By Edwin Cooney
Due to the gratification for and appreciation we attempt to express toward each other during this holiday season, many of us, me included, like to believe there's a little magic in this time we call the Yuletide! So, let's take a quick glance of Yuletide history.
On Wednesday, December 24th, 1777, British Captain James Cook discovered Kiritimati Island and renamed it in his journal Christmas Island. Other sources say it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Hernando de Grijalva in 1537. (Take your pick, but I'll pick Captain Cook because the following story amuses me.) Hiram Fong, the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate under the slogan "You can't go wrong with Hiram Fong," used to brag that his great, great, grandfather helped eat Captain James Cook.
On Friday, December 24th, 1818, Silent Night, originally authored by Father Joseph Mohr two years earlier, was given by Mohr to organist Franz Xavier Gruber of the parish church in Oberndorf, Austria. The original copy of the piece was lost for a time and many believed it was written by Bach or Mozart. However, eventually Mohr and Gruber were credited for authorship of the piece. (I've heard from other sources that Silent Night was first played on the guitar because the church organ was out of order.) In 1859, John Young, of Trinity Church in New York, translated Silent Night into English which since has been translated into 120 languages.
Of course, Wednesday, December 25th 1776 was the night General George Washington crossed the Delaware River to attack Hessian (German-speaking) forces encamped at Trenton, New Jersey. The attack was both dangerous and very clever on Washington's part. He knew that the forces at Trenton were Hessians who heavily indulged themselves at Christmas, and due to the fact they didn't speak English their communications would be inhibited. So, although the Delaware was full of dangerous icebergs, he guided his rafts full of men and heavy artillery across the brutally cold and treacherous waters. His attack, which occurred the following morning, took the Hessians totally by surprise since they were still trying to recover in the wake of their Christmas cheer. Three Americans and twenty-two Hessians were killed. The magnitude of the victory solidified Washington's command of the Continental Army. (Note: One of those wounded in the battle was James Monroe who later became our fifth president.) Author Kenneth Davis in his book "Don't Know Much About History” tells the story, later confirmed by John Knox, General of Artillery, and later President Washington's Secretary of War, that, as Washington stepped into their boat he said: "Shift that fat ass Harry, but slowly or you'll swamp the whole damned boat!"
On Monday, December 25th, 1826, West Point authorities put down what they called the Eggnog Riot. A group of students snuck whiskey onto campus to have with their eggnog and subsequently became very drunk and even destructive to West Point property. Two of the rowdy students were John Campbell, who later was appointed by President Franklin Pierce in 1853 to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Jefferson Davis, who later married a president's daughter, became a powerful U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, and still later became President of the Confederate States of America.
On Friday, December 25th, 1868, President Andrew Johnson gave a full and blanket pardon to all of those who served in the Confederate States of America. As military Governor of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson earned his place on the GOP (or Union ticket) with President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 as his reward for loyalty during the war. However, Andy Johnson's opposition to the rebellion was based on his opposition to disunion rather than opposition to slavery or the rights of the rich to own slaves. His pardon was brought on, in part, to his resentment of Republican Party opposition to actions of his administration and most directly for the impeachment he suffered and the conviction in the Senate which he only narrowly avoided.
On Friday, December 25th, 1896 composer John Philip Souza completed work on his most famous march called "Stars and Stripes Forever." A hundred years later, the Congress of The United States passed an act that created "Stars and Stripes Forever," our Official National March.
I've saved this one for last due to its miraculous spontaneity. World War I became official on Tuesday, August 4th, 1914. The fighting between August 4th and Christmas 1914 was both bitter and devastating to both sides. Four months into the war, trenches had been carved out of the earth to effectively halt the advances of both sides. In the few days leading up to Christmas 1914, there was a lull in the fighting due to the uncertainty of generals on both sides as to what to do next. As Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday approached, briefly lingered and moved on, over hundreds of miles of trenches, British, Canadian, French and German soldiers poked their lice-ridden and dirty heads from trenches and observed that even enemy soldiers were singing carols and distributing cigarettes, food and even liquor to one another. The unofficial Christmas truce extended through Friday, December 25th after which the killing continued. During the Christmases of 1915, ’16 and ’17, military generals brought an end to all inter-military Christmas cheer and religious celebrations.
As to whether Christmas brings about magic or even majesty to the December 25ths we celebrate as Christmas, the evidence is pretty meek as well as weak. However, once in a while, incidents like 1914 can cause one to both wonder and even hope!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
No comments:
Post a Comment