General Order No. 11

You probably know who’s buried in Grant’s tomb, but quick-- who’s the guy on the horse in Grant Park, Chicago? (It’s a trick question and the answer’s not Grant). General John A. Logan is the all-purpose answer to a variety of trivia questions, including:

• Who saved Raleigh, N.C. when angry Union soldiers wanted to destroy the city after hearing that President Lincoln had been assassinated?
• Who ran with James Blaine as the Republican Party’s nominee for Vice President in 1884?
• Who deserves partial credit for the creation of the holiday we now know as Memorial Day?

By 1868 many Americans had already taken up the custom of decorating the graves of those who’d lost their lives fighting in the Civil War. These “Decoration Day” remembrances were often spontaneous, sometimes loosely organized, and many times just private moments spent by grieving widows at the graves of their husbands.

Consequently, the official birthplace of Decoration Day was contested through the years. In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y. to be the officially recognized site-- but don’t tell that to Carbondale, IL. or Columbus, Miss.

The problem with Decoration Day was that nobody put anything down in writing until General Order No. 11 came along.

By 1866 General Logan had returned to his pre-war job as an Illinois congressman. Like many surviving members of the Union’s forces, Logan also joined the Grand Army of the Republic, an association dedicated to the care of widows and orphans, the establishment of soldiers’ homes, the procurement of pensions and the exercise of its growing political clout. Five of its members were elected President of the United States, and for many years endorsement by the G.A.R. was a prerequisite for any Republican running for President.

When the Commander-in Chief of the G.A.R. issued a General Order to the organization’s membership, people sat up and took notice. On May 5, 1868 then Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic performed an unexpected act of thoughtful bureaucracy when he issued the the following:

General Order No. 11
The 30th day 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 church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

Had Logan left out the swipe about “rebellion” in the opening paragraph and restricted his order to the first few lines he might have gone down in history as a great reconciler-- but instead he takes another victorious whack:

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion."

Well, in the eyes of Logan, the Rebels had it coming, I guess. (The G.A.R. was an organization of Yankee veterans, after all). Of course, any order issued by a retired General of the Union Army to his fellow veterans didn’t hold with the folks south of the Mason-Dixon Line, regardless of the lofty concepts that followed:

We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

Two years before Logan’s famous order, a group of women had gathered at a cemetery in Columbus, Miss. to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers. They were disturbed to see the unadorned graves of Union soldiers nearby, and placed flowers on the graves of the Yankees as well. (If Logan had witnessed this touching scene he might have been inclined to back off a bit on the rebellion hyperbole). Still, the man had some measure of foresight and sensitivity:

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.

Somehow, Logan knew that a reminder to honor “the solemn trust” was called for. His prescience was reinforced in December 2000, when Congress passed “The National Moment of Remembrance Act,” which encourages us to keep our hands strong and our hearts warm as we remember all Americans who’ve lost their lives in the defense of liberty. Congress even set aside a convenient time for us to pause in silent reflection: Today at 3:00 p.m.

I recently learned that the dapper gentleman who serves as an usher at our church survived the sinking of his destroyer at Iwo Jima. Bob was just a young Ensign when his ship took three kamikaze hits. That’s the thing about veterans-- they live quietly among us with dreadful memories locked inside which we can't imagine and Hollywood can’t begin to capture-- although the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” always moves me to tears when Ryan drops to his knees and sobs at the grave of Captain Miller.

At 3:00 p.m. today I’ll be thinking of Bob’s shipmates, 34 souls among the many who've given their lives so we all can enjoy the blessings of liberty. As General Orders go, it’s a duty I’m honored to fulfill.

Happy Memorial Day!