Skip to comments.
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers "Ought it not be a Merry Christmas?" - Dec. 25th, 2005
City of Alexandria / Fort Ward Museum ^
Posted on 12/24/2005 9:08:05 PM PST by SAMWolf
Lord,
Keep our Troops forever in Your care
Give them victory over the enemy...
Grant them a safe and swift return...
Bless those who mourn the lost. .
FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.
.................................................................. .................... ........................................... |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues
Where Duty, Honor and Country are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
|
Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
To read previous Foxhole threads or to add the Foxhole to your sidebar, click on the books below.
|
|
|
|
|
"Ought it not be a Merry Christmas? " Holiday observances during the American Civil War
Click the flag
Lonely camp scene from an 1862 Harper's Weekly entitled "Christmas Eve".
Even with all the sorrow that hangs, and will forever hang, over so many households; even while war still rages; even while there are serious questions yet to be settled - ought it not to be, and is it not, a merry Christmas?" Harper's Weekly, December 26, 1863
Introduction
Harper's Weekly depicts a family separated by war in its January 3,1863 edition.
For a nation torn by civil war, Christmas in the 1860s was observed with conflicting emotions. Nineteenth-century Americans embraced Christmas with all the Victorian trappings that had moved the holiday from the private and religious realm to a public celebration. Christmas cards were in vogue, carol singing was common in public venues, and greenery festooned communities north and south. Christmas trees stood in places of honor in many homes, and a mirthful poem about the jolly old elf who delivered toys to well-behaved children captivated Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.
But Christmas also made the heartache for lost loved ones more acute. As the Civil 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.
Before the war
"The Christmas Tree" by F. A. Chapman.
Many of the holiday customs we associate with Christmas today were familiar to 1840s celebrants. Christmas cards were popularized that decade and Christmas trees were a stylish addition to the parlor. By the 1850s, Americans were singing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Away in a Manger" in public settings. In 1850 and 1860, Godey's Lady's Book featured Queen Victoria's tabletop Christmas tree, placed there by her German husband Prince Albert. Closer to home, in December, 1853, Robert E. Lee's daughter recorded in her diary that her father - then superintendent at West Point - possessed an evergreen tree decorated with dried and sugared fruit, popcorn, ribbon, spun glass ornaments, and silver foil.
Clement Clarke Moore, a religious scholar who for decades was too embarrassed to claim authorship of the 1822 poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," was now well-known for his tribute to Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" made his first public appearance in a Philadelphia department store in 1849, marking the advent of holiday commercialism.
For enslaved African Americans, the Christmas season often meant a mighty bustle of cooking, housekeeping, and other chores. "Reward" for these efforts was a suspension of duties for a day or two and the opportunity for singing, dancing, and possible brief reunions with separated family members. Further gestures of "goodwill" by masters who saw themselves as benevolent owners were small and the semi-annual clothing allotment.
By 1860, many worried about civil unrest, fearful this Christmas would be the last before the outbreak of war. An Arkansas diarist writes:
"Christmas has come around in the circle of time, but is not a day of rejoicing. Some of the usual ceremonies are going on, but there is gloom on the thoughts and countenances of all the better portion of our people."
|
TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: civilwar; freeperfoxhole; merrychristmas; veterans; warbetweenstates
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 541-554 next last
To: Fiddlstix
Good to see you Fiddlstix. Merry Christmas.
41
posted on
12/25/2005 10:34:01 AM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: AZamericonnie
Beautiful graphic AZ, Merry Christmas.
42
posted on
12/25/2005 10:34:49 AM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: snippy_about_it; bentfeather; Samwise; msdrby; Peanut Gallery; Wneighbor; radu; Kathy in Alaska; ...
Good morning ladies and gents. Flag-o-Gram.
All I want for Christmas is my Flag ping list. Really, I don't have it with me, so if I missed you, my apologies.
43
posted on
12/25/2005 10:38:15 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: SAMWolf
44
posted on
12/25/2005 10:40:06 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: snippy_about_it
45
posted on
12/25/2005 10:40:26 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: alfa6
Handsome crew of pidgeon pad testers there.
