Christmas in Camp

Get in the holiday spirit and learn how Christmas was observed during the Civil War at Fort Ward Museum's annual Civil War Christmas in Camp program on Saturday, December 12, 2025, from 12-4 p.m. This popular family-oriented event features a patriotic Civil War Santa Claus, reenactors in winter camp settings, and period decorations. Christmas in Camp The program features a Civil War-era Union Santa Claus, based on an 1863 cover of Harper's Weekly by artist Thomas Nast, who will interact with the public, welcome children to the reconstructed Officers' Hut, and visit soldiers in camp. Reenactors will interpret army life in winter camps that are decorated for the season, and celebrate by opening Christmas boxes from home and singing carols of the period around the campfire. The Museum will be decorated with festive greenery and a Victorian parlor tree. Children can make a holiday card or ornament. A variety of Civil War books and "stocking stuffers" are available in the Museum shop. Fort Ward is the best preserved of the Union forts in the extensive system known as the Defenses of Washington. The Museum offers exhibits and public programs throughout the year. Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site is located at 4301 West Braddock Road in the City of Alexandria.