University North Carolina at Charlotte

Civil War Music and Motivation

Oscar Tadlock
December 7, 2004
History 3798

1
 The Civil War was the most costly war for the United States in terms of American lives

lost. The stories of Gettysburg, with Picketts Charge, are infamous. The stories of marches, of

Confederate soldiers without shoes or food, and of Union soldiers enduring the same raise the

question of how the soldiers were able to endure the hardships and continue the fight. In For

Cause and Comrades, James M. McPherson examines the motivation of Civil War soldiers. He

uses the soldiers letters to learn their motivation for joining and continuing the fight during the

Civil War.1 From these letters McPherson is able to categorize different factors that contributed

to motivation. One such motivating factor was the idea of bravery and honor soldiers had

instilled in them from Victorian society. McPherson argues that it was the stigma of cowardice

that would motivate men to the battlefield even when they were sick.2 Another idea that was part

of the Victorian male code was that of revenge for injuries.3 Yet another motivational was the

way in which the home front played into the war. For McPherson, the support from those on the

home front was one of the leading causes for sustained motivation.4 William Miller Owen relates

that the arrival of mail from home [was] a moment of great excitement.5 It was these factors

and others that sustained the motivation through some of the darkest, and longest, days of the

Civil War.

How were these ideas communicated during the war? This paper will argue that it was in

the songs that the Civil War soldiers sang that carried these ideas with them into battle. Although

1
James M. McPherson, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1997), vii.
2
Ibid, 77.
3
Ibid, 148.
4
Ibid, 131.
5
William Miller Owen, In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans (Boston: Ticknor and
Company, 1885), 53.

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there were many types of songs sung during the war, this paper will look at three distinct types of

songs. These three types are patriotic songs, sentimental songs, and comic, or minstrel, songs.

Each song carried specific messages and had a specific role in how it formed the motivation for

the soldiers. This paper will look at the role of music in general, and then, go deeper into the role

of patriotic, sentimental, and comic songs individually.

The times spent in camps were long. Much of the soldiers time was spent waiting in

camps for orders to march or fight. The favorite pass time for the Confederate soldiers was

singing.6 For the Union troops, singing was second to reading as the favorite activity.7 The songs

sung around the fire usually dealt with home and were more sentimental.

The most popular time to sing was around the campfire. While most regiments had glee

clubs and organized vocal groups, it was the smaller camp fire singing that was the favorite. The

men in these groups had brought instruments from home such as banjo and fiddle and became

the envy of regiments that did not have them. The men would write home and talk of the skill of

the musicians and how appreciative they were to have them play.8

Soldiers hummed songs to pass the time while on picket as well. Some soldiers were even

reprimanded when the singing gave their positions away.9 Sometimes the soldiers from one side

would sing and the other side would answer.

It could be said that army life began with music. From the beginning of the rallies to the

marches through throngs of enthusiastic supporters, the soldiers were usually accompanied by

bands playing patriotic music. General Lee said in 1864, I dont believe we can have an army

6
Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Company, 1943), 151.
7
Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill
Company, 1952), 157.
8
Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, 157-158.
9
Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union. 158

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without music.10 The effects of music were documented in the letters and memoirs of the

soldiers. One private from South Carolina remarked after hearing Pop Goes the Weasel during

a public concert, I have never heard or seen such a time before. I felt at the time that I could

whip a whole brigade of the enemy myself.11 Music served not only to inspire but also to

provide a connection to the life that the soldiers had left behind.

Patriotic songs, for the purpose of this paper, are defined as songs that contained the

political themes of the respective armies. Soldiers sang patriotic songs on both sides of the lines.

Each side created lyrics to similar melodies as they created songs to convey their feelings. The

most popular patriotic song on the Confederate side was, of course, Dixie. There were

numerous versions of this song, however. In one version, the Rebel soldiers were commenting of

on the Union officers:

Burnside Burnside whither dost thou wander

Up stream down stream like a crazy gander.
Pope and McDowell fighting for a town
Up jumped Lee and knocked them both down
Nelson Bull Nelson fly away home
Your army is scattered and your cannon all gone.12

This was not uncommon. The Union side also adapted Dixie, being such a catchy

melody. The original was banned on the Union side for obvious reasons, but before long, a new

version was penned. The Union version was about reprimanding the Southerners and it gave the

Union soldiers a chance to sing the tune while still expressing their patriotism.

