. . th of April-Friday—was observed, inaccordance with a procla-mation issued at Washing-ton, as a day of formalthanksgiving for the greatvictories, east and presaged the certainand speedy collapse of therebellion and the end ofthe war. The great jollifi-cation, that has been feeblydescribed, was a whollyspontaneous, f r e e - f o r - a 11affair, gotten up on the spurof the moment, withoutthe slightest attempt at asystematic celebration. Onthe day appointed, one hun-dred guns were fired atcorps headquarters, and be-fore ni
. . th of April-Friday—was observed, inaccordance with a procla-mation issued at Washing-ton, as a day of formalthanksgiving for the greatvictories, east and presaged the certainand speedy collapse of therebellion and the end ofthe war. The great jollifi-cation, that has been feeblydescribed, was a whollyspontaneous, f r e e - f o r - a 11affair, gotten up on the spurof the moment, withoutthe slightest attempt at asystematic celebration. Onthe day appointed, one hun-dred guns were fired atcorps headquarters, and be-fore night every battery in the corps took a hand. Tlu 1fresh outburst on the part of the soldiers, with plenty ol yelling,but, as may readily be imagined, it lacked something of the tre-mendous and everwhelu .:husiasm of the hurricane thatswept the camp and blew itself out during the twenty-four hoursimmediately following the reception of the news. Religious services were held in each brigade, and all thechaplains had a chance to preach. Of course the sermons—if. VIRGIL I! GREGORY, sk RGI ;fth. 7*6 TIDTNGS OF THE DKATH OP LINCOLN, April, such they could be called—were upon the one topic that absorbedevery thought. Th were rather noisy, from an orthodox view of the strict order ami decorum that should char-acterize divine services: but these combined, in about equal and patriotism. Indeed, the latter was the more conspic-uous, and the sermons were frequently interrupted by tempestu-ous applause and cheers. There was not a man in the army whodid not know at least so if the more familiar hymns, and the Tennessee woods andhills rang and re-echoedwith the strains of Coro-nation and Old Hundred. The da; en up to c e 1 e b r atin g. Thegenerals and colonels laidaside their official dignityand mingled freely withthe boys, shaking handsM&Uk*/ and speaking word- *%> igratulation. Some their tongues were a littlethick and their speech14 rocky, but the wondei was that the
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