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Category Archives: Holidays
‘Tis the Season…for Slaughtering Hogs?
The Tyler Ordnance Works was a Confederate arsenal in northeastern Texas. It was founded with equipment evacuated from the Little Rock Arsenal and was contracted by the state of Texas to produce thousands of rifles. Especially by the last year … Continue reading
Posted in Civilian, Holidays
Tagged Christmas, Civil War Christmas, confederate arsenals, confederate civilians, homefront
7 Comments
Black Fridays at the Start of the War
As the opening acts of the Civil War played out, a pattern emerged with most of the notable events all occurring on a Friday. Some newspaper editors even dubbed the unfortunate coincidence “Black Friday,” eight years before the 1869 gold … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays, Newspapers
Tagged 1861, baltimore, Black Friday, Elmer Ellsworth, Fort Sumter, St. Louis
1 Comment
Pairings, Partridges, and Pear Trees—Drink Up #5
Pairings were NOT a thing in the 1860s. Red meat/red wine, white meat/ white wine, and pork/rose were about as far as anything went unless you were a sommelier and had to know extra things. One could afford imported wine … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays
Tagged Christmas in the Civil War, Civil War Cooking, Civil War drinking, Drink Up 2022, drinking, Holidays, Wine
1 Comment
If Aunt Elizabeth from New York Shows Up…Drink Up #4
Not everyone drinks alcohol. Some folks are too young. Some do not care for it, and some have personal, medical, or religious reasons. Some are ill and concerned with drug interactions. These are all modern reasons to refrain from imbibing … Continue reading
Civil War Cooking: “Anxious To Have A Chicken Pie” For Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Time travel through the 13th Vermont Infantry Regiment’s regimental history for a Thanksgiving camp scene from 1861: On our return from Union Mills and Bull Run, where we had been for two weeks doing picket duty, the boys … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Holidays
Tagged 13th Vermont, chicken pie, Civil War Cooking, cooking-history-2022, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Civil War, Vermont
1 Comment
Eggnog? You’ll LOVE It!—Drink Up #3
Eggnog has been part of our history since the colonies even had a history. Originally a “posset” in Europe (particularly England) was a hot drink made of milk curdled with wine or ale. It was beaten to smooth out its … Continue reading
Posted in Antebellum South, Civilian, Common Soldier, Holidays
Tagged Christmas drinks, Civil War Cooking, Civil War drinking, Drink Up 2022, drinking, Egg Nog, Egg Nogg
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Frankly My Dear, I’d Love a Mint Julep!—Drink Up #2
The iconic Confederate drink, then and now, is the Mint Julep. Captain Frederick Marryatt (1792-1948) was a Royal Navy officer, a well-respected novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He often wrote about America, which he had visited several times. … Continue reading
Happy Holidays from 1862—Drink Up! #1
To complement Sarah Kay Bierle’s outstanding work concerning holiday food, I thought I would chime in this year with a few posts about drinking–for the holidays, of course. America was founded as a nation of drunkards–er–drinkers. After all, water wasn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Civilian, Common Soldier, Holidays
Tagged champagne punch, Christmas drinks, Civil War Cooking, Civil War punch, Drink Up 2022, drinking, hot toddies
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Sheridan’s Veterans: Returning To The Shenandoah Valley
In the 1880’s a Union veteran’s organization known as Sheridan’s Veterans Association made several trips to the Shenandoah Valley. These “excursions” gave comrades a chance to reunite and revisit their old battlefields in the Valley. Some veterans brought their families, … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays, Memory
Tagged civil war veterans, Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan's Veterans Association, Union veterans, Veterans Day
4 Comments
A Ghoulish Relic from a Horse’s Death along the Valley Pike
There are weird things in American Civil War history…and then there are weird things. It’s October 31st and time to retrieve something very strange or ghoulish for discussion, so how about the preserved hoof of a horse? That’s right. A … Continue reading
