Confederate Soldiers

Cover page for booklet containing Frank M. Thomas’s memorial address to the Albert Sydney Johnston Chapter (Louisville, KY) of the United Daughters of the Confederacy about the Orphan Brigade.

When celebrating the leaders, women did not forget the regular Confederate soldiers. Many southern men died during the war. A low estimation stated that around 200,000 Confederates died from death or disease. These numbers greatly affected the sisters, wives, children, and other family members of the dead. Women around the South created Decoration Day. They dedicated this solemn holiday to the adornment of gravesites of Confederate soldiers. Decoration Day came to be known as Memorial Day. The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) officially marked June 3, Jefferson Davis’ birthday, as the official Memorial Day.

Kentucky Confederate soldier, Sam[uel] T. Leavy’s application for a Confederate Cross of Honor given by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Southern women also celebrated the Confederate veterans still alive. During the war, the Confederate government issued Medals of Honor. With the end of the war, men stopped receiving these awards. In 1900, UCD restarted this tradition by bestowing Confederate Crosses of Honor. A veteran could not buy this medal. Men applied for the Cross through UDC and chapters then presented the medals. These acts of morning and commemoration by women helped to overcome the feelings of loss for Confederate lives and antebellum life.