history’s stories: memorial day History in our backyard: A soldier writes home

history’s stories Memorial Day

By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks

Most of us can remember growing up in the Fredericksburg area when Memorial Day was a very special day. Many of the business owners decorated their businesses with flags and colors of red, white, and blue. We attended local parades with the local National Guard and Marines from Quantico marching and having their equipment on display. It was an exciting event for all of us young children. I always remember my Mon and Dad with their hand placed over their heart as the soldiers passed with the American flag. Over the years much of that has faded, hopefully the recent war in Ukraine will restore some of those patriotic feelings and traditions. The local celebrations will be at the National Cemetery located at the National Military Park visitor center on Lafayette Blvd. and the Confederate Cemetery located on Washington Avenue.

Memorial Day came out of the War Between the States when General John Logan of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) declared it Decoration Day. General Logan who was National Commander of the Union veterans group wanted to decorate the graves of his fellow soldiers who died in the Civil War. The first event was on May 30, 1868, when over five thousand people decorated over 20,000 graves of Union and all Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery, with General James Garfield as the main speaker.

In 1873 New York became the first state to recognize Decoration Day, all northern state recognized the holiday by 1890. The Southern states did not recognize the day and used separate days to honor their soldiers that had died. It was not until after the "War to end all Wars," World War I that the name was changed to Memorial Day to honor all who had died in all United States wars. The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) in 1922 became the first organization to sell the poppies made by the disabled veterans. This idea was started by lady that made the poppies to recognize WWI veterans, she was inspired by the poem "IN FLANDERS FIELDS". Moina Michael was honored by the United States Postal Service in 1948 when a red three cent postage stamp with her image was issued. Moina Michael's words live on as she replied, "We cherish too, the Poppy red that grows on fields where valor led. It seems to signal to the skies that blood of heroes never dies”.

In 2000 the government established the National Moment of Remembrance. It request that all Americans at 3PM local time observe a moment of remembrance on Memorial Day.

Many of us will be having family events with cook outs and playing games or just a leisure day at the beach or on the river swimming and boating. Let us all have a moment of respect for all our veterans deceased and living that "OLD GLORY" is waving above and we are thankful for our freedom.

Dedicated To: Lindy Fritter, Jo Middleton, Winny Updike, Tina Sheffield, & Ray Elliott

Tuffy is Front Porch’s Resident Historian

a soldier writes home

Volumes have been written about the American Civil War from the end of that conflict to the present. These authors detail campaigns, battles, victories and defeats, many with extreme detail. But few express the personal touch as letters do.

Upon the advent of the War, the citizens in and around the town of Lexington, formed an artillery unit and volunteered its services to the Confederacy. It became the First and Second Rockbridge Artillery. These batteries saw action in most major campaigns of the Eastern Theater.

Joseph Fauber Shaner grew up on a farm in the adjacent Rockbridge County, Virginia. The county was so named after the Natural Bridge located there. He joined the First Rockbridge as a private.

Shaner wrote letters home to his family. These letters contain a wealth of information about camp life, engagements, uniforms, clothing, religion and foraging. He spelled phonetically with little or no punctuation, but was very descriptive in his writing.

Comparatively speaking, the majority of a soldier's time was spent marching and in camp as opposed to actual time in battle. Other than uniforms, blankets and tentage, Army supply rarely addressed basics for personal comfort, especially at night or during inclement weather. This was left up to the soldiers' improvisation. But for letters home, we'd likely not know how they actually coped during these hardships.

Shaner's first letter is from the camp near Fairfax dated September 25, 1861, and started out as many of them do. "Dear Sister: It is with grate pleasure that I take this opportunity to inform you that I am well at the present and hoping when these fewlines come to hand they may find you all enjoying the same blessing" and continues . . . it was so cold last night that we had to build fiers at our tents to keep warm . . . we all have our beds made up off the ground. We make them . . . out of barrel staves and nail them across two poles and drive four forks in the ground and put the poals on them"

During the winter months, each side suspended their campaigns and the armies settled into winter quarters. What were these winter quarters like?

His letter in camp near Fredericks Hall January 5th 1864 reads: "Dear

By paul t. scott

sisters: we are now encamped right on the Virginia Central Rail Road in Louisa Countty. We . . . spent our Christmas working on our cabins for winter quarters . . . built our cabbin out of pine logs there was but 7 of us to work at it . . . our cabbin is about 12 feet long and 10 wide we built it up as high as my head with pine logs and then stretched our tent over it and built a wooden chimney to it which we linded with bricks 4 or 5 feet high which makes a good chimney so we have a right good house.”

The war would drag on for another year and three months. Shaner's letters continue showing the close face of the war and its effect on him and others in his unit.

Paul Scott is a member of the Board of Directors of Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Inc. The mission of CVBT is to preserve land associated with the four major campaigns of the Civil War: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania. (540) 374-0900, www.cvbt.org.