To all my dear friends and Civil War compatriots who visit Civilwarblogger.com It has been a trying year for me and probably for ya’ll as well. But wait I am not complaining about my situation in life folks.

           “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL”


I am most of all Happy!! No I don’t have a cash reserve nor am I getting a multimillion-dollar BONUS. I am just happy knowing that every day above the ground is a good ONE. Just to view the world that lies just outside of my humble window. It is a serene view, all white and wintry, it is nearly blinding as the sun glistens on the icy surface of the remnants of our recent snowstorm.

{Oh to be a kid again with my lighting glider speeding down the mile long Gladhill’s Hill}

I do believe that Christmas is a time for reflections on Peace !

Lord knows how many warriors of countless wars have had a tear in their eye as their thoughts wander to the traditions of Christmas. Simple things such the carols being sung {Oh Holy Night}{Peace on Earth} the familiar smells of the season such as pines boughs and the fresh tree, a sprig o’ mistletoe for a warm kiss of a loved one, the thrill of Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, here Christmas comes once again but we still are no closer to having either PEACE ON EARTH nor Goodwill toward our fellow man.

I want to give you the reflections of some folks who lived in the time of the American Civil War as their thoughts were written in their journals or letters home for the holiday which they all missed so much!

As the war dragged on, deprivation replaced bounteous repasts and familiar faces were missing from the family dinner table. Soldiers used to "bringing in the tree" and caroling in church were instead scavenging for firewood and singing drinking songs around the campfire. And so the holiday celebration most associated with family and home was a contradiction. It was a joyful, sad, religious, boisterous, and subdued event.

Corporal J. C. Williams, Co. B, 14th Vermont Infantry, December 25, 1862:

"This is Christmas, and my mind wanders back to that home made lonesome by my absence, while far away from the peace and quietude of civil life to undergo the hardships of the camp, and may be the battle field. I think of the many lives that are endangered, and hope that the time will soon come when peace, with its innumerable blessings, shall once more restore our country to happiness and prosperity."

* * * * *

Gilbert J. Barton, Company I of Charlotte, recorded some of the hardships of camp that day:

"Dec 25th Christmas. Had hard Tack soaked in cold water and then fried in pork Greece [sic]. Fried in a canteen, split into[sic] by putting into the fire & melting the sodder[sic] off. We pick them up on the field left by other soldiers, also had coffee & pork. Ordered up at 5 this morning with guns ready, as it is reported that there are 400 Rebel Cavalry not far off prowling around. Foggy morning."

* * * * *

Robert Gould Shaw, then a 2nd lieutenant in the 2d Massachusetts Infantry, writes in 1861, about guard duty near Frederick, MD. He would later earn fame as the commander of the heroic African American unit, the 54th Massachusetts.

"It is Christmas morning and I hope a happy and merry one for you all, though it looks so stormy for our poor country, one can hardly be in merry humor."

* * * * *

On December 24, 1861, Captain Robert Goldthwaite Carter of the 22nd Mass. Vol. Inf. 4th U.S. Cavalry wrote:

 "Christmas Eve, and I am on duty as officer of the day, but I am not on duty to-morrow.  As much as I desire to see you all, I would not leave my company alone...I give my company a Christmas dinner to-morrow, consisting of turkey, oysters, pies, apples, etc.; no liquors."

* * * * *

John H. Brinton, a Major and Surgeon U.S.V. wrote:

"During the days preceding Christmas, I received some boxes from home, full of nice comfortable things, and the letter which came to me at that time, you may be sure, made me feel homesick.  On Christmas night, I left for St. Louis as my teeth were troubling me, and greatly in need of the services of a dentist.  I was fortunate in finding a good one, and in a day or two the necessary repairs were made."

* * * * *

From the diary of Private Robert A. Moore, a Confederate soldier:

Tuesday, Dec 24th, 1861, camp near Swan's...

"This is Christmas Eve but seems but little like it to me"

Wednesday, Dec. 25th, 1861, camp near Swan's...

"This is Christmas & and very dull Christmas it has been to me.  Had an egg-nog to-night but did not enjoy it much as we had no ladies to share it with us."

* * * * *

One of the dreariest accounts of Christmas during the Civil War came from Lt. Col. Frederic Cavada, captured at Gettysburg and writing about Christmas 1863 in Libby Prison in Richmond:

"The north wind comes reeling in fitful gushes through the iron bars, and jingles a sleighbell in the prisoner's ear, and puffs in his pale face with a breath suggestively odorous of eggnog...."

"...Christmas Day! A day which was made for smiles, not sighs - for laughter, not tears - for the hearth, not prison."
           

Please! Folks let us not forget our young men and women who are suffering through yet another Christmas away from the Home Hearth on a battlefield with the visions of sugar plums and the like dancing in their heads.

   Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

 Dick Bloom and BuckHorn Design