Memorial Day (It is observed on the last Monday of May) was established in 1868 at the end of the Civil War. It recognized the lives lost in that conflict (800,000), which is more than the combined total of American lives lost in World Wars I and II. Polish Americans fought for both Union and Confederacy, and it is noteworthy that the first soldiers killed in the Civil War were both Polish: Captain Constantin Blandowski for the Union and Thaddeus Strawinski for the Confederacy. Vladimir Krzyzanowski commanded a US regiment known as the Polish Legion.