The Picket Guard or – All Quiet Along the Potomac by Ethel Lynn Beers (1827-1879)
“All quiet along the Potomac,” they say, “Except now and then a stray picket Is shot, as he walks on his beat to and fro, By a rifleman hid in the thicket. ‘T is...
Category: Music
The Boys of Potomac rank the Generals
Soldiers on both sides in the Civil War spent a lot of time in camp when they weren’t actively campaigning, and when the routine work of drilling was finished, they had time for a...
“We Are Coming, Father Abra’am” Urged Northern Men to Answer Lincoln’s Call for 300,000 Troops
On July 1st, 1862, as General George McClellan’s unsuccessful and costly Peninsula Campaign was coming to an end, President Abraham Lincoln called on northern states governors to supply 300,000 more volunteers for the Union...
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Civil War Poem “Christmas Bells”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) one of America’s most popular poets both in his time and today, is remembered for poems such as Paul Revere’s Ride, Evangeline, and The Song of Hiawatha. While Longfellow didn’t...
Song: Marching Through Georgia
Songwriter Henry Clay Work (1832-1884) was a Connecticut native and staunch supporter of the Union cause. Work was born into an abolitionist family whose home was a stop on the Underground Railroad and who...
The Ohio State University Marching Band Pays Tribute to the Gettysburg Address
At halftime of the Ohio State-Indiana football game in Columbus on November 23rd, 2013, the Ohio State Marching Band put on a terrific tribute to the Gettysburg Address in honor of the 150th anniversary...
The Battle Cry of Freedom Was One of the Civil War’s Most Popular Songs
Composer George Frederick Root wrote many popular Civil War songs, including The Vacant Chair and Just Before the Battle, Mother. Both of those are sentimental pieces, but Root’s most famous contribution to Civil War...
Stonewall Jackson’s Way
Probably the most famous poem about Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is “Stonewall Jackson’s Way,” a poem that was set to music. The authorship of the poem is generally attributed to John Williamson Palmer, a doctor...