Happy Thanksgiving

[David Lockmiller]

(11-20-2017 07:21 PM)Steve Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 06:57 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thank you to Anita for sending this link:

Celebrating Thanksgiving in a Civil War Hospital

http://www.civilwarmed.org/thanksgiving/

Interesting read. I've always felt the Civil War history of Thanksgiving sometimes gets overlooked.

I think in large measure that how the Civil War was conducted in all of its elements is another lasting tribute to President Abraham Lincoln.

“Celebrating Thanksgiving in a Civil War Hospital”

Posted on: November 19th, 2017

Newly re-elected President Abraham Lincoln had set aside the fourth Thursday of the month as a day of thanksgiving. The residents of Frederick, Maryland gathered in the town’s churches that day.

On the southern end of the city, Surgeon Robert F. Weir planned a Thanksgiving celebration that Thursday to benefit those recovering from those “fearful wounds” in the wards of U.S. General Hospital #1. As the head surgeon in the city’s sizeable hospital, it fell to Dr. Weir to suitably mark the occasion.

“A sumptuous dinner will be given by Dr. Weir,” the hospital’s chaplain told the editors of the Frederick Examiner on November 23, 1864. “Let our citizens, who are cordially invited to attend, go prepared to contribute something to the comfort and enjoyment of the soldiers.” The chaplain called on citizens to give donations in money and books to help replenish the hospital’s meager library.

The hospital had been serving the wounded, sick, and dying since the autumn of 1861. It had grown to include an entire campus, with hospital wards radiating outward in a “pavilion-style.” [A photograph or drawing of the buildings and grounds accompanies the article.]

An observer in November 1864 described the conditions in the hospital that month:

I was peculiarly impressed with the capacity and conveniences of this well ordered receptacle of disabled patriots. It is situated in the southern precincts of the city… The grounds are ample, checkered with plain and gravel walks and enclosed with a neat and substantial fence. The buildings are commodious… The balance are wooden, nicely painted and perfectly clean within and without, presenting altogether a picture of architectural uniformity and neatness. There are accommodations for perhaps 1,200 patients.

Every consistent and attainable accommodation, every appliance for the mental or physical comfort of sick and wounded men may be found there.