Beschreibung
The format is approximately 5.25 inches by 7.25 inches. [10], 162, [4] pages. Frontispiece. Map. Sources. The dust jacket has a decorative front cover and has some wear and soiling. Documents an inspiring event just after Christmas in 1862 when closely camped Union and Confederate armies, having endeavored to out-sing one another with contrasting patriotic songs, joined together in a shared round of "Home Sweet Home," in an account complemented by soldier letters, period poetry, and historical song lyrics. James Mclvor's God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story discusses how Union and Confederate soldiers celebrated Christmas in the days before Congress officially declared it a national holiday. The focus of the book is on a Union and a Confederate camp that were within shouting distance from each other in Murfeesboro, Tennessee, in 1862. On Christmas day the two separate camps, while staying in their respective sites, joined together to sing "Home! Sweet Home!" A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that even though this "charming" book "skips lightly over dense history … it's distinctly readable and moving throughout." John David Smith reviewed this "splendidly concise and deceptively powerful book" on the BookPage Web site. He concluded that Mclvor's book "underscores the meaning of Christmas for nations at war, when memories of home and longings for the safe return of loved ones preoccupy families rich and poor." James McIvor is a freelance writer living in Virginia. In the waning days of 1862, Union and Confederate troops set up camp within earshot of one another in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Christmas had just passed, and for many of these battle-wearied young soldiers the holiday season was a melancholy reminder of the families and loved ones they d left behind. Bands from both camps played patriotic songs in an attempt to raise spirits, a musical duel that presaged the bloody battle to come. Then, something extraordinary occurred. One of the bands began playing a popular sentimental tune called "Home Sweet Home." Soon, bands from both sides picked up the tune, and before long thousands of Northern and Southern soldiers had joined together in song. God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story tells the tale of this yuletide interlude, which came at a time when the early optimism of the Civil War had given way to the bitter realities of seemingly endless bloodshed. Told through soldiers letters and period songs, God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers is the hopeful and touching story of human compassion in the midst of unspeakable violence. McIvor notes that sometimes the Christmas season and holiday coincided with battles, and soldiers found themselves marching to battle when they would have preferred to be at home, or at worst sitting around a campfire and enjoying a good meal. More often, Christmas was quiet, leaving too much time to think and reflect, and miss fallen colleagues and the family at home. He points out that the Civil War changed perceptions of the holiday. The suffering on both sides had been great, and the feelings about Christmas that had been growing for decades before the war became something much stronger with the end of the way. "The Civil War, in fact," McIvor writes, "made Christmas a truly American holiday in a way it had never entirely been before.".
Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 88280
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