Civil War Song and Music
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| The tragedy of the American Civil War was a defining event in US history. The consequences of those times are felt in America even today. By the early 1900‘s, the young soldiers of the war were then in their 60‘s. The song and music of that conflict was still living in their memory, as well as in the collective memory of American society. |
| While music has always been an important means of communicating feelings and ideas in human history, the 19th century was the age of the piano. By the 1860‘s, thousands of pianos resided in the homes of Americans, throughout the country. Singing and playing music was a major pastime in many families, and reading and playing music was considered an important part of a young Victorian woman‘s education. Music publication was an important industry. The terrible American Civil War (1861-1865) created a tremendous need for people to express the feelings associated with this episode in history. These songs provided people with an outlet for their grief, motivation, and anger coming out of this experience. |
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Union songs vastly outnumbered those of the Confederacy. This is probably
due to the number of large cities of the north, and their well-established publishing houses,
whose business went undisturbed for the duration of the war.
The Southern Confederacy made a sincere attempt to establish a functioning government, whose capital was located in Richmond, Virginia. This even included a copyright office. There were music publishers in the south, and a number of Confederate sheet music issues are known to exist today. They are very rare, and are often printed on the backside of surplus wallpaper. This evidence seems to be a good indication of just how scarce resources were in the south, and why there are so few original southern Confederate songs. Indeed, soldiers in the Confederate camps often invented their own lyrics to the better-known Union songs. |
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George F. Root was probably the most important writer of patriotic music from this era.
As part of the prominent music publishing company, Root and Cady, the compositions of Mr.
Root could easily and quickly be distributed throughout the eastern Union states. Many Civil
War songs were borrowed from traditional tunes, with the new addition of wartime lyrics.
Root‘s songs were all original works. Many 19th century composers would also publish under
alias names, and Root was no exception. German names were stylish at the time, so Root
occasionally published under the name of G. Fredrich Wurzel. Wurzel, in German, means root.
G. F. (root) . get it?
According to the Chicago Tribune, the popular Lumbard Brothers introduced The Battle Cry of Freedom at a Chicago war rally on July 24, 1862. The rallying spirit of the song was immediately applauded, and quickly spread across the Union camps, parlors at home, and other rallies throughout the Union. In the east, the famous Hutchinsons often performed the song. More than 350,000 copies of The Battle Cry were published. A number of parodies were later adopted, including a version, which was sympathetic to the Confederacy. This song has survived to the present day. It is likely you will recognize it, even if you are not familiar with the title. |
| The Battle Cry of Freedom | Harlan and Stanley | 10/10/04 | 2:20 |
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Julia Ward Howe, and her husband, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, were abolitionists from Boston,
Massachusetts. Their daughter, in later years, said she believed that they had been active in the
"underground railroad". This was the secret organization, which aided escaped slaves on their
way to Canada, before the war.
Dr. Howe was a member of the "Military Sanitary Commission", a group appointed by President Lincoln to oversee the health of the army. Legend has it that the couple was visiting one of the Union camps, where they joined with the troops in singing, "John Brown’s Body". The couple previously knew the radical abolitionist, John Brown. It is believed that Dr. Howe had once compared John Brown‘s devotion to the abolitionist cause, to the passion and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. During this camp visit, it was suggested to Mrs. Howe that she revise the song, to be more in context with the current conflict. The Atlantic Monthly first published the result, in February 1862. It is believed the editor of the magazine originated the title. |
| Battle
Hymn of the Republic (tune "John Brown's Body") |
Frank C. Stanley | 11/17/05 | 2:28 |
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George F. Root wrote this song in 1863, inspired by the conditions reported from
Andersonville prison. Andersonville is remembered as the most infamous of Confederate prisons,
probably due to it‘s over crowding and lack of resources to properly care for it‘s Union inmates.
This rollicking, inspirational song enjoyed immediate acclaim, both at home and as a popular marching theme in the battlefields. So popular was "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp", that a parody version quickly circulated within the Confederacy. Root also wrote two sequels of the song, after the war. One was "On, On, On, the Boys Came Marching", or "The Prisoner Free". The other was a memorial song, "Starved in Prison". The song continued to be known into the 20th century, and indeed even into modern times. The International Workers of the World produced one parody version for the workers union movement, in 1910. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Freedom Movement created another version, before the turn of the century. Many people, reading this article, may also remember singing in Sunday school, "Jesus loves the little children of the world". |
| Tramp, Tramp, Tramp | Harlan and Stanley | 1/??/07 | 2:19 |
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Here is yet another song, by the prolific writer George F. Root, from 1862.
