Christmas During the Civil War

Christmas is upon us once again and everyone is busy preparing food for the Holiday feast or doing last-minute shopping at the mall or online. It’s hard to imagine the soldiers during the Civil War, spending Christmas away from their families.

Many holiday traditions we enjoy today became commonplace during the Civil War, including Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift-giving, caroling, and holiday feasting. Christmas was celebrated in both the United and the Confederate States but the day didn’t become an official Federal holiday until five years after the war ended in an attempt by President Ulysses S. Grant to unite the north and south.

One of the most popular Christmas traditions, the Christmas tree, had become popular in the years leading up the war, and in the early 1860s, many families started to decorate them. Many families spent lonely Christmases during the war but most of them still had a Christmas tree, which became the centerpiece for the home. The trees were often small and sat on a table, adorned with homemade decorations such as strings of dried fruit, popcorn, pine cones, colored paper and silver foil. It was only a matter of time before the Christmas tree made its way into military camps, decorated by the soldiers with salt pork and hardtack.

Christmas, however, also made the pain of being separated from loved ones more acute. As the Civil War dragged on, bountiful meals were replaced with deprivations and familiar faces were missing from the family dinner table. Soldiers were scavenging for firewood and singing drinking songs around the campfire instead of caroling in church. Children in the devastated South received fewer presents, many of them homemade such as carved toys, cakes or fruits. Children worried about the Union blockade stopping Santa Claus on his way south and excuses for the lack of Santa included one where the Yankees had shot him.

Christmas carols, hymns and seasonal songs were sung during the period both at home and in the camps. Some of the popular ones such as “Silent Night”, “Deck the Halls”, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” are still sung today.

Given our present day technology, it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for soldiers and their families to be separated during Christmas. So this year, no matter how much eggnog Uncle Ken has had or how ugly the sweater your mother-in-law gifted you is, let’s all take a moment to appreciate our loved ones during the Holidays!