The 13th regiment spent its first Christmas Day, 1861, in camp near Leesburg.

Private Mike Hubbert of the Minutemen of Attala wrote in his diary: “Camp is in quite a stir this morning. The boys all feel gay from the effect of the fashionable old drink Egg Nog.”

Meanwhile, back home in Jackson, Mississippi, according to The Weekly Mississippian: “We would call attention to the splendid entertainment gotten up by the ladies of Jackson, to come off at the Concert Hall on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Tree, loaded with its rich gifts, for Christmas presents, will be a sight well worth seeing. Each person buying a ticket of admission will be entitled to a prize, corresponding to the number on the ticket. Tickets only fifty cents, half tickets for children, twenty-five cents, all of which will draw a prize.”

The latter via Mississippians In The Confederate Army