Give thanks, all ye people, give thanks to the Lord,
Alleluias of freedom with joyful accord:
Let the East and the West, North and South roll along,
Sea, mountain and prairie, one thanksgiving song.
- from “The President’s Hymn”written by William Augustus Muhlenburg for President Abraham Lincoln, 1863
In 1863, President Lincoln declared not one, but two separate Thanksgiving celebrations. The first was on Thursday, August 6, 1863 following the Union’s victory at Gettysburg. The second was Lincoln’s official declaration of Thanksgiving as a nationwide holiday, to be observed on the last Thursday of every November.
After the Confederate victory at Bull Run, Confederate President Jefferson Davis called for a Thanksgiving celebration in the South on Sunday, July 28, 1861. Individual Union states continued to observe days of Thanksgiving on
their own, though not as a united national effort. This changed on Sunday, April 13, 1862, when President Lincoln declared a national day of Thanksgiving in honor of the victories at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Fort Shiloh. The Confederacy had their second and final Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, September 28, 1862 after their second victory at Bull Run.
In 1863, President Lincoln declared not one, but two separate Thanksgiving celebrations. The first was on Thursday, August 6, 1863 following the Union’s victory at Gettysburg. The second was Lincoln’s official declaration of Thanksgiving as a nationwide holiday, to be observed on the last Thursday of every November.
The sumbitch got what he deserved, its just a shame it didn't happen 6 years earlier.
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