46
posted on
12/25/2005 10:41:31 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: Professional Engineer
Really, I don't have it with me...Tsk, tsk. Don't remember your boy scout motto?
47
posted on
12/25/2005 10:41:40 AM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: bentfeather
Hi miss Feather.
Bittygirl is on sensory (and chocolate) overload already. We haven't even opened most of the presents yet.
She received a baby doll stroller (to go with the unopened doll) and is having a blast giving here stuffed kitty rides everywhere.
48
posted on
12/25/2005 10:44:05 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf
I never made it past Wolf.
49
posted on
12/25/2005 10:44:57 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: SAMWolf; snippy_about_it; All
A Blessed Merry Christmas
To all my Free Republic friends
December 25, 2005
First Breath
All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:16
|
Russell Nagy's moving choral anthem "The Promise" contains these words:
Silently by night,
in mortal flesh enshrouded,
He who framed the mountains
draws first breath.
Far from human sight,
the Promise ne'er forgotten
Is in love begotten
to conquer death.
© 1993 by High Street Music
The marvel of Christmas is that the Maker of the mountains took His first breath as a baby. The One who framed the universe assumed human flesh so He could save us. The incarnation is the astounding combination of who descended from heaven to earth, how He arrived, and why He came. "For by Him all things were created . . . . And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. . . . For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, . . . having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:16-20).
When Jesus took His first breath on earth, a loving promise of God the Father was fulfilled. The Christ-child whom the angels announced and the shepherds proclaimed had come to die.
The baby in the manger was "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (v.15), "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (v.14).
O come, let us adore Him! David McCasland
The tiny Baby in the manger is the mighty Creator of the universe.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Who Is This Man Who Says He's God?
50
posted on
12/25/2005 10:46:02 AM PST
by
The Mayor
( As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home everyday.)
To: Professional Engineer; DollyCali
51
posted on
12/25/2005 10:48:45 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: Professional Engineer
Merry Chtirstmas to you FRiend!
52
posted on
12/25/2005 11:21:53 AM PST
by
DollyCali
(Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your God is!)
To: All; snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Iris7; Valin; PAR35; alfa6; U S Army EOD; Professional Engineer; ...
From my family to yours . . .
From my pets to your pets . . .
May we all have a blessed Christmas and see our beloved troops return home safely.
53
posted on
12/25/2005 12:21:19 PM PST
by
w_over_w
(Those who don't learn from history are condemned to learn it from Oliver Stone Movies.)
To: w_over_w
Merry Christmas, handsome and pretty family. Pretty cats too but I notice there are no dogs. :-(
54
posted on
12/25/2005 2:12:07 PM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: The Mayor
55
posted on
12/25/2005 2:12:56 PM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: Professional Engineer
She received a baby doll stroller... We expect pictures later!
56
posted on
12/25/2005 2:13:36 PM PST
by
snippy_about_it
(Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
To: snippy_about_it
57
posted on
12/25/2005 2:35:24 PM PST
by
The Mayor
( As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home everyday.)
To: All
To: snippy_about_it; Peanut Gallery; bentfeather; Samwise; SAMWolf; alfa6; Valin; Iris7; PhilDragoo; ...
We expect pictures later! Ask, and ye shall receive.
Spiderboy helps install a new disposal for Grandma.
Spiderboy watches the lamp after eating the brownies.
Congratulations, it's twins!
Spiderboy shows off his Ultimate Light Saber. He can make a bunch of different sabers, inlcuding Darth Maul's double saber.
The old man received a lawn in a box. Really. I got about 5 pounds of Buffalo Grass seed. Maybe I can get rid of the @$#%@$#^^&%&$# Bermuda we have now.
Explanation required?
59
posted on
12/25/2005 6:29:06 PM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(FRiends don't let FRiends drink Darksheare's coffee.)
To: Professional Engineer
Priceless, all of them. Thank You.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 541-554 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson