The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society by Michael Winter

5, capturing eight Federal soldiers and suffering only one wounded. The Brigade was dispatched on a mid-December expedition west of Williamsport to destroy Dam No. General Jackson, however, kept them busy. They were not far from home, however, as the Brigade had been shifted from Centerville to Winchester in early November, giving those men from the lower valley the hope of visiting friends and family. How they lived and what they thought of during these periods sheds some light on how they endured the titanic ordeal of the American Civil War.įor many of the men of the Stonewall Brigade, December 1861 brought the first Christmas they had spent away from home. Their letters and diaries covering each holiday season are poignant, hopeful, and occasionally humorous. For four long years, the men of the Stonewall Brigade’s 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, and 33rd Virginia regiments celebrated Christmas apart from their families. Few holidays have the emotional resonance in American society as Christmas-it is a cherished time to be among friends and family.

The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society by Michael Winter