A 143-year-old tradition will take place in Memory Hill Cemetery on Saturday morning as local residents and the Central Georgia community gather to remember those who were lost from the Confederate side during the Civil War.

The event is sponsored by the Old Capital Camp No. 688 of Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the Robert E. Lee Chapter No. 115 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Cecil David, whose grandfather on his father’s side served in Company B of the 8th Florida Infantry, stated the event has a long-standing history with Milledgeville in relation to the city’s former status as the capital of Georgia and with Baldwin County in the number of honored soldiers that are buried in Memory Hill.

“We’ve already gone out and put flags on the sites of all of the Confederate soldiers in the cemetery,” David said. “This is to remember our brave soldiers and brothers that fought for the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865. As far as I know, this is a pretty long standing tradition with many veterans and has occurred since 1865 when the conflict ended.”

Saturday marks Milledgeville’s recognition of Confederate Memorial Day, which was initially established more than a century ago by the Georgia General Assembly, according to the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia in Athens.

“In 1874, the Georgia General Assembly approved legislation adding as a new public holiday, the 26th day of April in each year — commonly known as Memorial Day,” the organization’s Web site states. “April 26 marks the anniversary of the end of the Civil War for Georgia, for it was on this day in 1865 that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender to Gen. William Sherman in North Carolina became official. Johnston had been in charge of Georgia’s defense, so this day marked the end of the war for Georgia.”

David said he hoped the community would be present for Saturday’s event, which is scheduled to have re-enactors in period costumes and representatives from both the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy present.

“This is something the public should know about, but when you lose the war you don’t get to write the history,” David stated. “We will have our re-enactors in place and they will perform appropriate military traditions at the site.”

The day’s events will continue with a barbecue lunch at the Old State Capital building after the ceremony behind Jenkins Hall on the Georgia Military College campus.

Tickets are $7 and may be obtained from Cecil David at (478) 452-6633, and some tickets will be available at the lunch, according to David.

“Exactly when Georgians began commemorating April 26 as Memorial Day is unclear, but the language of the 1874 act clearly recognizes that April 26 was already being celebrated as an unofficial holiday. The day of observance may trace to the women of Columbus, Ga., who on April 12, 1866, organized a memorial association and began a campaign to have a special day for ‘paying honor to those who died defending the life, honor and happiness of the Southern women.’ Three days later, the Atlanta Ladies’ Memorial Association was organized, and on April 26, 1866, the association held a Confederate memorial observance at Oakland Cemetery,” the Carl Vinson Institute states.