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For soldiers and civilians embroiled in the Civil War, music was a near-constant companion.

Soldiers awoke to the call of bugles and went to sleep

to the beat of drum taps. On the home front, citizens

sang ballads in their homes and songs at political

rallies, joining their voices in chorus to reaffirm

the purpose behind the terrible bloodshed. Music,

including patriotic anthems and sentimental ballads,

helped motivate

people to continue

fighting while

also soothing the

emotional wounds

of loss. The many

photographs of

musicians that

were taken during

the conflict and

the songs - and

memories of

songs - that linger

in the public

memory even today attest to the importance of music

to those caught up in the Civil War.

Between 1861 and 1865, soldiers left their homes

and traversed the country to fight in the Civil War,

bringing with them songs, rhythms, and, in some

cases, instruments. Confederate general Robert E.

Lee claimed, “I don’t think we could have an army

without music,” but Union and Confederate leaders

alike recognized the unique ability of music to create

a sense of belonging and purpose. Both Union and

Confederate armies employed professional bands

composed mainly of brass instruments such as the

saxhorn and bugle. Early in the war, the Union army

required two musicians for each company and a band

for each regiment, although it soon reassigned most

of those personnel to combat roles.

Drummers and buglers played invaluable roles in

military communications, carrying officers’ orders

Civil War Music

teacher’s guideprimary source set

Historical Background

[Unidentified soldier in Union cavalry uniform with banjo, sword, and pipe].http://www.loc.gov/item/2012646972/

[Unidentified soldier of Co. H, 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment in uniform with over the shoulder saxhorn].http://www.loc.gov/item/2016652810/

This resource was created by Kirk Steyer, the 2017 Liljenquist Family Fellow at the Library of Congress.

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across vast, noisy battlefields. At the same time, both

armies’ ranks included many amateur musicians,

and countless soldiers sang. Before battle, Union

soldiers might

sing “John Brown’s

Body,” in honor of

the abolitionist who

died fighting against

slavery, or “Tramp,

Tramp, Tramp,” or

“Marching through

Georgia.” Confederate

camps were filled with

the tune of “Dixie,” an

ode to life in the South

before slavery broke

the union apart. Once

the fighting ceased, the mood of the music changed,

and soldiers in camp might hum hymns or songs of

home.

For people not directly engaged in conflict, music

could bridge the distance between war and life on

the home front. Citizens attended rallies where

regimental bands played patriotic tunes, and songs of

the battlefield became popular in civilian life as well.

At the same time, gentle ballads aimed to soothe the

fears of families worried for the sons who’d taken their

home songs away with them to a grim and distant

war.

Howe, Julia W. “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000858/

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Divide the class into groups and assign each group one song from the set. Ask the students what they think the

song is trying to convey. Who would sing this type of song? How did the creators of this song want the singer

to feel? How did they want the audience to feel? If desired, apply these same processes and questions to select

visual images.

Identify songs from the set that might have been sung by Civil War soldiers and compare them with songs that

people at home might have sung. What do these songs tell us about the relationship between the home front

and the battlefield? Ask students to consider the roles women played as mothers, nurses, and more during such

a terrifying conflict.

Assign individuals or groups of students to analyze images in the set; some items contain multiple images that

may be divided among the groups. Who is represented in the image? How might the songs relate to the people

who are depicted here? Support students in thinking about all of images studied and invite them to write a title

that reflects something essential about the set.

Suggestions for Teachers

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Additional Resources

Civil War Sheet Music Collection

https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-war-sheet-music/about-this-collection/

The Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs

https://www.loc.gov/collections/liljenquist-civil-war-photographs/

Peace Songs of the Civil War

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197667

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Young George Wingate Weeks of Company D, 8th Maine Infantry Regiment. 1862 -1865

Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2010650867/

Homer, Winslow, artist. “The Songs of the War,” Harper’s Weekly, November 23, 1861. From

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.23132/

Band of 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D.C., April, 1865. Washington D.C.

[Photographed 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889] Photograph. From Library of

Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013648711/

Primary Sources with Citations

[Unidentified soldier in Union cavalry uniform with banjo, sword, and pipe]. 1861-1865.

Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

http://www.loc.gov/item/2012646972/

Howe, Julia W. “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Atlantic Monthly, February 1862. Sheet music.

From Library of Congress, Civil War Sheet Music Collection.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000858/

[Unidentified soldier in Union uniform atop horse blowing bugle while unsheathing sword].

1861-1865. Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War

Photographs.

http://www.loc.gov/item/2010650766/

[Unidentified soldier of Co. H, 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment in uniform with over the

shoulder saxhorn]. 1861-1865. Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family

Collection of Civil War Photographs.

http://www.loc.gov/item/2016652810/

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O’Connor, J.A.C., lyricist. “Bless the lips that kissed our darling. Answer to ‘Let me kiss

him for his mother.’” 1861-1865. Song sheet. From Library of Congress, America Singing:

Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets.

https://www.loc.gov/item/amss.cw100620/

Coates, Elmer R., composer & lyricist. “Be my mother ‘till I die.” Winner & Co., Philadelphia,

1863. Sheet music. From Library of Congress, Civil War Sheet Music Collection.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000417/

“Elmira Cornet Band,” Thirty-third Regiment, of the New York State Volunteers, July 1861.

1861. Photograph. From Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013648631/

[Unidentified solder in Union uniform with wife and daughters holding saxhorn]. 1861-1865.

Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2011661674/

[Civil War envelope showing drummer boy in front of American flag]. 1861-1865. Envelope.

From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013645701/

Farewell to the Star Spangled Banner. Sheet Music. From Library of Congress, Civil War

Sheet Music Collection.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200002388/

Lambert, Louis. When Johnny Comes Marching Home. 1863. Sheet music. From Library of

Congress, Civil War Sheet Music Collection.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200001128

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[Unidentified soldier in Union corporal’s uniform with viola].1861-1865. Photograph. From

Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013645715/

American Quartet, performers, War song medley, February 1913. Audio recording. From

Library of Congress, National Jukebox.

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/3086

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield, composer, When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, 1898.

Audio recording. From Library of Congress, Patriotic Melodies.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010360

[Company B, Confederate Veterans of Nashville, Tennessee, at reunion in Memphis]. Bluff

City Engraving Co., Memphis, Tenn. 1924. Photograph. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist

Family Collection of Civil War Photographs.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2017660612/