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| Members of the Palmetto Battalion Reenactors uncovered during prayer at Elmwood Cemetery for the annual Confederate Memorial Day services held every May. |
Greetings and salutations, y'all!
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, May 10th is Confederate Memorial Day, a State holiday in both North and South Carolina. This day honors the memories of those men and boys who wore the gray and butternut uniforms of the Confederacy who died in defense of Southern independence and more importantly in defense of their homes from Northern invasion during the War Between The States (1861-1865).
In South Carolina the men, women and children who are members of various Confederate heritage organizations do their parts to honor these men in different ways.
As I have documented here at Southern Fried Common Sense & Stuff over the last three years, every May members of these organizations gather in the state capitol of Columbia to honor this holiday, these men, and the honored Southern heritage that connects us to them through family history and sacred trust.
Confederate Memorial Day is largely observed in Columbia the weekend before May 10th. It begins the first Friday of the month with the reading of the Roll of the Dead on the state capitol steps. This is done by volunteers representing the SC Division United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Children of the Confederacy, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. These volunteers take turns reading the names and unit designations of the 26,600 men and boys who died during the War. This begins around 10 a.m. and continues throughout the day and evening.
This year I was able to travel to Columbia the day before the event to get a few photos of the reading of the names.
On the first Saturday of the month, Confederate descendants gather at historic Elmwood Cemetery for the SC Division UDC memorial service at the gravesides of Confederate soldiers killed buried there. Many of these are wounded soldiers who died in Columbia at one of the various hospitals set up near the later half of the war. A number of these are Unknown Soldiers, who are remembered by the descendants of their fellow soldiers.
The following photos were taken by me at Elmwood Cemetery.
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, May 10th is Confederate Memorial Day, a State holiday in both North and South Carolina. This day honors the memories of those men and boys who wore the gray and butternut uniforms of the Confederacy who died in defense of Southern independence and more importantly in defense of their homes from Northern invasion during the War Between The States (1861-1865).
In South Carolina the men, women and children who are members of various Confederate heritage organizations do their parts to honor these men in different ways.
As I have documented here at Southern Fried Common Sense & Stuff over the last three years, every May members of these organizations gather in the state capitol of Columbia to honor this holiday, these men, and the honored Southern heritage that connects us to them through family history and sacred trust.
Confederate Memorial Day is largely observed in Columbia the weekend before May 10th. It begins the first Friday of the month with the reading of the Roll of the Dead on the state capitol steps. This is done by volunteers representing the SC Division United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Children of the Confederacy, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. These volunteers take turns reading the names and unit designations of the 26,600 men and boys who died during the War. This begins around 10 a.m. and continues throughout the day and evening.
This year I was able to travel to Columbia the day before the event to get a few photos of the reading of the names.
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| Ms. Cindy Lampley and Ms. Pat Blitch, members of the South Carolina Order of the Confederate Rose reading the names from the Roll of the Dead and ringing a bell after each name is read. |
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| Among those reading the Roll Call of the Dead were tourists from Congo who asked if they could read two pages and let their boys ring the bell. They were very interested in our history and strongly believed in preserving it. |
On the first Saturday of the month, Confederate descendants gather at historic Elmwood Cemetery for the SC Division UDC memorial service at the gravesides of Confederate soldiers killed buried there. Many of these are wounded soldiers who died in Columbia at one of the various hospitals set up near the later half of the war. A number of these are Unknown Soldiers, who are remembered by the descendants of their fellow soldiers.
The following photos were taken by me at Elmwood Cemetery.
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| Mr. Jamie Graham, Commander SC Division Sons of Confederate Veterans. |
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| SC United Daughters of the Confederacy President addressing the gathering. |
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| SC Children of the Confederacy President. |
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| Past Division Commander Mr. T. Leland Summers Commander of the Palmetto Battalion Reenactors. |
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| Dr. Walter Curry, member of the Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton Camp #273 SCV, and keynote speaker. |
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| The graves of Union soldiers buried near their former enemies. |
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| Confederate dead at Elmwood Cemetery. |
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| The laying of the wreath of palmetto leaves at the graves of the Confederate dead. |
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| Salute to the honored dead of the South. |
The service ends with the musket and cannon salutes and then a 3 mile march to the statehouse grounds and the SC Division Sons of Confederate Veterans memorial service there, which I will cover next in part two of this post.
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