DECEMBER 25, 1861:
Tally Simpson writes a Christmas letter:
"December 25th
My dear sister,
This is Christmas
Day. The sun shines feeble through a
thin cloud, the air is mild and pleasant, a gentle breeze is making music
through the leaves of the lofty pines that stand near our bivouac. All is quiet and still and that very
stillness recalls some sad and painful thoughts. The day, one year ago, how many thousand
families, gay and joyous, celebrating Merry Christmas, drinking health to
absent members of their family and sending upon the wings of love and affection
long, deep, and sincere wishes for their safe return to the loving ones at
home, but today are clad in the deepest mourning in memory to some lost and
loved member of their circle...
When will this war
end? Will another Christmas roll around
and find us all wintering in camp? Oh!
That peace may soon be restored to our young but dearly beloved country and that
we may all meet again in happiness."
Christmas is difficult
for most soldiers, but this first Christmas of the war seemed to be
particularly harsh. For many young soldiers this is their first Christmas away
from home. Most of the men, at first expecting a “Ninety Day War,” find
themselves perhaps a thousand miles from home in a dreary winter encampment
missing their loved ones, with little clue as to how long the war will last or
where they may end up---if they even live. By the eighth month of the war it is
becoming clear that this contest will be a bloodbath, that men will die in vast
numbers, and that the average soldier has little control over his fate. Some commanders, like Captain Carter, tried
to provide the men with a little holiday cheer. Most got hardtack and coffee
for Christmas Dinner.
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