Honoring a heritage: Confederate Memorial Day service lauds soldiers killed in battle
By Ryan Quinn
rquinn@postandcourier.com
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Three cannons fired Tuesday to salute the Confederate fallen.
Hundreds of small Confederate battle flags lined the graves of the dead Southern soldiers surrounding the monument to Wade Hampton, the Confederate cavalry leader who later served as governor.
Four large flags, each a different historical iteration of the Confederacy’s banner, also flanked the monument.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy Charleston Chapter No. 4 held a Confederate Memorial Day ceremony at Magnolia Cemetery.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans presented the colors, and attendees pledged to the U.S. flag and saluted the S.C. state and Confederate flags.
"The Senate today is closed, we are right in the middle of the budget debate but we are closed for Confederate Memorial Day," Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said.
"These South Carolinians, who answered the call of their elected government and made the supreme sacrifice, took consolation in the belief that here at home they would not be forgotten. Thank you all for not forgetting them," he said.
After the ceremony at the Hampton monument, members of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians led a walk to Irish Volunteers Monument, which honors Irish-Americans who fought in several wars, including the Civil War. There, two Hibernian members laid a wreath and a bagpiper performed "Dixie."
Also attending were a youth group called the Children of the Confederacy and the Washington Light Infantry.
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