Away down South in the land of traitors,

Rattlesnakes and alligators,
Right away, come away, right away, come away
Where cottons king and men are chattels,
Union boys will win the battles,
Right away, come away, right away come, away13
10
Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, 157.
11
Ibid, 157.
12
Ibid, 154.
13
Irwin Silber, Songs of the Civil War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), 64.

4
 Another of the patriotic songs that soldiers sang in Confederate camps was The Bonnie

Blue Flag. This song captures the Southern views on the war and justifies their reasoning for

leaving the Union.

We are a band of brothers, native to the soil,

Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil;
And when are rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far:
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!
Hurrah! Hurrah for Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.14

The later verses sing about other states that have joined the Confederacy. The last line proudly

tells how the single star has now become eleven.15 Singing songs like these throughout the war

helped to keep the reasons for fighting the war in the minds of the soldiers as the war drug on

and kept the men motivated.

My Maryland shows the patriotism of the South in a regional tone. It is more true to the

Southern idea of a states rights as it rallies the soldier to fight for Maryland, not the Confederacy

as whole. Lamar Fontaine, in the belief that Maryland would secede from the Union, wrote this

song in 1861. H.H. Wharton recalls this was one of the most popular songs of the war and

believed it breathe[d] as well the spirit of true patriotism. The song ends with the following

verse:

I hear the distant thunder hum,

Maryland! My Maryland!
The old Line bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland! My Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb
Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum!
She breathesshe burns! Shell come! Shell come!
Maryland! My Maryland!16
14
Ibid, 65-66.
15
Ibid, 67.
16
H. M. Wharton, War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy 1861-1865: a collection of the most popular
and impressive songs and poems of war times, dear to every southern heart collected and retold with personal
reminiscences of the war (Philadelphia: International Publishing Company, 1904),192-194.

5
 The Union had its share of patriotic songs as well. One of the most well known songs is

the Battle Cry of Freedom. George F. Root wrote this song in 1862 and it became so popular

that it inspired a Southern version as well. One account of a Union soldier in 1863 describes the

effects of the song on troop morale:

By a happy accident, the glee club which came down from

Chicago a few afterward, brought with them the brand-new
song, Well Rally Round the Flag, Boys, and it ran through
the camp like wildfire. The effect was little short of
miraculous. It put as much spirit and cheer into the camp as a
splendid victory. Day and night you could hear it by very
camp fire and in every tent. Never shall I forget how those
men rolled out the line: And although he may be poor, he
shall never be a slave. I do not know whether Mr. Root ever
knew what good work his song did for us, but I hope so.17

Another account from Gettysburg about the regiment band of the Twenty-Sixth North

Carolina gives an idea of the life of a band during the war. Leinbach did not fight in the battle but

stayed back to help with the wounded. After the battle, his band went to play for some of the

men.

While thus engaged, in the afternoon, we were sentto play for

the men, and thus, perhaps, cheer them somewhat. Dr. Warren
sent Sam [Mickey] with a note to the commanding officer of the
brigade, that we could not be spared from attending the wounded
men. Some time later another order came for us, and this was
peremptory. We accordingly went to the regiment and found the
men much more cheerful than ourselves. We played for some
time, the Eleventh North Carolina Band playing with us, and the
men cheered us lustily.18

Through the above account it can be seen that the soldiers appreciated and reacted to the music

enthusiastically.

17
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 9.
18
Julius Leinbach, "Regiment band of the Twenty-Sixth North Carolina," Civil War History 4, no. 3 (1958): 225-
236, 229.

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 The song John Browns Body was a good example of how the issue of slavery changed

as the war progressed. The song is usually thought to be about the hanging of John Brown as a

result of his abolitionist activities in Harpers Ferry. The song is reported to have other origins.

