May is a month of many events - Mothers' Day, graduations, weddings, and Memorial Day. There is some dispute as to where and when the first Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it is sometimes called, was commemorated. What we do know is that in Fredericksburg, the day remembering the Confederate fallen is one of the oldest. The plaque on the Confederate Cemetery gate on Washington Avenue opposite Amelia Street reads:  

"The Ladies Memorial Association of Fredericksburg, organized May 10, 1866, cares for the graves and honors those Confederate soldiers who died in this area's four battles. The Cemetery was dedicated May 1870, to 3,553 men from 14 states re-interred here. (1985)"

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Union soldiers' remains were gathered and buried in National cemeteries by the Federal government, but no such effort was made for the Confederates. The National Cemetery on Lafayette Boulevard contains the remains of over 15,000 Union dead.

Preparations for a Confederate cemetery were begun in June 1865, just two months after the end of the Civil War, by the Fredericksburg Ladies' Memorial Association (LMA). Confederate dead were honored in the City Cemetery on May 10, 1866, three years to the day of the death of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.  

The LMA's mission was to preserve the record and mark the places where every Confederate was buried. On May 10, 1866 the women officially formed the LMA, the first chartered in the South. They started the tradition of offering flowers to the memories of dead. The LMA raised money, sold "bonds", and paid men to locate and move remains to property they acquired next to the City Cemetery. The William H. Chewning Collection contains Receipt Number 122 given to George H. Chewning, MD, DDS, Brevet Captain, CSA, for ten dollars in April 1867.  

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Robert Hodge, a retired teacher and historian, compiled a summary of the Confederate Memorial day observances in Fredericksburg between 1866 and 1985. Mr. Hodge used the newspapers of the day. "The collection is offered as a tribute to the dedication to purpose of the succession of members of the Ladies' Memorial Association and with the sincerest hope that it be perpetuated with vigor in spite of the evidence of apathy exhibited by the changing times." Robert A. Hodge, 1987.

At the Confederate Cemetery, each grave is marked with the soldier's name, rank, military unit and state. The original markers were wooden. Later, they were replaced with stone markers. Unidentified remains were placed in the middle of the cemetery under a large monument. In 1884, a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier was mounted on the top. On Memorial Day weekend, the soldier holds a Confederate flag and each Confederate grave is marked with a flag and a candle.

Over the years, the Memorial Day celebration became more elaborate, while fewer surviving veterans attended the event. By 1935 not a single Civil War veteran was present. In addition to a color guard, military musicians and honor guard on Memorial Day, there are also speakers. Past speakers have included Confederate veterans, ministers, historians and local dignitaries. For over 100 years, children wearing white have scattered petals around the base of the Confederate statue at the end of the ceremony.

Today the Fredericksburg Ladies Memorial Association continues to maintain the Confederate Cemetery. Together with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, they make sure each veteran's grave is decorated with a flag and candle. Saturday evening before Memorial Day, there is a poignant service presented by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  

The Confederate Cemetery, like many organizations, relies on the generosity of the citizens. In 1953, the Cemetery's Perpetual Care fund had fallen on hard times. Ellen Knox, member of the LMA issued the following plea:

Please give the following lines your best attention:

When you decide to leave this earth

Whether for lower or upper berth

When your friends all sad and teary

Have left you to our Mr. Perry

You your lovely shroud will wear

So please be our Perpetual Care.

When you become the Lord's anointed

Here we'll keep you well appointed

Should you go right to the devil

Here we'll keep you green and level.

No matter where your future lair

Please be our Perpetual Care.

And when your life becomes less active

We will keep you still attractive

If you become bone or ash

Please remember we need cash

To keep you green - to keep you fair

To keep you our Perpetual Care.

Yours -

With a grave responsibility -

(Miss) Ellen Knox

Price list enclosed

The Heritage Center also relies on the generosity of the community. With that in mind, please remember us on May 5, "The Community Give."