billcoe Posted May 25, 2010 Posted May 25, 2010 The History of Memorial Day "Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns." Quote
Dane Posted May 25, 2010 Posted May 25, 2010 I hear all kinds of irrational conversations bewteen the extreme right and the extreme left these days and talk of civil war. The numbers of lives lost should sober any thoughts of that. CONFLICT SPAN TOTALS War of Independence (1775-1783) 25,000 Quasi-War (1798-1800) 20 Barbary Wars (1801-1815) 35 War of 1812 (1812-1815) 20,000 1st Seminole War (1817-1818) 30 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842) 1,500 Mexican-American War (1846-1848) 13,283 3rd Seminole War (1855-1858) 26 Civil War (1861-1865) 623,026 Indian Wars (1865-1898) 919 Spanish-American War (1898) 2,446 Philippine War (1898-1902) 4,196 Boxer Rebellion (1900-1901) 37 Mexican Revolution (1914-1919) 35 Haiti Occupation (1915-1934) 146 World War 1 (1917-1918) 116,708 World War 2 (1941-1945) 407,316 Korean War (1950-1953) 36,914 Vietnam War (1964-1973) 58,169 El Salvador (1980-1992) 20 Beirut (1982-1984) 266 Persian Gulf Support (1987-1988) 39 Invasion of Grenada (1983) 19 Invasion of Panama (1989) 40 Persian Gulf War (1991) 269 Somalia (1992-1993) 43 Bosnia 1995 12 Afghanistan (2002-2009) 686+ Iraqi (2003-2009) 4,299+ #1 Battle of Gettysburg Date: July 1-3, 1863 Location: Pennsylvania Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: George G. Meade Confederate Forces Engaged: 75,000 Union Forces Engaged: 82,289 Winner: Union Casualties: 51,112 (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #2 Battle of Chickamauga Date: September 19-20, 1863 Location: Georgia Confederate Commander: Braxton Bragg Union Commander: William Rosecrans Confederate Forces Engaged: 66,326 Union Forces Engaged: 58,222 Winner: Confederacy Casualties: 34,624 (16,170 Union and 18,454 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #3 Battle of Chancellorsville Date: May 1-4, 1863 Location: Virginia Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: Joseph Hooker Confederate Forces Engaged: 60,892 Union Forces Engaged: 133,868 Winner: Confederacy Casualties: 30,099 (17,278 Union and 12,821 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #4 Battle of Spotsylvania Date: May 8-19, 1864 Location: Virginia Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant Confederate Forces Engaged: 50,000 Union Forces Engaged: 83,000 Winner: Confederacy Casualties: 27,399 (18,399 Union and 9)000 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #5 Battle of Antietam Date: September 17, 1862 Location: Maryland Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: George B. McClellan Confederate Forces Engaged: 51,844 Union Forces Engaged: 75,316 Winner: Inconclusive (Strategic Union Victory) Casualties: 26,134 (12,410 Union and 13,724 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #6 Battle of The Wilderness Date: May 5-7, 1864 Location: Virginia Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant Confederate Forces Engaged: 61,025 Union Forces Engaged: 101,895 Winner: Inconclusive Casualties: 25,416 (17,666 Union and 7,750 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #7 Battle of Second Manassas Date: August 29-30, 1862 Location: Virginia Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee Union Commander: John Pope Confederate Forces Engaged: 48,527 Union Forces Engaged: 75,696 Winner: Confederacy Casualties: 25,251 (16,054 Union and 9,197 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #8 Battle of Stone's River Date: December 31, 1862 Location: Tennessee Confederate Commander: Braxton Bragg Union Commander: William S. Rosecrans Confederate Forces Engaged: 37,739 Union Forces Engaged: 41,400 Winner: Union Casualties: 24,645 (12,906 Union and 11,739 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #9 Battle of Shiloh Date: April 6-7, 1862 Location: Tennessee Confederate Commander: Albert Sidney Johnston/ P. G. T. Beauregard Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant Confederate Forces Engaged: 40,335 Union Forces Engaged: 62,682 Winner: Union Casualties: 23,741 (13,047 Union and 10,694 Confederate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #10 Battle of Fort Donelson Date: February 13-16, 1862 Location: Tennessee Confederate Commander: John B. Floyd/Simon B. Buckner Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant Confederate Forces Engaged: 21,000 Union Forces Engaged: 27,000 Winner: Union Casualties: 19,455 (2,832 Union and 16,623 Confederate) Quote
j_b Posted May 25, 2010 Posted May 25, 2010 I hear all kinds of irrational conversations bewteen the extreme right and the extreme left these days and talk of civil war. The numbers of lives lost should sober any thoughts of that. Extremists? Do you mean those who claim we are at "war with terror" to justify causing the death of millions of people while controlling the flow of resources and funneling untold billions to the military industrial complex? Those extremists? btw your Afghanistan number is off, not only the US military death toll has passed a 1000 but it doesn't include contractors and mercenaries who outnumber the military in Afghanistan. Quote
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