“He thought of the many dear boys already gone over to the unseen shore …”
Category: Program: Rally ‘Round the Flag
Dixie’s Land No. 5 (“Come, patriots all who hate oppression…”)
This LOC.gov songsheet shows us how Union partisans re-purposed Emmett’s 1859 minstrel walkaround: The opening lines establish reasons for
Battle Cry of Freedom: “If we’d had your songs…”
Account given by anonymous captured Confederate officer…
Song of the 1st of Arkansas (1864)
This rewrite of “Battle-Hymn of the Republic” puts the agency of social and economic upheaval squarely on the shoulders — or rather, under the boot-heels — of Colored Troops.
Home, Sweet Home: “Had we not had the river between us”
One private’s account of the power & presence of music after a terrible battle:
Dixie: “One of the best songs I have ever heard…” (1865)
Abraham Lincoln (April 10, 1865): “Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted yesterday that we fairly captured it.”
Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel (Emmett, 1853)
Here are a few versions of Dan Emmett’s song, displaying the far-reaching sense of international politics and breaking-news commentary to be found on the antebellum popular stage…
Old Folks At Home (Foster, 1851)
Stephen Foster’s 1851 song “Old Folks At Home” provides an excellent introduction to the antebellum period:
Vacant Chair (Root & Washburn, 1861)
George Root’s setting of Henry S. Washburn’s popular poem …
Kingdom Coming (Work, 1862)
Popular in both the North and the South, perhaps because of his ambiguous treatment of the plight of “contraband” (liberated slaves) …
Bonnie Blue Flag (Macarthy, 1861)
Harry Macarthy’s lively jig documents the secession of the southern states in winter 1860-1861…
Marching Through Georgia (Work, 1865)
This jaunty march commemorating Sherman’s March to the Sea proved to be one of Henry Clay Work’s most famous pieces:
The Hardtacks 