Middletown transcript., 1899-05-27
VALnR,S LAST SLEEP
GREAT ARMY suRIED IN NATIONAL
CEMETERIES.

Historic Arlington. ON the Bank Of
the Potomac-Orfgin OF the Custom
of strewing Flowers ON the Graves
Of the Blue and Gray.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac Of the dead.
-o'Hara.
To the women of Columbus, Miss,
is attributed the honor of being among
the first to decorate with flowers the
graves Of soldiers and sailors who fell
in the civil war. To their praise be il
said. they scattered their beautiful
offerings with impartial hands alike
over the graves Of those who had fought
for the south and those who had died
for the north. Il was this touching incl
dent that suggested to Francis Miles
Finch the fine poem entitled 1.-THE Blue
and the Gray. the last stanxa Of which
is:
No more shall the warcry sever
Or the winding river be red;
They Danish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves Of our dead.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the Judgment day,
Love and tears for the blue,
Tears and lore for the gray.
The custom gradually spread through
out the south-Apri1 81 being the date
selected for its observance. General
John A. Logan when commander. in
chief of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lie received. it is said, letter from
German residing In Cincinnati In
which the statement was made that it
was springtime custom Of the people
in the German fatherland to decorate
with flowers the graves Of their soldiers.
The writer suggested that the custom
be adopted in the United States The
idea met with the approval Of General
Logan, and In 1858 he appointed May
30 as the date of its observance.
It Is said that the date, May 80, was
selected not only because of the abun-
dance Of flowers at that season of the
year, but also because on that day the
last soldier Of the civil war was mus.
tered out Of service. The custom of
having parades was not introduced un-
til 1882. Each year there are fewer old
soldiers to join In these professions, and
each year there are new graves TO re-
ceive the loving tributes Of flowers and
tears from the living.
There are rs national cemeteries scat
tered throughout some % states Of the
Union, and In them lie the remains Of
$50, 900 soldiers. Virginia has 16, In
which are buried 10, 900 men; Tennessee
comes next with Z. in which are 81, 24S
dead; Mississippi has 8. with %, 497;
Georgia Q, with 90, S6ei Louisiana 4,
with 20.S61; North Carolina 4, with
16, 0S5; Missouri 8, with IA, It
will be seen that these seven states con-
tain within their borders more than
half Of all the national cemeteries and
that in them are buried above two
thirds Of the entire number Of soldiers
who sleep in government grounds In
the cemeteries Of no other single state
are there above 10000 soldiers buried.
The smallest number Of men (4S) are in
the battle-ground cemetery, District Of
Columbia, and the largest number {l6,-
938) are in Arlington cemetery, Virgin
ia. Sixteen thousand six hundred and If
ty-six are buried at Vicksburg, Miss. !;
16, 558 at Nashville. Tenn. and 10. 25S
at fredericksburg, Va.
The cemetery Of Arlington, which is
just across the Potomac river from
Washington, was tablished May Is,
1854. The property belonged to General
Robert e. Lee and before the war was
one of the finest homes in the south.
About 1000 Of the dead buried there
are unknown. Beneath a single stone
less than four yards long and about two
wide ''1ie the remains Of 2.111 soldiers
collected from the battlefield Of Bull
Run and the route Of the Rappahannock
after the war"
Arlington is indeed place for tender
memories. for thanksgivings and for
prayers. but 1t is no place for pride and
vainglory. Standing among those grass
grown graves and looking at that DESC
lated home, one OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
perhaps than ever before-what war
means and what victory costs-early
deaths. ruined homes and crushed
hearts One has only TO stand within
the shade of Arlington to learn that
war means all this and more. and when.
with sympathy born of common sor-
row. we remembered that there were
soldiers of the gray as well as Of the
blue whose graves that day would be
flower strewn and tear moistened. we
felt that NO sermons could plead more
for peace and charity than
did those lowly mounds
These men have left Ms priceless
heritage; LET as see that we are worthy
of it General John B. Gordon puts it
well. %Let US renSmbar that those who
woTe the blue and those who wore the
gray are hrcthera now in the truask
sense and that both viii stand together
in defense of the Union and zee to it |
that law and liberty shall live and
that this republic of ours shall move
onward and upward forever in It's be-
nign mission to humanity, "-Forward |