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Christmas Bells

Dec 25

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas day 1863. In November of that year Longfellow's oldest son, who had volunteered for the Union Army without his father's knowledge or permission, was severely wounded in battle. References to the Civil War are rarely included in the hymn based on Longfellow's poem.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along The unbroken song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its...

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Vanished Era Christmas' ; Invisible Children Santa Flew Over

Dec 25

A wonderful photo ( ebay ), a small boy whose patriotic mother made him a tiny, military inspired outfit, a gifted drum and dear little be-ribboned hat make us 'sigh', how cute. There are several horrifying aspects to this photo- war is blood and death and suffering and mindless horror, not make-believe dress up- we 'sigh' anyway. And we only have images of our ancestors whose childhood was safe from want to 'sigh' over.

Not a long thread- but a reminder and an important one. Our image of " Victorian Christmas ", added to, eras mixed, co-mingled, inexact and wildly inaccurate in spots can indeed be delightful. ' It ' was probably not exactly how we...

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Caption This Christmas Winner

Dec 24

like and share https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarTalk

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Silent Night: How a Beloved Christmas Carol Was Born of War

Dec 24

Franz Xaver Gruber, Autograph VII, 1860 (© Salzburg Museum / Museum Association

On Christmas Eve in 1818, two men with a small guitar entered a church in Oberndorf, Austria, and prepared to sing a new Christmas carol.

Times had been bad in Oberndorf, where many people worked on the water, manning the salt barges that plied the Salzach River. The upheaval in central Europe caused by the Napoleonic Wars had just ended.

And only two years before, the dreadfully dark summer of 1816 — later blamed on ash from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia — had caused famine and...

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★ ★ Buford, John

Mar 04

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25

John Buford Jr.

Born: March 4, 1826
Birthplace: Woodford County, Kentucky
Father: Colonel John Buford Sr. 1778 – 1847
Mother: Ann B. Watson
Wife: Martha McDowell "Pattie" Duke 1830 – 1903

Children:

James Duke Buford 1855 – 1874

(Buried: Georgetown Cemetery, Georgetown, Kentucky)

Pattie McDowell Duke Buford 1857 – 1863

(Buried: Georgetown Cemetery, Georgetown, Kentucky)

Education:

1848: Graduated from West Point Military...

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Biographies

Where is it Wednesday, Gettysburg? 10-14-2026

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What has this site been named?
Where is it?
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The American Civil War

The American Civil War, arguably the most traumatic event in the history of the United States, was fought from 1861 to 1865, and was the culmination of sectional issues which deeply divided the country between a pro-Federal government North and a pro-states rights, in the pro-slavery South, whose eleven states formed a breakaway government called the Confederate States of America. The costliest war in terms of human lives, the American Civil War claimed in excess of 620,000 battle or disease-related deaths - roughly two percent of the country's total population, and nearly more deaths than all other American wars combined.