Santa’s November Dress-Rehearsal for Christmas
While you might be familiar with the famous image of Santa Claus on the cover of the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper’s Weekly, you might not be familiar with the image of Santa that appears inside that same issue. On page 13, a story titled “Santa Claus’s Ball; Or, A Plea for the Children” […]
Read more...Civil War Cooking: “War Picnic” at Second Manassas with Jackson’s Corps
When “Stonewall” Jackson’s men captured supplies at Manassas at the end of August 1862, it was feasting time. In addition to storehouses, 100 train cars waited on the tracks, filled with supplies. Jackson ordered bread to baked and directed the whiskey dumped on the ground. He seized 50,000 pounds of hardtack, 1,000 barrels of beef, […]
Read more...Civil War Cooking: Thanksgiving Dinner at the Wolfe Street Hospital
The larger hospitals in cities usually tried to have special foods for holiday meals, and through the letters of Private Will Lamson from the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, there’s a glimpse of the Thanksgiving dinner from 1862. Young Lamson had been hospitalized since early November since he had dysentery until “I got poor and weak […]
Read more...The Things ECW is Thankful For
“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies,” wrote President Lincoln in his 1863 proclamation establishing the first national day of Thanksgiving. “I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea […]
Read more...The November 2020 ECW Newsletter is Now Available
The November Emerging Civil War newsletter hit the email today. In this issue: Chris Mackowski offers some thoughts for the birds. We ask Dwight Hughes 10 Questions. Dave Powell cranks out another fantastic book. News & Notes include a lot of Zoom, cool stuff in Civil War Times, and a kitten. George Washington shows his […]
Read more...Civil War Cooking: Miss Caskie’s Cake at General Lee’s Headquarters
“You must thank Miss Norvell for her nice cake. I . . . assembled all the young gentlemen around it & though I told them it was a present from a beautiful young lady, they did not leave a crumb.” And in Mrs. Robert E. Lee’s family cookbook is a recipe titled “Spice Cake Norvell.” […]
Read more...Civil War Cooking: Corn and Apples with the 17th Virginia Infantry
In Private Edgar Warfield’s memoirs, he describes his experiences in the 17th Virginia Infantry Regiment on marches, in camp, and during battle. His writings about the Maryland Campaign of 1862 gives a glimpse of the deprivations the soldiers in his unit endured. He described his own appearance at this time: I was not entirely shoeless, […]
Read more...Edwin V. Sumner, Fredericksburg, and Lessons Learned Along the Chickahominy
Ambrose Burnside’s campaign in the winter of 1862 went belly-up because of his inability to get across the Rappahannock River. Standing on the far bank of the river, swollen because of winter rain and snow, Burnside could do nothing but wait for pontoon boats while Robert E. Lee’s army marched into position and set up […]
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