First, one must realize that John Brown was a very common American name. Irwin Silber writes

that the namesake of the song was a Sergeant John Brown of Boston. John Brown was said to be

a tenor in a battalion glee club. It is believed that the original song was an improvisation of an

old Methodist tune Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us. The company is said to have enjoyed the

fact that everyone thought they were singing about John Brown of Harpers Ferry. In 1861 the

Massachusetts Twelfth Regiment was marching through New York City singing John Browns

Body and the crowd was immediately taken by the song. Of course, the crowd assumed that the

song was about the Harpers Ferry John Brown. As the war progressed, antislavery feelings grew

and so did the popularity of the song. The lyrics of the later version also have more of an

antislavery theme to them. 19

The early version of the song is a simple repeat of the line John Browns body lies a-

mouldering in the grave20 as the first verse. As the war progresses, along with antislavery

feelings, the first verse changes to:

Old John Browns body lies a-mouldering in the grave,

While weep the sons of bondage whom he ventured all to save;
But though he lost his life in struggling for the slave,
His truth goes marching on.21

These lines deal with slavery issue explicitly. There can be no mistaking that this John Brown

was from Harpers Ferry. The melody for this song, and parts of the chorus, became very popular

and were later transformed into The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

19
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 11
20
Ibid, 23.
21
Ibid, 24.

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 Another view of each individual side that has political undertones was the belief that

religion played in the causes for the war. Each side believed that God was supporting or backed

the cause that they were fighting to preserve. The South believed that God was supporting their

fight against the tyrannical north. While the North came to believe that God supported their sides

fight to abolish slavery. These two themes were both represented in song.

One such song, written by George H. Miles of Baltimore, was more of an appeal to God

for help than an assumption of which side He had chosen. Miles was asking for divine protection

to preserve the South. In the song Miles took on a familiar theme of the South being tied to the

true spirit of the founding fathers, rebellion. He wrote Rebel before were our fathers of yore;

Rebel the name that Washington bore.22 Even with the ties to our forefathers Miles

acknowledged that the North had more men and more might, which probably led him to include

the phrase God save the South!23

Other songs, such as The Southern Cross, took more liberty in assuming that God stood

on the side of the South. In the song the author called for fellow Southerners to fight in the

mighty name of God because on our side, Southern men, the God of battles fights.24

Probably the best example of the idea of divine approval in a Union song is The Battle

Hymn of the Republic written by Julia Ward Howe. As mentioned above this song is an

adaptation of John Browns Body, which interestingly had its roots in a Methodist hymn. This

lineage is interesting in how its roots lie originally in a religious hymn only to become one of the

most religious political songs of the era. The lyrics leave no room for misinterpretation. The fight

of the Union is the fight of God. In the last verse she states most clearly the cause of the Union.

22
Wharton, War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy 1861-1865: a collection of the most popular and
impressive songs and poems of war times, dear to every southern heart collected and retold with personal
reminiscences of the war, 282.
23
Ibid, 283.
24
Ibid, 283.

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She ties the fight to free the slaves with the religious fight of Jesus, and Christians, to ensure the

freedom of all men. The last verse reads:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.25

The theme of marching is used in way that equates the marching of God with the marching of the

Union Army.

Sentimental music was also involved with motivation. Some of the most important

themes used in sentimental music were to relieve homesick feelings26. This included songs about

home and family. One of the most popular songs for the Union soldier was The Girl I left

Behind Me.27 The lyrics tell of a rushed marriage and a new wife left behind with a breaking

heart. One of the interesting references is to the Revolutionary War and how the men now have a

chance to prove their courage and patriotism in fighting in this new war.

Full many a name our banners bore,

Of former deeds of daring,
But they were days of Seventy-Six,
In which we had no sharing;
But now our laurels freshly won,
With old ones shall entwined be,
Still worthy of our sires each son,
Sweet girl I left behind me.28

Music was a popular form of expression during the Civil War. Songs were written that

conveyed the feelings of the soldier and the worries of the people left back at home. Many of the

songs were written before the war but were made popular during the war. Often a song would

claim to contain the last words of dying soldier.29 This claim was sure to have deepened the

25
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 23.
26
Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union, 159.
27
Ibid, 161.
28
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 327.
29
Ibid, 115.

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sentimental aspect of the song. Many of the themes for the sentimental songs had to do with

dying alone, being wounded, and worrying about ones mother.30

The most popular song that soldiers sang was John Howard Paynes Home Sweet

Home.31 This song possibly reflects the feelings of homesickness that the soldiers felt, who after

desiring so strongly to go out for an adventure and see the elephant now had lost their romantic

ideas about war. It is no surprise that the soldier had constant thoughts of home. Unlike armies

of today, the Civil War army was an extension of the community the soldier had left. Local

leaders had raised troops from the local population and most of what the soldier knew of army

life centered on his life in the regiment.32

Another function of the sentimental song was not only reflecting those feelings of

homesickness, but also retain a connection with the home front. It was in retaining the

connection that the soldier was able to keep some form identity outside of the war. In the book

