The National tribune., 1886-12-23
THOSE OTHER CHRIsTMAsEs.
Well. next Saturday win be Christmas.

Well, next Saturday will be Christmas.
How, at the mere mention, the mind re-
veris to other Christmases, the memory of
which will not weaken or fade though we
attain the years of Methuselah.
To begin with, there was the last Christ
mas that most Of us were to spend at home
for four long, bloody years, the last Christ
mas that hundreds of thousands of our COM
rades who now sleep in Southern soil were
to enjoy with their beloved ones-the Christ
mas of 1s6O. Only the young and thought
less ate their dinner that day with the cheer
fulness appropriate to the season, for the
dark clouds of war were lowering. South
Carolina had seeded five days before, and
month previous she had ordered the raising
of 10000 troops to resist the Government
of Abraham Lincoln" Louisiana seeded
two days before Christmas, and the Legisla-
lures of Georgia, Florida and Mississippi had
been specially convened TO take those States
out of the Union. Christmas night Maj.
Anderson took the decisive step of eyacuat-
ing Fort Moultrie and occupying Fort Sum-
ter with the forces under his command.
Christmas Day, 1861, saw $4,000 Union
soldiers encamped on a line of battle that
stretched from the Chesapeake Bay up the
Potomac to the mountains of West Virginia,
thence down the great Kanawha TO the Ohio,
through Central Kentucky, through Mis-
souri,, and through portion Of Kansas down
to the Territory of New Mexico Those
whose tents lined the Potomac were under
the shadow of the severe defeats ut Bull
Run and Balls Bluff; in West Virginia they
had known nothing but victory; in Ken
lucky scarcely shot had been fired at the
mouth of the Ohio Ulysses S. Grant had
fought his first battle, at Belmont, and shown
some of the characteristics that afterward
made him the foremost soldier of the world.
In Missouri good and evil fortune had
mingled, with the reverses outnumbering
the successes rs the holidays approached, so
that the year closed gloomily for the country.
Christmas Day, 1862, saw $4,000 Union
soldiers occupying a line which, after severe
fighting everywhere, was on an average, 200
miles farther south than at the last Christ
mas. The country was shuddering under
the awful disaster of Fredericksburg, and
Sherman was marching to a similar defeat
though on much smaller scale, at Chicka-
saw Bayou. The Army of the Cumberland
was enjoying it's Christmas in pleasant camp:
at Nashville, but the next morning was tc
start for the sanguinary field of Stone River
% miles away, and week later 5000 of it:
members, or nearly one-third of the mum
Der, lay dead or wounded.
Christmas Day, 1863, saw Gil, 900 soldier:
encamped along the line of battle, which hat
now shortened very considerably, for the
rebels had lost nearly one-half of the terri
tory they had held at the outbreak of thu
war. Things had gone well with our arm
+ since the last Christmas. The victories o
Gettysburg, yicksburg, Missionary Ridg
and Knoxville had shaken the rebel powe
TO its very foundations, and the end began
T TO be clear.
Christmas Day, 1864, saw 100000 mel
wearing the blue, with GIL 900 of then
2 actually in camp before the enemy. TIL
browning victories OF Franklin and Nashville
D had destroyed the military power of the re
0 bellion in the West, Sherman had completes
o his grand march TO the sea and made
e Christmas gift TO President Lincoln of tn
e city Of Savannah with $50 siege guns an
Y immense quantities of stores Of all kind
The North Atlantic Squadron and the Tent
n Corps made their first attack on Fort Fishe
$ Oh Christmas Day. The Army of the POtC
r, mae was lying in the trenches before Peter:
Is burg waiting for the last fatal spring at th
II throat Of its old adversary, the Army {
h Northern Virginia.
II Christmas Day, 1865, saw all Of us whOr
.e the bullet and disease had spared once MOI
under our own roof tree, partaking of ii
"a yuletide feat with hearts devoutly thankfI
s. for our preservation through perils Of wa
and for the blessings which beneficeI
God had vOuchsafed TO our country.