From the May 27, 2013, ABC News WMAR.
On May 27th, there was a historic 1880 observance at the original Memorial Day at Baltimore's famous War of 1812 Fort McHenry, featuring a speech by Oliver Wendell Holmes which was given that day.
Decoration Day was officially proclaimed May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commandant of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War Union veteran organization. It was to be observed May 30th of that year.
Late May was chosen because the Civil War ended that month (it hadn't ended with Lee's surrender April 9th) and flowers were plentiful at the time to decorate the graves. In 1868, some 200 northern towns celebrated the day with parades to local cemeteries and putting flowers on the graves. That number rose to 350 towns the next year and by the 1880s was celebrated in most northern cities.
In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day as communities went beyond laying flowers on the graves.
A Well-Deserved Observance. --Brock-Perry
2012 marks the 200th anniversary of America's "Forgotten War," the War of 1812 that took place over three years, 1812 to 1815.
Battle of New Orleans.
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