Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War

332 Pages·2012·4.468 MB·English

by  Christian McWhirter

BATTLE HYMNS
CIVIL WAR AMERICA
Gary W. Gallagher, Peter S. Carmichael, Caroline E. Janney,
and Aaron Sheehan- Dean, editors
BATTLE HYMNS
THE POWER AND POPULARITY
OF MUSIC IN THE CIVIL WAR
CHRISTIAN MCWHIRTER
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
Chapel Hill
© 2012 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in Quadraat type
by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on
Library Resources.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
McWhirter, Christian.
Battle hymns : the power and popularity of music in the Civil War / Christian McWhirter.
p. cm. — (Civil War America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8078-3550-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Music and the war. 
2. Patriotic music—United States—History and criticism. 3. Music—
Social aspects—United States—History—19th century. I. Title.
ML3551.4.M39 2012
781.640973′09034—dc23
2011036320
16 15 14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Part of Everyone’s Meat and Drink:
Popular Music and the Civil War 7
2 John Browns and Battle Cries:
The Patriotic Songs of the Union 32
3 Gay Deceibers and Bonnie Blue Flags:
The Anthems of the Confederacy 59
4 Words Were as Weapons:
Music on the Home Front 83
5 A Wonderful and Inspiring Influence:
Music in the Armies 111
6 The Choked Voice of a Race, at Last Unloosed:
African Americans and Civil War Music 137
7 Fresh Strains for Fresh Developments:
The End of the War and Its Music 164
8 Veterans, Memorialists, and the King:
The Revival and Legacy of Civil War Music 183
Conclusion: The Singing Element 212
Notes 215
Bibliography 259
Index 301
ILLUSTRATIONS
Chickering & Sons factory 14
Root & Cady store 17
George Frederick Root 21
Songs of the War 23
“The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” 26
“The Star Spangled Banner” 35
C. C. McCabe 49
“We Are Coming Father Abraham,
300,000 More” 56
“The Virginian Marseillaise” 63
Herman F. Arnold’s “Dixie” 67
“The Bonnie Blue Flag” 76
“The Battle of Shiloh” 87
“Beauregard’s Charleston Quickstep” 89
Songs of Miles O’Reilly 93
Geddes’s “The Bonnie Blue Flag” 97
“The Sour Apple Tree” 99
Ninety- Third New York field musicians 113
Field musicians in camp 114
Thirty- Third New York regimental band 116
114th Pennsylvania regimental band 118
“The Contraband Schottische” 141
“Babylon Is Fallen” 149
107th USCT regimental band 160
Former Confederate field musicians 189
Herman F. Arnold postcard 199
Daniel Decatur Emmett 203
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is worth noting, here at the outset, the indispensability of online resources to
this study. Because music is rarely included in indexes and finding aids, search-
able databases were critical. A great deal of my research, particularly my exami-
nation of periodicals and newspapers, heavily leaned on online sources. Indeed,
without these resources this work may well have proved impossible to com-
plete. These services are revolutionizing historical research and have opened
many new avenues for historical exploration. I want to especially acknowledge
the following databases and providers for their usefulness to this study: Pro-
quest, Gale Digital Collections, the Library of Congress, Google Books, Making
of America, and the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music. The University
of Alabama libraries, especially Brett Spencer, greatly assisted this project by
making many of these resources available to me.
Of course, these online resources are not comprehensive, so extensive re-
search in libraries and archives was also necessary. I am very grateful to staff
members at the University of Alabama Interlibrary Loan Department for their
constant diligence and assistance. Patricia Causey was indispensible to me and
relentlessly tracked down books, articles, and microfilm on my behalf. Valued
assistance was also provided by Patricia Baughman at the Library of Congress,
John Coski at the Museum of the Confederacy, Jill Gage at the Newberry Library,
Jacob Lee and Mike Veach at the Filson Historical Society, Meredith McLemore
at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and Henry Miller at the
Wisconsin Historical Society.
Research fellowships for this project were provided by the Virginia Historical
Society, the Filson Historical Society, and the Bentley Library at the University of
Michigan. Travel grants were given by the University of Alabama Graduate Stu-
dent Association and Student Government Association. I am especially grateful
to the History Department and Graduate Council at Alabama for providing gen-
erous full- year fellowships. I would also like to acknowledge Daniel W. Stowell
and my fellow editors at the Papers of Abraham Lincoln for their encourage-
ment and support.
A debt is also owed to numerous friends and colleagues who provided
sources and leads throughout my research. Of these, I am especially grateful
to Angela Jill Cooley, Joseph Danielson, Derek Frisby, David Gleeson, Michael
{ vii }
Hoekstra, Chandra Manning, Kirsten M. Schultz, Sean A. Scott, Mills Tate, and
Kristopher Teters. Helpful commentary on all or part of this work was given
by Peter S. Carmichael, James A. Davis, William W. Freehling, Grace Elizabeth
Hale, Howard Jones, Lawrence F. Kohl, Brian MacDonald, and Joshua D. Roth-
man. Glenn David Brasher and Robert Volney Riser both kindly assisted me in
researching and writing this book. The staff at the University of North Carolina
Press has been extremely helpful. I am especially grateful to David Perry for his
advice and encouragement. I also owe a huge debt to George C. Rable, who was
invaluable at every stage of this project. Without his guidance and seemingly
endless patience, I would surely have produced a far inferior piece of work.
Although he did not directly assist with this work, I want to acknowledge
my undergraduate adviser Thomas G. Elliott. His enthusiasm for his subject
and emphasis on primary research heavily shaped my own approach to history.
Although it is outside of his field, I hope this book meets with his approval.
My family has been extremely encouraging and supportive throughout this
process and my academic career. I am very grateful to my parents, David and
Marie McWhirter, my in-l aws Michael and Jo Anne Smithson, my brother Jesse
and his wife, Jennifer, my grandparents Rocco and Mary Longo, and my late
grandfather and grandmother, David and Dorothy McWhirter.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank my wife, Corrin, for her tireless
patience and encouragement. Not only did she provide emotional support, but
she went far beyond the call of duty by helping me research, organize, write,
and edit this work. She even used her skilled artistic eye to photograph many of
the illustrations. I am sure I can never fully repay her for the sacrifices she has
made on my behalf and am eternally grateful.
viii } Acknowledgments
BATTLE HYMNS