Confederate Memorial Day in North and South Carolina (State holiday)

In North and South Carolina, May 10 marks the anniversaries of the death of Thomas Jonathan ’Stonewall’ Jackson (a general in the Confederate army) in 1863 and the capture of Jefferson Davis in 1865. In Pennsylvania, the organization known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans commemorates those who died while fighting for the Confederates.

By 1890 all northern states officially recognized Memorial Day. However, it wasn’t until after World War I that the southern states, who previously observed a similar holiday on a different date, began to celebrate Memorial Day as well. At this point the holiday expanded to include all those who died in any combat as well as the Civil War. May 10 is still celebrated in South Carolina as a separate Confederate Memorial Day.

Since 1868, North Carolinians have been building monuments commemorating the people and events of the Civil War. The first Civil War monument erected in North Carolina is in the Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Led by Ann Kyle and Maria Spear, a group of local women raised funds and dedicated the monument on December 30, 1868. The desire to memorialize the Civil War continues to the present day, with a statue of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston dedicated on private land near the Bentonville, N.C. Battlefield on March 20, 2010.