“His musket falls slack, his face dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep–
For their mother–may Heaven defend her.”
Category: Women of the Civil War
Just Before the Battle, Mother (Root, 1863)
“At my request they sat down and sang, and when about half through, as I stepped to the door, a shell exploded within fifty yards…”
Southern Girl with the Homespun Dress
“Many a woman who never before held a plow, is now seen in the corn-field…”
Vacant Chair (Root & Washburn, 1861)
George Root’s setting of Henry S. Washburn’s popular poem …
Battle Hymn of the Republic (Howe, 1861)
Written in November 1861 by abolitionist poet Julia Ward Howe, this song seems to glimpse the fiery trial ahead:
The Hardtacks 