This original 1863 Thomas Nast print shows a touching scene of Husband and Wife on Christmas Eve 1862. The picture is from the January 1863 edition of Harper's Weekly. This leaf is a stunning illustration and is over 140 years old!
As the 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.
"Snowy Morning on Picket" from Harper's Weekly January 30, 1864.
The final verse of a poem By the Christmas Hearth published in the Christmas edition of Harper's Weekly reflected the sentiments of many:
Bring holly, rich with berries red,
And bring the sacred mistletoe;
Fill high each glass, and let hearts
With kindliest feelings flow;
So sweet it seems at home once more
To sit with those we hold most dear,
And keep absence once again
To keep the Merry Christmas here.
Great Site with Info on Civil War and Christmas
http://oha.alexandriava.gov/fortward/special-sections/christmas/
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