It was a passing moment of cheer amid the harsh realities of war.

On Christmas day of 1862, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, attended a holiday dinner hosted by his valued "right arm" - General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Lee and some of his officers were invited by Jackson for a Christmas meal at an outbuilding at Moss Neck, where Jackson had established winter headquarters near Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Surely it was a rare respite from the severities of warfare. Just three months earlier, Lee's army had been sorely pressed at the battle of Antietam -- and Lee's attempt to take the war to the North had been turned back in the bloodiest day of the war. And less than two weeks earlier at the battle of Fredericksburg - in one of his most decisive victories - Lee had his army overwhelmingly defeat the Army of the Potomac. So shocking were the harsh realities of war at Fredericksburg that Lee had observed: "It is well that war is so terrible; lest we grow too fond of it."

Lee left the warm environment of General Jackson's hospitality to return to his headquarters and matters of war. He passed some guests that were arriving for a holiday party at the manor house and was momentarily refreshed by the events of the day and the warm wishes of "Merry Christmas General Lee."