The irony and bitterness of celebrating Christmas during wartime is poignantly described in the words to Longfellow’s poem “Christmas Bells.” Longfellow’s deep despair during the Civil War started in 1861 following the untimely death of his wife Fanny. On the first Christmas following Fanny’s death, Longfellow wrote: “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays, A year later on Christmas day 1862, Longfellow wrote in his journal: “A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” In 1863, Longfellow found out that his oldest son Charles, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, had been severely wounded in battle. His deep personal despair was reflective of the despair and loss suffered by so many Americans, both in the North and in the South, during the long, terrible Civil War. Shortly after a visit to his son Charles, who was still struggling to recover from his war injuries, on Christmas Day, 1864, Longfellow penned the words to his poem, “Christmas Bells.”, which later was put to music know as “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”


“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 way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Even more reflective of the awful despair felt by many were Longfellow’s original stanzas 4 and 5 which are not commonly included in the modern hymnals:

“Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Though the Civil War literally tore the country in two and brought pain and suffering of all kinds to American families, many of our modern Christmas traditions first found their acceptance with American families during the Civil War. One of the earliest depictions of Santa Claus, with his sleigh and reindeers, and Santa crawling down a chimney is found in a Thomas Nest drawing appearing in the January 1863 edition of Harper’s Weekly. Christmas trees , gift giving, caroling and Christmas feasts seemed to be firmly established as part of American culture during the Civil War period.

While introduced much earlier by European immigrants, the Christmas tree as a family Christmas tradition was popularized by illustrators in national weeklies. The Christmas tree, which became the center of the Christmas festivities, was decorated with strings of pine cones, popcorn or dried fruit, colored paper and silver foil. Soldiers, longing for home, would use Christmas trees to bring some cheer to the frontlines. One Union soldier from New Jersey in a letter home commented: “In order to make it look much like Christmas as possible, a small tree was stuck up in front of our tents, decked off with hard tack and pork, in lieu of cakes and oranges, etc.”

The singing of Christmas carols was also a popular Christmas tradition both a home and on the front. The most popular carols included: “Silent Night”, “Deck the Halls”, “Away in a Manger” and “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”.

Even doing wartime, the Christmas message of charity and love motivates soldiers otherwise engaged in the ugliest of mankind’s activities to take care of the poor and needy. On Christmas Day, 1864, after General Sherman’s capture of Savannah, Georgia, 90 soldiers from Michigan loaded several wagons full of food and other necessities to distribute to impoverished Southerners living outside of Savannah. To add to the holiday cheer, the soldiers fashioned branches to the ears of the mules to create “reindeer antlers”. The Christmas spirit prevailed and the beneficiaries of the Christmas charity were for a brief moment able to enjoy the Christmas season.

Early in the war, the soldiers might have enjoyed a more sumptuous Christmas feast. One Union officer wrote the following on December 24, 1861: "Christmas Eve, and I am on duty as officer of the day, but I am not on duty to-morrow. As much as I desire to see you all, I would not leave my company alone...I give my company a Christmas dinner to-morrow, consisting of turkey, oysters, pies, apples, etc.; no liquors." As the war wore on and the resources on both sides of the battle lines were in short supply, the Christmas meals of the soldiers were less than sumptuous. One Confederate soldier recorded the following on Christmas Day: “Had hard Tack soaked in cold water and then fried in pork Greece [sic]. Fried in a canteen, split into[sic] by putting into the fire & melting the sodder[sic] off. We pick them up on the field left by other soldiers, also had coffee & pork.”

The home front was not much better as the war dragged on. One of the most charming, yet sobering descriptions of the hardships that impact Christmas celebrations is the following story of a Southern parent’s attempt to reduce the Christmas expectation of their children:

"I have written so much that it is now after 9 o'clock and yet I have said nothing of Turner's and Mary Bell's party which we gave them last week in lieu of the Santa Claus presents. Mary Bell has been told that Santa Claus has not been able to run the blockade and has gone to war--Yet at this late hour when I went upstairs Thursday night of the party I found that the trusting faith of childhood they had hung their little socks and stockings in case Santa Claus did come. I had given the subject no thought whatever, but invoking Santa Claus aid I was enabled when their little eyes opened to enjoy their pleasure to find cake and money in their socks."

Through it all, Americans, both in the North and South, found hope in the eternal Christmas message of “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men”.