The First Memorial Day

You may never have heard about the origin of the very first Memorial Day. It's a pretty moving story. Near the end of the Civil War, Union prisoners were held by the Confederate Army near Charleston, South Carolina. The prisoners were held in an outdoor containment area. Disease and exposure claimed the lives of 257 men. As the Confederate Army was evacuating Charleston, they threw the bodies of the dead men into a mass grave and took off. A group of liberated slaves were so grateful for their freedom, they unearthed the bodies and gave them a proper burial in a cemetery. On May 1st, 1865, a crowd of 10,000 of mostly freed slaves gathered for a parade in their honor. Over 3,000 Black school children marched with bouquets of flowers. Members of the 54th Massachusetts and other Black Union regiments marched as Black Ministers recited Bible verses. that was the very first Memorial Day.