Christmas at Arlington, Fish Balls and Cabbage Soup

On Christmas Day 1864, Philip visited Robert E. Lee’s mansion. Arlington House was built as a memorial to George Washington by his step-grandson George Washington Parke Custis. Construction of Arlington House began in 1802 and was completed in 1818.

Union Soldiers at Arlington House
 
A young Robert E. Lee courted and later married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, daughter of George Washington Park Custis, in Arlington House. They made their home at Arlington House until the beginning of the Civil War when they were forced out. Once the Lee’s left the house, the Union army took possession and General Irvin McDowell made it his headquarters while the grounds hosted troop movements and encampments.

Burials at the estate began as early as the 1820s with Mary Randolph being the first recorded burial there. Military burials began in May 1864 and on June 15, 1864, a national military cemetery was established. Philip talks about visiting this cemetery and states that there are over 5 thousand soldiers buried there.

Today, nearly 430,000 veterans and eligible dependents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Graves of Arlington Cemetery surround Arlington House

If anyone should care to re-create Philip’s Christmas dinner. I found some vintage recipes for fish balls and cabbage soup:

Sources:
_______

DECEMBER 16TH
We received orders to march at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. Let in to sleeting this evening. Boys all speculating on our destination which none of them knows.

DECEMBER 17TH
This morning we are busy packing up our things for the march to Fort Craig. Still raining yet and very windy. The boys started at 9o’clock through the mud and rain. I stayed back and waited for the ambulance. I being very unwell. Last night we had a splendid dinner in one of the empty barracks. We arrived here after 4 miles of a march and we found a very nice little fort here under construction and the duty very heavy on us. This fort mounts six 30 pound parrot guns and one 24 pound brass howitzer, and 3 24 pound siege guns. This fort is situated some four miles from Washington on the south side of the Potomac. The news of Thomas victory reached here this morning and 100 guns was fired in honor of the victory. (Referring to Major General George Thomas’ victory at the Battle of Nashville on December 15-16, 1864.) I am still sick yet with a disease that infects this county, the name of it is unknown to me. But it acts on the same principle as the chills and leaves this patient with night sweats.

DECEMBER 19TH
Was on guard at Fort McPherson. Very cold and not very well.

DECEMBER 20TH
Had a very heavy snow and sleet storm and very cold weather in this place. Had orders for inspection but the officer failed to come around.

DECEMBER 25TH
Christmas passed very quietly here with some few exceptions of drunkenness and later a stroll through the country and visited the mansion of the Rebel General Robert Lee. The house is a noble looking and is worth a large sum of money. It has a beautiful park surrounding it. I also visited the soldier’s cemetery which is on the grounds adjoining the house. There is over five thousand soldiers buried there.

DECEMBER 26TH
This morning we was awakened by the sound of artillery in announcing the victory of General Sherman and the fall of the rebel city Savannah. Christmas was celebrated this day in Washington. Our dinner and Christmas was fish balls and potatoes creamed with cabbage soup.

DECEMBER 30TH
A heavy snow storm is raging at present. Good news from the armies.

DECEMBER 31ST
Was mustered for pay this day. There is four months due us. The weather is very cold and windy. The news is good this morning. I received a letter from home.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C

Image
Philip L. Loufman was a Private with the 1 st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C.  The history of the battery is a little confusing but I've pieced together some information from various sources. The battery started out as the 18th Ohio Volunteer Militia, Company B, which was mustered out in August 1861. In September 1861, almost the entire company reenlisted as a battery of light artillery and was offered to the service of Governor Pierpont of West Virginia. The company traveled from Marietta, Ohio to Wheeling, West Virginia.  Battery C (Pierpont Battery) was organized in Wheeling during the first part of 1862.    Most of the men in the battery were from Washington County, Ohio.  I was not able to find a picture of Battery C. But I imagine this photo of Battery F gives a good idea of what Battery C might look like. The battery fought in several battles throughout 1862 and 1863 including Cross Keys, Chancellorsville, the second Battle of Bull ...
Read more

Starting Over

Image
Back in high school (early 1980s) I became aware that my grandmother had a Civil War diary from my great-great grandfather Philip L. Loufman. At that time (way before personal computers), I went to her house with a pad of yellow lined paper determined to transcribe the diary. It didn't take me long to be overwhelmed by the task (probably 5 or 10 minutes). The entries were all written in pencil and difficult to read. Add to that my almost total lack of interest in the Civil War, and I had little to no context to understand much of what my great-great grandfather was writing about. What I could understand wasn't very exciting - days on end of drills, fishing and picking blackberries. Needless to say my first attempt at a handwritten transcript didn't get very far.  Years later, in the early 2000s, after my grandmother had passed away, I asked my mom for the diary so I could transcribe it. This second attempt went much better. I had slightly more patience and knowledge of the ...
Read more

Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror

Image
The title of this post is a quote I’ve seen and heard in various forms. I have not been able to pin down a definitive source of the quote but a version of it seems to have been around as early as World War I and seems to apply to the Civil War as well. The life of the soldier was filled with military routine: drills, guard duty, picket duty, work details and the same food every day. Many fought boredom by playing games, sketching, whittling and making music, among other activities. This is a photo of two Union soldiers whittling.  The title quote is ever present in my mind while I’m transcribing Philip's diary. There are often several days in a row with entries stating “Nothing new to report,” “guard duty all day” or “went blackberrying.” This was one of my downfalls during my previous attempts at transcribing the diary. Because of my lack of time and patience, I kept looking for all of the action. The movies don’t focus on the monotonous days of drills and guard duty. More informa...
Read more