Pamphlet on the Civil War with Thanksgiving message dated "1861" (SOLD)

This is a very interesting piece being offered, it is a pamphlet with the cover titled “A Thanksgiving Discourse” by George Richards. The first page states “A Discourse, Delivered on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1861”. It was read in the “First Congregational Church, Litchfield, Conn.” At the bottom of the page is “LITCHFIELD; ENQUIRER JOB PRINTING OFFICE, 1861”.

It is somewhat of a sermon, comparing the early days of Christianity and Jerusalem to what is happening today. He states, “Few of us have ever before greeted this occasion amid the calamities of war; none of us amid the horrors of civil war”. He talks about the cost of the war and how important cotton is to the country.

Later he goes on to say, “The capture of Sumter, the fatal trap at Big Bethel, the deadly repulse at Bull Run, the other panic and route at Manassas, were gloomy chapters, in the opening of a campaign of whose results we had been so sanguine”.

This booklet has 12 pages and measures 6” x 9”. It is a very interesting read on the perspective of many people in the first year of the Civil War. Overall it is a positive view that things will get better soon and that Thanksgiving is “…. not for sighs, nor for tears; but for smiles and thanksgiving to God”. This piece is in excellent condition – a rare and unusual first-hand point of view, but not realizing that the worst was still to come. (FREE SHIPPING)