The Memorial Day Tradition in the Beaufort District

Note: Still under revision. 

Latest update: Edited broken links, added new links, revised text, and added some new content on 23 April 2024 -Grace Cordial

Beaufort County residents love to boast that life here is rather unique in many ways. Our local peculiarities are diverse and plentiful: the Spanish New World was administered from Parris Island for a time during the 16th century; we have one of the greatest variations of high and low tide along the Atlantic coast; we established the first school for the newly freed slaves of South Carolina (Penn Normal School on St. Helena Island); and we used local bounty to create the lowcountry's favorite feast, Frogmore Stew. And yet, some things continue to surprise newcomers.

Beaufort District's Memorial Day Traditions

No other South Carolina county experienced the Civil War or its aftermath in quite the same way as it unfolded in Beaufort County. No other South Carolina county contributed such large percentages of its total population to the two warring sides. And therefore, it should come as little surprise that commemoration of those who fought in the Civil War should be different here as well. Beaufort County has the distinction of commemorating two Memorial Days each year: "Confederate Memorial Day" on May 10th; and national "Memorial Day" on the last Monday of May. 

Since Beaufort County raised troops for both the Confederate States and the United States, the dual remembrances commemorated here are rooted in long tradition. The vast majority of the white soldiers served with the Confederacy while many area Black men joined the Union Army's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd South Carolina Volunteer Regiments (AKA 33rd, 34th, and 104th USCT) and the Federal Navy. Some of its most prominent late 19th century, 20th century and 21st century families have ancestors who served in the Union Army, Navy, or who ran businesses that supplied those Federal forces.  

Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, a remembrance of the fallen Union soldiers and sailors of the American Civil War. 

In early May of 1868, General John Logan (USA) in his capacity with the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR, a Union Civil War veterans group) declared the first "Decoration Day" for May 30, 1868. There does not appear to have been any particular significance to Gen. Logan's choice of May 30th for the celebration. Some aver that the date was selected simply because flowers would be readily available throughout the reunited United States to adorn the gravesites of the fallen by that date. On Decoration Day, the GAR encouraged people to honor the Union Civil War dead by "strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion." Locally, May 1868 was especially significant because of the reinterment of Union POWs from the "Racecourse" prison camp near Charleston into the Beaufort National Cemetery and the installation of an obelisk in the Beaufort National Cemetery dedicated to their memory by the widow of a Unionist Charleston merchant, Mrs. Eliza Potter.

In addition to some white Union veterans staying behind post-war, Beaufort County had a high proportion of Black Union veterans. Black folks from Charleston, Savannah, Augusta, and neighboring islands would catch the train, oxcart, wagons, or boats and visit Beaufort for the speeches, music, pageantry and remembrance ceremonies at the Beaufort National Cemetery. We are quite fortunate to have a number of diaries that include entries about Decoration Day in Beaufort through the years. 

        

  

Remembrances of Decoration Day in Beaufort County, SC

ADD IN The 1890, 1895,       ADD in  1957 RSHS Band Culp  

W. J. Thomas, Jr., a local boy who became a journalist for the Herald Tribune in New York City, wrote in 1929 about his hometown celebration:

"Ancestral differences were tossed aside with mutual relief and patriotism, and the local white Republicans led the way as all together they arbitrated and decided to celebrate a modified Memorial Day, not for the victory of the North over the South but in remembrance of the reunion of the sister states and the restoration of national harmony." -- Beaufort Gazette, June 13, 1929; p. 1.

The celebration expanded with the influx of Marines training at Parris Island, many of whom were white Northerners with prior experience celebrating Decoration Day.

Thus, Decoration Day, which originally commemorated the sacrifice of Union troops during the Civil War only, was broadened into a commemoration of the sacrifice of all American soldiers and sailors who fought in the Spanish American War, the two World Wars, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, or the present day military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you're interested in learning more, the BDC suggests the following online sources: 

John A. Logan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Logan

Learn More
Visit the BDC and explore the Vertical Files:
Confederate Memorial Day
Decoration Day
Memorial Day

U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs: Memorial Day Background
How to Observe Memorial Day
Today in History: May 30th

SC Military Museum's Video of the Week: Confederate Memorial Day History