The Vacant Chair, taken from a title of a Civil War song, Reid Mitchell examines the role of the

home front on motivation. Reid uses the song Just Before the Battle, Mother to illustrate

another role of sentimental songs. Reid argues that these songs not only expressed the feelings of

the soldiers, but also instructed them on what feelings they should have.33 The lyrics of the song

include

Just before the battle, mother

I am thinking most of you
While on field were watching
With the enemy in view
Comrades brave round me lying
Filled with thoughts of home and God
For well they know that on the morrow

30
Ibid, 116.
31
Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, 152.
32
Reid Mitchell, The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993),
21-22.
33
Ibid, 35.

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 Some will sleep beneath the sod34

The above song illustrates the fear and an understanding of the possibility of death in the

next days battle. In fact, if Reids argument of instruction is considered, this song is teaching the

soldier to face that fear, acknowledge it, and continue to fight.

The connection to home was also seen in songs that talked of the eventually return of the

soldier. Remembering home was a way for the soldier to think of something outside of the war. It

was this connection that allowed the soldier to retain his identity outside of the army. In most

cases the lure of home was sufficient to prevent the civilian from being permanently submerged

in the soldier.35 One such song, When this Cruel War is Over, shows the feelings of fear and

hope that the soldier will make it through the war and return home.

Weeping sad and lonely

Sighs and fears how vain!
When this cruel war is over,
Praying that we meet again36

Another song that the soldiers sang that had hopes of home, though in a much more jovial

air, was Goober Peas. This song was a light look at the life of soldiers when they were not in

battle, but lounging on the road. Of course one verse told of a Southern general whose men are

unprepared for battle when the Union troops arrive because they are all eating goober peas. The

song also has a wish for when the war ends:

I wish this war was over, when free from rags and fleas
Wed kiss our wives and sweethearts and gobble goober peas!37

34
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 151-152
35
Mitchell, The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home, 35.
36
Wharton, War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy 1861-1865: a collection of the most popular and
impressive songs and poems of war times, dear to every southern heart collected and retold with personal
reminiscences of the war, 377.
37
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 186.

11
 If letters were the one most motivating factors that occurred in the Civil War camp, then

one of the greatest fears would have been to be forgotten at home. This fear is illustrated in a

song titled, Do They Miss Me at Home? The song was written by Caroline A. Mason nine

years prior to the Civil War, but found a voice with both sides of the conflict. The piece was so

appropriate and popular that responses were written from the home front that told the soldier he

was not forgotten. Some of the titles of these songs were Oh We Miss You at Home and Yes,

We Think of Thee at Home. The lyrics of Do They Miss Me at Home? expressed the

loneliness that very much related to the soldier who feared he was becoming disconnected from

home and his civilian identity. The first verse of the song goes:

Do they miss me at home, do they miss me?

Twould be an assurance most dear,
To know that this moment some loved one
Were saying, I wish he were here;
To feel that the group at the fireside were thinking of me as I roam
Oh, yes, twould be joy beyond measure
To know that they missed me at home
To know that they missed me at home.38

Songs also had the function of creating group cohesion. William H. McNeill considers

the act of drilling together to create muscular bonding. It is the singing and rhythmic calls during

drilling that can create what McNeill calls boundary loss. 'Boundary loss' is the individual and

'feeling they are one' is the collective way of looking at the same thing: a blurring of self-

awareness and the heightening of fellow-feeling with all who share in the dance.39McNeill

argues that this boundary loss helped to keep men fighting. As the self awareness blurs into

group awareness, self frustrations disappear40 and feelings for the group surrounding the person,

sharing the feelings of danger, help one focus on the safety of the group and not just on ones

38
Ibid, 131-132.
39
William H. McNeill, Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History (Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1995), 8.
40
Ibid,152.

12
self.41 One account talks of Confederate soldiers who were marching through the mud and rain.

Their voices rose in unison to a verse that ran: So let the wide world wag as it will, We'll be gay

and happy still.42

The idea of group cohesion almost runs counter to the above mentioned role of

sentimental songs. If the sentimental songs kept the soldier from being swallowed by army life,

the songs sung during marches and drills would help the soldier submerge into army life. The

men of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment went through this change. After two

months at Fort Snelling, the men were heading off to war.43 These men had a long journey in

front of them before they became veteran soldiers, but the time spent drilling at Fort Snelling

would help to create a bond that would strengthen throughout the war.

