May 21, 1873
SIR:* The President directs me to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on the 30th instant, in order to enable the employees of the Government to participate, in connection with the Grand Army of the Republic, in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
O. E. BABCOCK,
Secretary.
* Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.
Ulysses S. Grant, Executive Order Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/203669