Presidents of opposing sides give their respective Thanksgiving addresses to their citizens, each thanking the same God and calling on him for Victory. Similar, yet also different. Hope you enjoy.
A DAY OF FASTING & HUMILIATION (NOT THANKSGIVING!) 1861
by JEFFERSON DAVIS, PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES
WHEREAS, it hath pleased almighty God, the Sovereign Disposer of events, to protect and defend
us hitherto in our conflicts with our enemies as to be unto them a shield.
And whereas, with grateful thanks we recognize His hand and acknowledge that not unto us, butr
unto Him, belongeth the victory, and in humble dependence upon His almighty strength, and
trusting in the justness of our purpose, we appeal to Him that He may set at naught the efforts of
our enemies, and humble them to confusion and shame.
Now therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, in view of impending
conflict, do hereby set apart Friday, the 15th day of November, as a day of national humiliation and
prayer, and do hereby invite the reverend clergy and the people of these Confederate States to
repair on that day to their homes and usual places of public worship, and to implore blessing of
almighty God upon our people, that he may give us victory over our enemies, preserve our homes
and altars from pollution, and secure to us the restoration of peace and prosperity.
Given under hand and seal of the Confederate States at Richmond, this the 31stday of October,
year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty one.
By the President, Jefferson Davis.
THANKSGIVING DAY 1862 for victory in battle by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION
It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land and naval forces engaged in
suppressing an internal rebellion, and at the same time to avert from our country the dangers of
foreign intervention and invasion.
It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States that at their next weekly
assemblages in their accustomed places of public worship which shall occur after notice of this
proclamation shall be have been received they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our
Heavenly Fathers for these inestimable blessings, that they then and there implore spiritual
consolation in behalf of all who have been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of
sedition and civil war, and that they reverently invoke the divine guidance for our national counsels,
to the end that they may speedily result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity throughout
our borders and hasten the establishment of fraternal relations among all the countries of the
earth.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of April A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the
United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THANKSGIVING DAY 1862 for victory in battle BY JEFFERSON DAVIS
To the People of the Confederate States:
Once more upon the plains of Manassas have our armies been blessed by the Lord of Hosts with a
triumph over our enemies. It is my privilege to invite you once more to His footstool, not now in the
garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies
received at His hand. A few months since, and our enemies poured forth their invading legions
upon our soil. They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars and violated the sanctity of our homes.
Around our capital they gathered their forces, and with boastful threats, claimed it as already their
prize. The brave troops which rallied to its defense have extinguished these vain hopes, and,
under the guidance of the same almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them back
in dismay. Uniting these defeated forces and the various armies which had been ravaging our
coasts with the army of invasion in Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their attempt to
subjugate us at the very place where their first effort was defeated, and the vengeance of
retributive justice has overtaken the entire host in a second and complete overthrow.
To this signal success accorded to our arms in the East has been graciously added another
equally brilliant in the West. On the very day on which our forces were led to victory on the Plains
of Manassas, in Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to overcome our enemies at
Richmond, in Kentucky. Thus, at one and the same time, have two great hostile armies been
stricken down, and the wicked designs of their armies been set at naught.
In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring
thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto him
the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In his hand is the issue of all events, and to him should we,
in an especial manner, ascribe the honor of this great deliverance.
Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this, my
proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September inst., as a day of prayer and
thanksgiving to Almighty God for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially
for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas; and I do hereby invite the people of the
Confederate States to meet on that day at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in
rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore Him to conduct our
country safely through the perils which surround us, to the final attainment of the blessings of
peace and security.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this fourth day of
September, A.D.1862.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
THANKSGIVING DAY 1863 for victory in battle BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION
It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications and prayers of an afflicted people and
to vouchsafe to the Army and the Navy of the United States victories on land and on the sea so
signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence that the Union
of these States will be maintained, their Constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity
permanently restored. But these victories have been accorded not without sacrifices of life, limb,
health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic citizens. Domestic affliction in every part
of the country follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to recognize
and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these
triumphs and in these sorrows:
Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, the 6th day of August next, to be
observed as a day for national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and I invite the people of the
United States to assemble on that occasion in their customary places of worship and in the forms
approved by their own consciences render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful
things He has done in the nation’s behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the
anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion, to change the
hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so
great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length
and breadth of our land all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and
sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation
through the paths of repentance and submission to the divine will back to the perfect enjoyment of
union and fraternal peace.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of July A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the
United States the eighty-eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
These and other Presidential Proclamations through 1869 can be read here:
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