The comic, light-hearted songs served the purpose of making life bearable for the war-

time soldier. The marches were long, and as the above quote shows, it was often in harsh

conditions. These comic songs were an outlet. They let the soldiers vent their frustration and

laugh at their situation. These songs dealt with topics from marching conditions to food quality

or lack of it. One such song that runs the full range of a soldiers daily concerns went:

Sometimes we have to double quick;

This Dixie mud is mighty slick.
The soldiers fare is very rough,
The bread is hard, and the beef is tough,
Thats the way they put us through,
I tell you what, its hard to do.
But well obey dutys call,
To conquer Dixie, that is all!44

The song above tells many things about the problems facing the Civil War soldier. It

creates a picture of the hardships that occur outside of battle. It illustrates the trials of everyday
41
Ibid, 10.
42
Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, 153.
43
Richard Moe, The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers (St. Paul: Minnesota
Historical Society Press, 1993), 29.
44
Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union, 159.

13
life for the soldier, between the fighting. The soldier would have to march from battlefield to

battlefield, sometimes quickly when they were in pursuit of a retreat army or retreating

themselves. One account of marching comes after Bull Run. In The Last Full Measure, Richard

Moe recounts the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantrys experience at Bull Run. After marching

and fighting from two oclock in the morning the unit had to continue to march to Alexandria.

The march took until noon the following day, and with only a few hours sleep they were ordered

to continue the march to Washington. One soldier remarked, It was the hardest days work I ever

expected to do.45 While there is no mention of singing during this march, it is easy to see why

the soldiers would need to rise above their immediate circumstance. It was almost as if to say

that if they were not able to laugh at their situation they would have had no other choice but to

cry.

One favorite marching song of which both sides had versions was Tramp, Tramp,

Tramp. The song is sung from the perspective of a prisoner of war. It is a song of hope that the

soldiers are coming to free the prisoners. It was written by George F. Root and was a favorite

song of the families on the home front before it was recruited by the soldiers to become a

favorite song to march. Following is the Union version of the song:

In the prison cell I sit,

Thinking, Mother, dear, of you
And our bright and happy home so far away
And the tears, they fill my eyes
Spite of all that I can do,
Tho I try to cheer my comrades and be gay

Tramp, tramp, tramp the boys are marching

Cheer up comrades, they will come
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again
Of the land in our own beloved home46

45
Moe, The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers, 59-60.
46
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 35.

14
 One of the more comical songs that is said to be rooted in actual occurrence is the song

Heres Your Mule. It is believed that the song has its roots in the disappearance of livestock

that was common in the Civil War in areas where soldiers were camped. One reason was, of

course, the desire for food. Sometimes the loss of livestock would be caused by an accident as

described by a Minnesota volunteer when he shot at movement and found out he had shot a

cow.47 The song is light hearted and describes the adventures of a farmer trying to locate his mule

in an army camp.

A farmer came to camp one day,

With milk and eggs to sell,
Up on a mule that oft would stray
To where no one could tell.
The farmer tired of his tramp,
For hours was made a fool,
By everyone he met in camp
With, Mister, heres your mule.48

This type of game playing helped the troops blow off steam and singing it would almost bring as

much enjoyment as the actions described.

The songs of the Civil War were far more than entertainment for people at home or the

troops on the battlefield. The songs conveyed the ideas and beliefs of the people that carried

them into war and gave them the motivation to sustain the fighting. Political ideas were

expressed in song and these songs kept the ideas in the minds of the soldiers on marches and in

camp. In some instances, such as the Wilderness campaign mentioned above, songs had a direct

effect on the motivation while in the heat of battle. In addition to the political views of the armies

and governments, the songs helped the soldiers cope with army and played a significant role in

the shaping of the civilian into a soldier. The songs provided an outlet for emotions. They

47
Moe, The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers, 77.
48
Silber, Songs of the Civil War, 222-223.

15
allowed the soldiers to express feelings of fear, while at the same time instructing them how to

deal with that fear. The songs were the tie to home front and memories of home. When using the

factors of motivation by McPherson and others, it can be seen that these songs were an extension

and expression of many of those factors.

16