Christmas in Wartime

Learn more about how Americans experienced the Christmas holiday during the wars that defined the United States.

Explore Christmas in Wartime

This is a close-up image of a Confederate States of America bill.

Christmas in the Petersburg Trenches

This account appeared in the Anderson Intelligencer in South Carolina in December 1901, reflecting on 1864's Christmas during the Civil War.

George Washington Passage Of The Delaware

Rev War | Article

George Washington's Christmases

Washington usually did not cross a freezing river and lead a surprise attack on Christmas night. His Christmas activities and celebrations typically...

Rev War | Article

Colonial & Revolutionary Christmases

Christmas during the American Revolution often came and went as a day on the calendar with few or none accompanying celebrations.

This is a drawing of a blank, open journal and a quill.

Rev War | Primary Source

1773: Christmas - An Essay

The following essay appeared in the London Magazine and was later reprinted in The Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg in 1773.

Rev War | Primary Source

1776: "I Hope The Next Christmas Will Prove Happier"

General George Washington wrote to Robert Morris, continuing their correspondence about supplies for the Continental Army. Morris was a signer of the...