Decoration Day

A bit of Memorial Day history as we remember our fallen heroes...
Did you know this national holiday actually began in Columbus, Mississippi? In 1866, a group of Civil War widows came together and decided to decorate not only the graves of their own loved ones, but also of the Union soldiers buried in the local Friendship Cemetary. News of the sweet gesture dubbed Decoration Day spread, spurring other communities to follow suit. Columbus became known as the city "where flowers healed a nation," and eventually became known as Memorial Day. This beautiful poem written by Frances Miles Finch in 1867 commemorates the occasion.

"The Blue and the Gray"

By the flow of the inland river,

Where the fleets of iron have fled,

Where the blades of grave grass quiver,

Asleep are the ranks of the dead;

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day--

Under the one, the blue,

Under the other, the gray.

From the silence of sorrowful hours

The desolate mourners go,

Lovingly laden with flowers

Alike for the friend and the foe;

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day--

Under the roses, the blue

Under the lilies, the gray.

Sadly but not with upbraiding,

The generous deed was done;

In the storm of the years that are fading,

No braver battle was won;

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgement day--

Under the blossoms, the blue,

Under the garlands, the gray.

No more shall the war-cry sever,

Or the winding rivers be red;

They banish our anger forever

When they laurel the graves of our dead;

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgement day--

Love and tears for the blue,

Tears and love for the gray.