Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone here a very merry Christmas and happy new year.  We will be travelling over the holidays and spending some quality with family and loved ones. Today, we remember President Lincoln and Christmas 1864: One hundred fifty years ago, the United States experienced its last holiday season of the Civil War. For the past three Decembers, President Abraham Lincoln had been frustrated by defeats on the battlefield and the continuation of a seemingly endless war. This Christmas of 1864 however, President Lincoln had much to celebrate... In addition to being elected to a second term in November, President Lincoln had good news from the front indicating the Confederate war effort might be coming to an end. General Philip Sheridan drove the Confederates out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and a Confederate effort to capture Nashville, Tennessee resulted in the defeat and near collapse of Confederate forces in the...(Read Full Post)