I served under General Logan during the Civil War and found him a decent enough General and a personable enough man. He was a politician before during and after the war, despite this he seemed a decent man. After the War, in 68, as the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic he declared the May the 30th to be set aside for the remembrance of the fallen.
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated 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.” He chose the date because it failed to fall on the day of any particular battle. It was intended as a day to remember those who fell in the late War of Rebellion. It is a day I have set aside to do just that. Names that mean much to me and nothing to the dear reader of this journal are toasted. I encourage any in my bar to raise a glass in memory of the fallen, any who fail to do so can leave.
The roster of the fallen in my company is too long and far longer in the Regiment and army as a whole. Too many of those men are forgotten or ignored. Most of those who fell are buried in the southland; some who bore their wounds home only to die later are lucky enough to be buried in the friendly soil of their home. But even those men begin to be forgotten a family moves away or passes themselves. I would like to think that by making “Decoration Day” an annual event General Logan set the stage so that those men will never be forgotten. The reality though, I think, is that those men will be forgotten by all except those who served with them or loved them. I am a cynical man and have come to see most men as little more than bastards who care for little more than themselves.
As cynical as I am I am quite happy to see Decoration Day honored each year. Even though the names and memories of all those men who fell grows dim in history there are those who still honor their sacrifice. This is important to me as the common man is rarely honored in the histories, it is the generals and useless politicians who are honored instead of the men who put them in position for history to notice them.
I am glad for Generals like Grant and Sherman; men who understand that it was the privates, NCOs and company grade officers who made them successful. Far too few officers appreciate or understand that. It is a trend as old as time itself.
For myself I spend a large part of the morning each Decoration Day in quiet contemplation remembering those men who fell while I was their sergeant. I knew some of those men very well. My comrades who fell beside me while I served with the Legion are remembered as well. There is a pond not far from my home where I tend to sit and contemplate. I will usually take a bottle of my finest and raise a toast to the men of the Legion and to the 4th. Then a I will smoke a bowl or two of my pipe and spend a bit of time thinking of each. I will not forget those men, at the very least they will have one man who will remember them so long that he lives. I can hope others will take up that proud burden in future generations. Though I fear the meaning and understanding of the importance of their memories will be forgotten in the future.