Decoration Day

Description

“In the early morning the gardens and woods are the meeting places of those who, with tender memories, gather the flowers—there is a fervency and intensity—the march to Wooster Cemetery is a thing a boy never forgets. A little girl on the fencepost waves to her father and wonders if he looked like that at Gettysburg. The roll of muffled drums and Adeste Fideles answer for the dirge. After the last grave is decorated, Taps sounds out through the pines and hickories while a last hymn is sung. Then ‘we all march back to Town’ to Reeves’s inspiring Second Regiment Quickstep—though to many a soldier the somber thoughts of the day underlie the tunes of the band. The shadow of the early morning flower-song rises, and the sunset breathes its benediction upon the Day.” -- Charles E. Ives, 1912