stands,
was inaugurnted Mt Charleston, South
Carolina, OH the LIST of May, 1865. That
good custom came out of our Nazareth.