Civil War Songs

While the political history of a country during wartime is often told in textbooks, the cultural climate of a country at war is often recorded in the art of the time; the poetry that told the story of World War I, the novels and nonfiction that were inspired by the Spanish Civil War, these give those of generations hence a more visceral account of these wars than the dry accounts in textbooks.

During the era of the American Civil War, songs captured the mood of both the soldiers and civilians who lives were changed by their wartime experience. Of the hundreds of widely known songs composed during the Civil War, many are among the most familiar songs in the American vernacular.

“John Brown’s Body,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Dixie,” “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” “Turkey in the Straw,” “Oh Shenandoah,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” and even “Taps” are among the wealth of American songs that were composed during or came to be associated with the American Civil War.

Many of the songs of the Civil War reflect the love of country, a yearning for home, or love for a sweetheart far away; however, just as many are jolly songs sung first in good times, then sung in memory of good times past and good times hopefully to come.

Although the history of many of these songs from the Civil War era is fascinating, what’s even more remarkable for those living in the era of Mp3s, satellite radio, and streaming audio is the way these songs became so widely known.

A song obviously did not become famous in the Civil War era by the same methods as songs today do. Radio transmission would not be harnessed for another 25-30 years, and even then only in the laboratory; audio recording on wax cylinders was in experimentation, but was not yet in widespread use.

However, songs became known nationally throughout the United States – and the Confederacy – during the Civil War with surprising frequency, albeit by different means.

During the Victorian era, which coincided with the Civil War era, most homes had either a piano or a pianoforte (a smaller piano-type instrument), and someone or several someones in the home played for the enjoyment of the family and visitors. In all but the poorest homes, the piano was a source of entertainment not unlike today’s stereo or television.

Sheet-music salesmen proffered their goods both in shops and door to door, offering the family pianist new additions to the repertoire. These salesmen, often working for large companies, came armed not only with their sheaves of musical scores, but with the knowledge of what songs were best sellers in local and national markets.

A song’s popularity would typically begin after a successful public performance in a musical entertainment, and then be mass-reproduced into sheet music that made performing the song at home possible. Thus the popularity of a song during the Civil War-era was determined much like it is today – through word of mouth.

It is interesting to note that many of the songs that are associated with the Civil War may or may not have been written especially with the war in mind. This is true both of “Dixie,” and “Oh Shenandoah,” while others, such as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” were written with patriotic statements in mind. Regardless of their origin or intent, these songs of the Civil War have survived into the present not because records or other recordings of them exist; rather, like heirlooms, they were passed down from person to person.