Returning Veterans and Remembrance

Returning Veterans and Remembrance. . , Soon after the Civil War was over, communities wanted to remember the men who left their small towns to go off to serve their country. On September 17, 1867, on the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, the Antietam National Cemetery was dedicated. The following year, Decoration Day was established as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Ever since 1867, this tradition has continued as veterans returned to Sharpsburg to march up Main Street to the National Cemetery. Sharpsburg hosts the longest continuously-held Memorial Day Parade in the United States!, A Handsome Testimonial to Sharpsburg Herald and Torch Light September 23, 1886, p. 3 , The Ninth New York State Militia, being "the first military body to enter the town after the beginning of hospitalities between the North and South," reunited in Sharpsburg in September 1886, gathering in the parlor of the Shay House, and issued a resolution: "Whereas, The Ninth Regiment, N.Y.S.M., in the performance of duty in the service of the United States, arrived on July 6th, 1861, in Sharpsburg, and were most loyally and hospitably entertained by the inhabitants. Resolved, That the Veterans of the Ninth tender an expression of their esteem and appreciation for the very patriotic and handsome reception which the Regiment were the recipients of on that occasion, as also for the many kind deeds shown its members while encamped in that vicinity from September 19th to October 26th, 1862. Resolved, That a copy of these Resolutions be presented to the town of Sharpsburg as a token of remembrance of the noble acts of its Citizens in the years 1861 and 1862." Presented by Commander William Scott, 9th NY.S.G., (captions) , Grand Army of the Republic Reno Post #4 Hagerstown marching through the Sharpsburg square on May 28, 1898. , br> The veterans of the 16th Connecticut Vol. Inf. memorialized their comrades and honored the good Samaritans of Sharpsburg by donating two large stained-glass windows to the German Reformed Church in 1891., The Philadelphia Brigade Monument being transported to the Antietam National Battlefield in the town square. - WRM, In 1883, the Shenandoah Valley Railway reached Sharpsburg, where the small frame Sharpsburg Station welcomed visitors to town. Every Memorial Day, thousands of veterans and families passed through the station to attend parades and reunions. Soon, slate curbing and wide walkways flanked the road from the station to the cemetery. Norway maples, some of which still survive, were planted beside the road to shade veterans and their families. , CWT, William Scott, 9th NY.S.G.