Thanksgiving during the Civil War

Harvest festivals and meals of thanksgiving were common in the early American colonies.  But the official Thanksgiving dates to 1863. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Ladies Book believed that having a common national holiday would help unified the country.  For seventeen years, she petitioned presidents to establish the holiday  Finally, in 1863, President Lincoln declared November 26 as a national day of “thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens” in response to a letter from the 76 year-old Sarah Hale.

Naturally, families wanted to send food from home to their soldiers in the field. In 1864 there was a massive civilian effort to gather food for the 120,000 soldiers and sailors besieging Richmond. Donations came from all over the country. $50,000 was raised, an estimated 50,000 turkeys were acquired. Ladies’ groups sent apples and cigars.

Individual families also sent goodies, but they often failed to arrive in time for the actual celebration. Charles Engle of Vestal, New York, a private in the 137th New York, got a box from his wife Charlotte in December, but was glad of it. Here is what was in it (spelling is as in original Note: Charles’s diary is available at the Binghamton Public Library).

You wanted to know wheather that box had ben opened or not. I am the only one that opened it and I had a good job of it it was nailed so solid. I guess your pa nailed it. I got them socks and everything was all right in its place and the papers on just as you put them on. You sead on your letter you was agoing to send another box. If you do you must direct it to Washington. We had to march shortly after we got the other box sowe dident have the good of it as we would had if we hadent had to left it but it done me a good deal of good. That musterd come good on the march. I would put it in water and use it for drink and that peper I think a good deal of. I make sort of a stew of hard tack and pork and that peper is just what I want to make it good. I luged all I could when we started. I took all the saucage and
20 onions and the most of the cakes and some of the butter. I had a heavey
load. If you send me another box you may send some of them poore fried cakes.
They taste so good down here. You may send me some more peper but I dont want
you to go to to much trubel for me. I can get along without it but if you do
send one you had better not send to large a box for we shant have eney winter quarters and we may have to march just about the time I get the box.

Read on to learn how those Thanksgiving turkeys were cooked: Turkey Civil War Style