What was the title of General John A. Logan’s 1868 order establishing a nationwide Decoration Day?

General John A. Logan’s 1868 order establishing a nationwide Decoration Day was titled General Order No. 11.

Logan issued the order as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a large organization of Union veterans. It called on members to decorate the graves of fallen comrades with flowers on May 30, 1868. The date was not tied to a particular Civil War battle, which helped make it suitable for a broad national observance.

The order helped transform local grave-decoration customs into a coordinated annual ceremony. The name Decoration Day remained common for decades before Memorial Day became the dominant term. General Order No. 11 is sometimes confused with later federal laws that standardized the holiday’s Monday observance, but Logan’s order was a veterans’ organization directive, not an act of Congress.