The theme is of a soldier on the battlefield, who in spirit is speaking to his mother and home.
He reveals the visions of the death and destruction he has witnessed, and the doubt of his own
survival. A very real part of his mind is fixed with the memories of peace and home.
Nevertheless, the soldier realizes he is committed to the effort, and condemns the traitors
at home, which undermine the cause that he is risking life for.
"Just Before the Battle, Mother" is a universal song of every soldier, who has faced death in a foreign land, not knowing if they would ever be able to return to their families. The song, just as written, was also popular within the Confederate army. The Christy Minstrels performed it in England, and the British eventually believed that it was a song about the Crimean war. The meaning of "Just Before the Battle, Mother", is timeless, and will continue to be profound as long as mankind endures the horrors of war. |
| Just Before the Battle, Mother | Macdonough and Bieling | 6/01/05 | 3:09 |
| This is a song of hope, and the anticipation of joyous reunion with the soldier and his community. There is no political comment, nor even any specific mention of the Civil War. The popularity of this song actually increased over the years, and reached its peak during the time of the Spanish - American war, in the late 1890s. The authorship of this song is not clear. It was published under the name of Louis Lambert, which was a pseudonym for Patrick S. Gilmore, bandmaster for the Union Army in New Orleans. Gilmore apparently never claimed complete authorship of "Johnny". At one point he said that he had learned the tune from a local African-American singer, and that the melody had a traditional origin. Others claim that the song came out of Gilmore’s Irish roots, but nobody ever has been able to suggest any Irish melody, which could be a likely source. |
| When Johnny Comes Marching Home | Stanley and Macdonough | 6/07/07 | 2:09 |
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This was not written as a Civil War song. The citizens and soldiers of the
Southern Confederacy adopted it. Daniel Decatur Emmett was a composer and performer from
Bryant‘s Minstrels, and wrote the song for the company’s shows in 1859. The theme of the song,
along with the timing of Lincoln‘s election and the subsequent secession of the South,
likely contributed to the song‘s popularity, and its survival into modern times.
"Dixie’s Land", in every way, is as inspirational as "The Battle Cry of Freedom", but is very much as an American song of Southern pride. |
| Dixie | Harlan and Stanley | 9/??/03 | 2:39 |
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This is a re-lyricised version of the old German air, "Der Tannenbaum"
(also remembered today as "Oh, Christmas Tree").
Maryland was the northernmost slave holding state, at the time of the conflict. It was strategically important to the Union, that Maryland did not secede, as this would cut off Washington D.C. from the rest of the north. Southern sympathizers had clashed with Union troops in Baltimore, and secession was a dangerous issue in 1861. James Ryder Randall was a young English professor, in Louisiana, and a strong advocate of the Southern Confederacy. Originally a Maryland native, Randall was angered to learn of the Baltimore riots, and wrote the lyrics of "Maryland, My Maryland" with the hope that his effort would tip the scales in the South’s favor, and motivate Maryland to leave the Union. The new version of the song was first published in the April 26th, 1861 edition of the New Orleans "Delta". Although it did not have the desired effect of Maryland’s secession, it remained popular as a Confederate song, and remained so many years after the war. This is probably the most memorable Confederate song, after "Dixie". |
| Maryland, My Maryland | Harry Macdonough | 12/??/05 | 2:38 |
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Henry Clay Work (1832-1884), honoring General Sherman‘s destructive march from
Atlanta to Savannah Georgia, in 1864, wrote this controversial song. "Marching Through Georgia"
(1865), "Kingdom Coming"(1862), and "Grandfather‘s Clock"(1876) are probably
the only songs still occasionally remembered from Work‘s music. Work was not a prolific composer,
but had a great talent in creating memorable tunes, which could be played easily by people with
limited piano skills.
This Connecticut native was raised in a family with strong abolitionist feelings, which are expressed in a number of his songs. Although Work used some of the same African-American stereotypes as his contemporaries, Work‘s slave characters were always portrayed with an element of dignity and strength of character. In "Uncle Joe‘s Hail Columbia"(1862), the old slave has endured life for 90 years, and is ready to die in contentment, now that he has drawn a breath of freedom. "Wake Nicodemus!"(1864) is a story of a past profit, whose dying request was to be woken on the day of emancipation. "Marching Through Georgia" is very much a Union victory song, which glorifies the devastation of Sherman‘s campaign. The lyrics are full of cheering ‘darkies’, looted booty, and ‘saucy rebels’. George F. Root‘s company, Root and Cady, published this song in 1865. |
| Marching Through Georgia | Harlan and Stanley | 5/17/09 | 2:19 |