Confederate Memorial Day

Confederate Memorial Day, also known as Confederate Decoration Day (in Tennessee) and Confederate Heroes Day (in Texas) is a holiday in parts of the United States - perhaps, unsurprisingly, in predominantly the Southern States of the US but, unlike other holidays, it is less of a compulsory holiday than, say, President's Day or Labour Day. It is recognised as a day to honour those who died defending the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The founder of the Federal Memorial Day was a General John A. Logan - the Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic who, it is said, was so impressed with the way the South honored their dead with a special day, he became convinced that such a day must be created to honor Union dead (this later became the national Memorial Day).

Perhaps unusually is that the states that honour this holiday in the Southern USA do not conform to a set date and there are, in fact, two or three dates over the year that are considered Confederate Memorial Day depending on the state you are in. For example, Florida and Georgia celebrate this on April 26th - to honour the date when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union General William Sherman in 1865. By contrast, both North and South Carolina celebrate today, May 10th, as this was the day that the Confederate president Jefferson Davis was captured in 1865. Thus, this post should strictly be titled, I guess, NC and SC Confederate Memorial Day - but it's a bit less of a snappy title. Nevertheless, I find it interesting that both a holiday (and the confederate flag that is often seen waving all over Charleston and, indeed, the State) are still about - given that it is really the 'losing' flag and the 'losing' team.