Celebrating and Remembering on this Thanksgiving

On November 28, 1862 Robert Gould Shaw sat down in his tent near Sharpsburg, Maryland to share a few words about his Thanksgiving celebration with his family back home.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and we managed to have a very pleasant day. There would have been no drawback, if we hadn’t missed from the table so many faces which were there last year at this time. This made the dinner a very quiet affair compared with most bachelor parties. Besides the seven officers killed last summer and this autumn, there are a good many at home wounded and ill; so that the society is materially changed since we came out. It is very strange and unfortunate, that the officers that have been killed were the very best we had, both as comrades and as military men. No doubt, after a man is dead his virtues only are remembered, but in our case the dead ones really were the best. (Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune, p. 263)

The summer campaigns had devastated the junior-officer corps in the Union army, including the Second Massachusetts. A number of Shaw’s closest friends had either been killed or wounded at First Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam. He was lonely and emotionally drained. The strong feelings of loss are palpable in everything Shaw wrote during this period.

Shaw had formed a bond with many of his fellow officers since leaving Boston in June 1861. They shared a similar cultural and political outlook. In camp they relied on one another for support and comradeship. All that was left now was an empty table, memories, and an uneasiness as to what was to come.

They were family.

As I write this I am sitting comfortably overlooking a beautiful snow covered lake just outside Quebec. Otis is lying next to me sleeping on the couch and snoring up a storm.

There is so much that I am thankful for this year. My health, a loving family, and good friends top the list as they do every Thanksgiving.

I am also painfully aware that too many families will gather around a table this Thanksgiving amidst the pain of loss. It is impossible not to dwell on the senseless mass shooting deaths that have become so common that they are no longer reported or covered with the same sense of shock and outrage.

We must resist becoming numb to this news.

I wish all of these families peace and comfort this holiday season.

To all of you, I hope you and your families have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.