MUSIC AND CONFLICT:
FROM PATRIOTISM TO PROTEST
Civil War (1861-1865)
Important Dates:
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April 12, 1861: Confederates bomb Fort Sumter, South Carolina
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There were approximately 2,128,948 Union Soldiers and only 1,082,119 Confederate Soldiers. The Confederate Army was outnumbered 2-1.
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Casualties:
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Approximately 620,000 total soldiers died
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These numbers compate to 644,000 casualities combined in all conflicts through the Gulf War
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April 9,1865: General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse to General Ulysses S. Grant.
Quotes or Battle Cries:
The Rebel Yell - a banshee-like high-pitched scream used by Confederate soldiers to intimidate their enemies during a charge.
"Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came." - Abraham Lincoln
"...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln
"What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbours, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world! ... My heart bleeds at the death of every one of our gallant men." - General Robert E. Lee
The Facts
Where in the world . . .
Click the map icon to find out more about where this war took place and the nature of the battlefields.
Songs and Lyrics of the War
The Battle Cry of Freedom (Confederate Version)
by Tom Rousch
The Battle Cry of Freedom (Union Version)
by George Frederick Root
Although these two songs have the same name and same tune, the messages are very different in the versions sung by the North and the South. Listen to each song and find out the differences.
Coming Together:
Click on each icon in the picture below to find out how music and war came together.
Patriotism vs. Protest
Patriotism and protest were strong in the songs of the Civil War. Each side believing their cause just and true. The songs of the Confederacy were often lamenting and rang of the underdog mentality fighting with God on their side. Their songs tell of an over zealous government over-reaching their given power and authority. These songs inspire a fight for freedom of choice.
Conversely, the songs from the Union side were often full of American pride and strength. Freedom rings throughout many of the songs of the North, however, this freedem deals more with the prohibition of slavery and the freedeom of man.