South Carolina observes Confederate Memorial Day

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina closed state government offices Monday to mark Confederate Memorial Day.

Some local government offices will also close in observation of the holiday, held every year on May 10.

South Carolina is among a handful of states in the South with such an official holiday. State offices in Alabama and Mississippi closed down for their Confederate Memorial Days late last month.

South Carolina chose May 10 because it is the day when Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson died in 1863 after he was wounded by his own troops and the day Union soldiers captured fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia in 1865.