4th of July 1861

As we get ready to celebrate our country's 235th birthday, I wanted to look back at how July 4th was observed in Washington, D.C.  150 years ago.  The Union itself was in peril. 11 States had seceded and tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides were bivouacked in camps within a day's march of each other. Despite the troubled times, The Washington National Republican observed that "the fears that the national troubles would interfere materially with the celebration of the Fourth of have all been dissipated, and the probability is that the celebration of today will surpass anything Washington has seen."