Winchester Christmas: 1862

It can be very difficult to relate to the men and women of the Civil War era. More than one hundred and sixty years have passed. Despite the extraordinarily different circumstances in which they found themselves, we can connect with our forebears in traditions such as the celebration of Christmas. By the mid-19th century, most of today’s familiar Christmas trimmings including Christmas carols, gift giving, and tree decoration were already in place. Charles Dickens had published “A Christmas Carol” in 1843 and the Civil War saw the first introduction to the modern image of a stout Santa Claus through the drawings of Thomas Nast.

19^th Century Thomas Nast rendering of Santa.

The Christmas atmosphere in Winchester would have changed dramatically when General William “Grumble” Jones withdrew his troops from the town on December 13, 1862, creating the prospect of a Yankee occupation. Eleven days later, on December 23, General Robert Milroy began occupying the town, arriving there himself on January 1, 1863, Emancipation Day. Milroy believed occupation of Winchester was crucial to the defense of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

William “Grumble” Jones

The grand feast that had been prepared at the Hunter McGuire home in 1861 marked one of the last of its kind in Winchester for several years. Christmas 1861 would be the last plentiful war-era Christmas for the town during the Civil War. General and Mrs. Stonewall Jackson had spent Christmas that year at church and the McGuire home. They likely attended services at Kent Street Presbyterian Church and dined on a sumptuous meal. Christmas 1862 would be celebrated very differently in the struggle for civilian survival and the need to look after the casualties recovering in the town’s homes and hospitals.

Unionist Julia Chase made a note in her diary on December 24, for example, that some “4000 troops” had arrived in Winchester. The actual number was probably closer to 3,000 men. Chase noted many of the Union sympathizers had been given immediate privileges not offered to pro-Confederate citizens. She noted many had “left for Maryland in order to get groceries.” With the arrival of the Yankees circumstance would favor these people.

 General Robert Milroy’s subordinate, General Gustave P. Cluseret, was placed in charge of these early arrivals. Cluseret was a former French soldier and politician who in 1860 had participated in the establishment of the De Flotte Legion, a French Corps to assist in the fight for Italian unification. He would sail for the U. S. in 1861, as a soldier of fortune, and would serve under Generals Fremont, McClellan, and Milroy.

As early as December 22^nd Julia Chase sensed the “secessionists seemed uneasy this morning. It is said the Federals took possession of Strasburg this morning.” There was no indication if they were advancing on Winchester, but their pickets were reported at Middletown. It was understood that they had intercepted the mail and nobody knew what other havoc they had caused.

Laura Lee’s diary seemed to confirm the rumors. Union troops were first detected in Winchester on the 23^rd.  As the Union Army began to arrive many were surprised by the town’s circumstance. Captain James Stevenson noted the town’s “dreadful condition.” The town’s residents “have scarcely any food and being almost without means, and destitute of fuel for fire to cook their food.”

Regardless of the conditions in the village, General Milroy sent an order ahead ordering the town must supply his men with “2000 rations.” Winchester resident and diarist Mary Greenhow Lee believed Union troops were going to “subsist on the inhabitants; we have not been molested yet, but I expect the rascals any moment.” She noted: “How different is this Christmas than the last, when our friend Col. Baylor’s joyous laugh rang through the house, as he helped us dress the rooms with evergreens for the gay party the next evening.”

Confederate sympathizer and diarist Laura Lee noted: “These wretched, horrible Yankees are here again. This morning while we were at breakfast some hundreds of cavalry came in. They have opened a Provost office and put out pickets, and tomorrow Milroy’s whole command will be here.”

Mary Greenhow Lee, on the day before Christmas, tried not to panic and did the things the rest of the community was doing. She sent “supplies to different ladies to have made up for the hospital – making arrangements for Christmas at home – then we dressed the parlour with evergreens…”

Cornelia Peake McDonald “determined not to let the Yankees interfere with me, except by force.” That was exactly what Yankee troops had in mind. She reported hungry troops tried to steal her turkey which “had been dressed and hung on a low branch of a tree for cooking on the morrow.” She demanded the return of her property. When the soldier declined stating she “had no right to it being ‘secesh’ as he expressed it, and that it was confiscated to the United States.” Mrs. Lee responded by saying: “Very well, go on to the camp with it, and I will go with you to the commanding officer.” The soldier quickly changed his mind and returned the turkey.

