Easter during the U.S. Civil War

Question

Hi Wikitreers and U.S. Civil War enthusiasts!

Happy Easter Sunday! 

“At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor.” See link

I think everyone will enjoy this article today as it reflects on some of the stories of the veterans and how they celebrated or had to endure during this day in history 

See link civilwartalk

“The war began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.” See link American Battle Fields Trust and YouTube

Any stories of the U.S. Civil War veterans during this Easter holiday is welcomed so please share to the g2g

Thank you

Note: Easter Day was March 31, 1861 and coincides with todays Easter date 2024 see link Civil war blog a project of Pa historian

Don’t forget to visit our Wikitree page Project: US Civil War: War Between the States

Comments

Nice post, Andrew. Thanks.

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Thank you it’s very interesting these dates and the holiday associated 

President Abraham Lincoln was shot on Good Friday April 14, 1865 see https://fords.org/lincolns-assassination/

The 9th and 12th are 3 days apart. Just coincidence? Maybe…

Edit: Referred to as “Black Easter 1865” https://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/2015/04/03/recalling-black-easter-1865-york-ydr-opinion/31266051/

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Less we forget the implementation of Income tax in 1861 and its due date. Legal history of income tax in the United States - Wikipedia

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Black Easter.  I had not heard of that phrase before. I find it hard to picture that time. Mass communication was not present as we now know it. There were local newspapers to carry the story. However, a fair amount of the people could not read. Which leads me to wonder about how long the news of President Lincoln's death took to reach people in rural areas? How informed were they as to the details of his death?

The series of events to mourn the President's death took 3 weeks. I suspect the length of that was not only attributed to the depth of the feeling, but to the time it took for news to spend and events to be organized at distant locations. We live in a world of instant communication. Things can happen within seconds. It was a very different setting in 1865.

Lincoln's death I suspect had a great impact on everyday folks, especially from here in the Midwest. He was the symbol of hope for the preservation of the nation. He led them through the Great Civil War. As the War seemed to be wrapping up, he was killed. It must have been deeply disturbing to people.

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Oh yes. The income tax had turbulent history. I made a career with the legalities of the income tax.

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The more I research “Black Easter” the more interesting it becomes!

I believed this phrase was reserved only for that Sunday on Easter 1865. See https://www.teachthecivilwar.com/abraham-lincoln-and-black-easter/

“Easter lilies that already adorned pulpits for Resurrection Sunday services were painted black. “

The men of the Union looked so much to President Lincoln fought and died under his Presidency of leadership fought for the cause and no doubt this was a painful day for the Union as evidenced by this “Black Easter” 

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There were taxes before the war and taxes after nothing has changed since Roman taxes and before that as mankind seems to never change in its empires and kingdoms upon earth…

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There were taxes but, not on individual income. The Federal "Income" Tax was imposed with creation on the Internal Revenue Service in 1862 to pay for the war. From Wikipedia: The IRS originates from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, a federal office created in 1862 to assess the nation's first income tax to fund the American Civil War. 

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Long before the Civil War, there were taxes on income, but those were at the state level.

The creation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue came in the legislation for the second federal income tax, the Tax Act of 1862. The federal income tax originated with the Tax Act of 1861.  The original act was repealed and replaced with the second tax act.

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Andrew,

Just reading about the events back then is still gut-wrenching. I still recall the moment I heard that President Kennedy had been shot. He was not nearly as dear to the nation in 1963 as President Lincoln was in 1865. If President Kennedy's death was traumatic to us, President Lincoln's death more have been even a greater trauma to those in 1865.

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Yes I agree! A torn nation with the wounds of the war still raw and yet I believe I read somewhere they wouldn’t even let his wife First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln be with her husband at his end and I guess she blamed those that wouldn’t let her such as some senators etc of her era..

Edited typos

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Mary Lincoln did not go on the funeral train. The remains of the President and a son were escorted to Illinois. The train trip took takes because they traveled at only 20 mph and made numerous stops so the people could pay their respect to the President.

Supposedly, Mary Lincoln was too distraught to make the journey. Throughout his Presidency, she flirted with a nervous condition. However, one of their sons did make the journey.

Answer 1

I believe I have seen mention of religious services in some soldier's diaries/journals. I cannot recall off hand which ones. Maybe I can locate some of those.

Comments

Those journals are a true treasure it’s almost impossible to own one of these pieces of history

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Yes, they are scarce and now quite valuable. I am okay with not owning any. I don't have the preservation skills to protect it. So, I am satisfied with reading those that are published online.

Some of the officers did a good job of chronicling their war life in their letters home. Several interesting collections. I recall a collection of letters by a General to his wife and friends. (He was one of the higher ranked officers of the Jewish faith in the Union Army.) He wrote of traveling from camp with other soldiers to attend religious services at various locations during the war (among the many topics). That stood out because, I had never thought about the difficulties involved in practicing the Jewish faith in war time. (While I recall reading part of that collection, I unfortunately do not recall the General's name. I have a very poor memory these days.)

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I have to agree I feel the same way best those journals and diaries are with the historical institutions where preservation is done by those who specialize in it than someone’s shoe box! They are the last words of that time that can still tell their story…