Thanksgiving Menu 1863

On Nov 26, 1863, a Thanksgiving dinner was served at St. James Hall in London. The guests seem to have been diplomats, both Federal and British. The program was as follows:

1.Reading of President Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving
2. Prayer
3. Singing a song written to the melody of "Auld Lang Syne"

We meet, the Sons of Freedom's Sires
Unchanged, where'er we roam,
While gather round their household fires
The happy bands of home;
And while across the far blue wave,
Their prayers go up to God,
We pledge the faith our fathers gave, --
The land by Freedman trod!

The heroes of our Native Land
Their sacred trust still hold,
The freedom from a mighty band
Wrenched by the men of old.
That lesson to the broad earth given
We pledge beyond the sea, --
The land from dark oppression riven,
A blessing on the free!



Then dinner was served. The dinner commenced at 3 pm, and I believe a great deal of time was needed to get through the event. The meal had multiple courses.

The first course, soup, had 3 different soups, followed by the fish course of 4 kinds of fish. The entrees for the meal had 2 chicken dishes, one of which is a small patty shell with creamed chicken, a liver dish, a pate of duck liver, quenelles, which are a fried mixture of meat and egg, and veal sweetbreads. The "Large Pieces" course had roast turkey with truffles, braised prairie chicken, roast duckling with potatoes, saddle of mutton, and a quarter of beef.

This was followed by a course of game birds: pheasant, partridge, and wild duck. To help fill up any empty corners, the desserts were gelee Victoria, gelee Macedonia, cream American, Swedish orange, apricots Regency, Napoleon gateaux, Chantilly meringues, assorted pastries, pumpkin pie ala America, mince pie ala England, pudding ala diplomat, and iced pudding ala St James.

The meal concluded, and the programmed toasts began. The first toast was to President Lincoln, and the second toast to Queen Victoria. The honors done, the next toast was to the Day of Thanksgiving, particularly devoted to thanksgiving for victories in cause of Liberty and Union. This toast was followed by a toast to the land of America itself, for ever one and inseparable.

The fifth toast was to the Emancipation Proclamation, written with the finger of God on the heart of Abraham Lincoln, and the sixth to the Army and the Navy, who bled that the country might live.

For the last toasts, I want to use the exact verbiage given in the dinner program.

Toast 7: Washington, the Man without a Peer. We follow his farewell advice - Never to Surrender the Union.

Toast 8: The Press - the Tyrant's foe and the People's friend. Where it is free, despotism must perish.

Toast 9 (the final): The Ladies. Our Sweethearts, Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Friends. Their holy influence will break all chains but those which bind our hearts to them.

The toasts have been reprinted in the booklet, and are quite substantial, more of what we would think of as a short speech. Thanksgiving has quite a marathon event, and I can only imagine how long it took!