No sooner had this emergency been resolved, another one quickly developed for Mrs. McDonald. “The cavalry who came in first, behaved very well, for Yankees, but the infantry behave worse each day; they are Western Virginia and Pennsylvanians.” Cornelia, while trying to protect her wooden fence, found them attempting to rob her kitchen. “A regiment of infantry had showed up and were tearing down a fence and removing the boarding on a carriage house to obtain firewood. A number of soldiers had entered the kitchen and were looting it of food. One man even pulled a hot pan of rusks (hard biscuits) out of stove and in the process of capturing it burned his hands rather badly. The chaos continued for some time until an officer happened along and put a stop to it”.

The Christmas of 1862 dawned “cold and gloomy.” The residents were confined to their homes and were not allowed to leave town unless they had a pass. You needed a permit to buy from a sutler. To do this they had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. It was said “innovative mothers searched their attics for discarded dolls to mend as well as other toys ‘to cheat the little ones into believing that Santa Clause had come as usual.’”

On Christmas morning the residents awoke to the firing of guns. Some Yankees began to search the residents’ homes for guns and “their quota of meat.” “A group of soldiers surrounded Mrs. McDonald’s house.” They threatened to enter her house and destroy her furniture if they were not provided with breakfast. “She soon found them coming through windows and carrying off provisions.”

Laura Lee was undaunted when it came to celebrating the holiday. An effort was made “at preparing for Christmas today, in the way of a few cakes and pies, and a little jelly.” She also “dressed the parlor very prettily with evergreens and have continued to be reasonably cheerful notwithstanding the adverse circumstances of our town being full of Yankees.”

Cornelia McDonald found herself “too restless to enjoy or even to realize it was Christmas. Just as we were sitting down to dinner, we heard the reports of cannon. We hurried from the table and found the troops all hastily marching off.” They all expected there was going to be a skirmish. The family “could eat no more dinner…so it was carefully put away till we could enjoy it.”

Mary Greenhow Lee wrote: “Much to my sorrow, I have to stay at home this morning in place of going to church, where it would have recalled old associations to hear Christmas music; anything that carries me back to hours, unconnected war, refreshes me & does me good. I had to stay because the Yankees were searching the houses on this street & I did not like to run the risk of their coming in my absence.”

The day after Christmas would not be any better. Union soldiers would break out windows in the McDonald home in order to get food. They even demanded she evacuate her home in order to create a hospital. Laura Lee stated, “the wretches have settled themselves here and are tyrannizing over us in a shameful manner.” Unionist Julia Chase was overjoyed at the presence of the army and the fact they “intended to hold Winchester for some time.”

A pre-war Southern Christmas dinner might consist of “baked ham, turkey, oysters and winter vegetables from the root cellar: squash, cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples. Preserves, pickles, relishes, breads, pies and puddings would also be added to the table.” With the coming of civil war and the occupation of Winchester, however, the fare for the Christmas celebration would be significantly modified.

“Christmas during the Civil War served both as an escape from and a reminder of the awful conflict rending the country in two. Soldiers looked forward to a day of rest and relative relaxation, but had their moods tempered by the thought of separation from their loved ones. At home, families did their best to celebrate the holiday, but wondered when the vacant chair would again be filled.”

On the Confederate home front, Sallie Brock Putnam of Richmond echoed what the residents of Winchester felt. “Never before had so sad a Christmas dawned upon us… We had neither the heart nor inclination to make the week merry with joyousness when such a sad calamity hovered over us.” 

Take heart from the lessons of history. Rejoice in our circumstance and in our lives and though we may have lost friends, relatives, or have family members who are ill and forced to be away from home, rejoice that we are not at war like the people of Winchester on that Christmas day so long ago.

We wish you, one and all, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. God bless!

Pete and Cyndi Dalton

AUTHORS NOTE: This is my first blog entry in nine months. I have been recovering from brain fog introduced by chemotherapy and radiation. On the plus side I can charge my cell phone without a electrical adapter. On the negative side I am having to reprogram my brain. The good news is we will have a guest blog written by James Goecker, author of Hoosier Spies and Horse Marines: A History of the Third Indiana Cavalry, East Wing. I think you will find his entry every bit the caliber of his new book.

Mahon, Michael. Winchester Divided. The Civil War Diaries of Julia Chase and Laura Lee. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Va. 2002.

McDonald, Cornelia Peake. A Woman’s Civil War; A Diary with Reminsicences of the War, from March1862. Gramercy Books; New York, New York. 1992.

Phipps, Sheila R. Genteel Rebel: The Life of Mary Greenhow Lee. Louisiana State University Press. Baton Rouge, La. 2004.

Straader, Eloise C. The Civil War Journal of Mary Greenhow Lee. Winchester County Historical Society. Winchester, Va. 2011.