World War I -- Christmas Truce

[PaigeBooth]

Hi Anita,

I agree with Laurie and can not think of any Christmas truce during the Civil War. There were, however, soldiers during the Civil War who actually decorated trees for Christmas. There was one occasion during the Civil War when a New Jersey soldier described decorating a tree, saying, "In order to make it look as much like Christmas as possible, a small tree was stuck up in front of our tent, decked off with hard tack and pork, in lieu of cakes and oranges."

After the World War I truce, many officers were angry with their troops. They did not believe it was right to make friends with the enemy, even on a holiday. After 1914, Christmas truces were forbidden.

Laurie-- that is very interesting about Sherman's men giving food and supplies. I did not know this. Do you have any more information?