BGuthrie Photos: DC -- GWU -- Museum and Textile Museum -- Exhibit: Songs of the Civil War

DC -- GWU -- Museum and Textile Museum -- Exhibit: Songs of the Civil War:

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Description of Pictures: Songs of the Civil War
June 15–December 22, 2019
During the American Civil War, music had the power to inspire patriotism and service, and to capture loss on the battlefield. This exhibition showcases historical sheet music that provided the soundtrack to a nation divided by war.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GWMSCW_190614_001.JPG: Songs of the Civil War
2. GWMSCW_190614_010.JPG: Battle Cry of Freedom Written by George F. Root, just a few hours after President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to put down the insurrection in Virginia, Battle Cry of Freedom was an immediate success in the North. Considered a rally song, it was played and sung with gusto by virtually every Federal regimental brass band and many others throughout the remainder of the war. Its tun also became popular in the South, where W.H. Barnes wrote alternative lyrics.
3. GWMSCW_190614_015.JPG: Songs of Sorrow
4. GWMSCW_190614_027.JPG: The Boy Lay on the Battle-plain, ca 1860
5. GWMSCW_190614_034.JPG: The Drummer of Antietam Songs about the deaths of children drummers were a sub-genre of pacific songs during the conflict. Anti-war writers manipulated the image of a young man marching into battle with only his instrument to pull at the heartstrings, and appeal to everyone regardless of their stance on the war.
6. GWMSCW_190614_046.JPG: General N. Lyon's Funeral March General Nathaniel Lyons was killed during the Battle of Wilson's Creek in 1861, as depicted on this cover. His death was particularly poignant, as he was the first Union General to die in the war.
7. GWMSCW_190614_050.JPG: The Officer's Funeral This Confederate song commemorating the life and death of an officer was popular around campfires. Although the lyrics are sad, the music would have been patriotic. This allowed the soldiers to feel sad for those who fell in battle, but remind them of the greater good they were serving.
8. GWMSCW_190614_060.JPG: The Soldier's Funeral, ca 1861
9. GWMSCW_190614_065.JPG: Battle of Winchester, 1862
10. GWMSCW_190614_071.JPG: We've a Million in the Field, 1864
11. GWMSCW_190614_078.JPG: General Logan and the Fifteenth Army Corps, ca 1865
12. GWMSCW_190614_088.JPG: Traitor Spare that Flag, ca 1861
13. GWMSCW_190614_099.JPG: Songs of Information
14. GWMSCW_190614_102.JPG: Jeff in Petticoats, A Song for the Times On May 10, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union soldiers. It was reported that Davis was wearing his wife's shawl during his attempt to flee. That report soon led to the false claim that Davis had tried to escape dressed as a woman. The press went wild. Within days, images of Davis in a dress were everywhere, including on this music cover.
15. GWMSCW_190614_115.JPG: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861
16. GWMSCW_190614_121.JPG: The Battle of Roanoke Island; Story of an Eye Witness The subtitled "Story of an Eye Witness" demonstrates the composer's wish for the information in the music to be taken seriously. The cover depicts a bird's eye view of the battle, a genre of art known for minute detail observed and depicted by the artist, legitimizing the given information. The music is accompanied with captions detailing the battle.
17. GWMSCW_190614_131.JPG: The Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, 1864
18. GWMSCW_190614_137.JPG: Was My Brother in the Battle? The lyrics of this song communicate the constant anxiety on the home front. There was a strong desire for any information, good or bad, about the location and well-being of loved ones. Unfortunately, many did not get the information they desired.
19. GWMSCW_190614_142.JPG: General Scott's Farewell General Winfield Scott, commander of the Union Army at the start of the Civil War, resigned from the Army in 1861. Despite having been blamed for the Union's defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, his tenure as the longest serving active duty general was celebrated in sheet music like this one.
20. GWMSCW_190614_147.JPG: How Sheridan Whipped Longstreet, 1864
21. GWMSCW_190614_154.JPG: Songs of Patriotism
22. GWMSCW_190614_157.JPG: Beauregard, 1861
23. GWMSCW_190614_163.JPG: Draw the Sword, Northland, 1861
24. GWMSCW_190614_167.JPG: Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The Prisoner's Hope, 1864
25. GWMSCW_190614_173.JPG: The Bonnie Blue Flag The Bonnie Blue Flag was one of the most beloved songs of the Confederacy. The lyrics lay out the order of the eleven seceding states one by one. It was specifically marketed by Harry Macarthy as a new anthem, and he travelled around the Confederacy performing his song to passionate crowds.
26. GWMSCW_190614_182.JPG: The Southern Cross The Southern Cross was one of many Confederate songs that drew inspiration from Northern songs. The title is a reference to the Confederate battle flag, the best known flag of the South, but also refers to its Northern counterpart "The Star Spangled Banner." Rewriting the lyrics to existing Northern songs was a controversial practice for Southern writers. Such songs represented dependence on the North that the Confederacy rejected.
27. GWMSCW_190614_189.JPG: Columbia, the Home of the World Before Uncle Sam there was Columbia. Columbia, the female national personification of the United States, is not physically depicted on this music sheet; rather, she is represented in words. Her figure was the one most used to urge on soldiers in political cartoons, speeches, and many songs. The pairing of this song with an image of the Capitol Building also references the name of our capital district.
28. GWMSCW_190614_199.JPG: Noble Lads of Brooklyn, ca 1861
29. GWMSCW_190614_204.JPG: Down With the Traitors Serpent Flag A Union soldier stands on the deflated Palmetto Flag, which was sometimes used by Confederate forces. Images of violence against flags were commonly used to portray victory. The lyrics reflect the violence on the cover. The lack of vocal harmony lines and the single arrangement for piano suggest this song was intended to be sung at home, not the battlefield.
30. GWMSCW_190614_219.JPG: A Requiem in Memory of Ellsworth With his left hand on his sword, the dashing figure of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth depicted on this cover appears every bit the martyr he was seen as in the North. Ellsworth was the first Union officer killed in the war. He was shot by James Jackson, a notorious defender of slavery, after he removed a Confederate flag from Jackson's inn in Alexandria. His story is retold in this music to remind listeners why they are fighting.
31. GWMSCW_190614_257.JPG: The Banner of the Free, ca 1863
32. GWMSCW_190614_262.JPG: The Flag with Thirty-Four Stars, ca 1863
33. GWMSCW_190614_269.JPG: To the Officers and Members of the President's Mounted Guard, ca 1850
34. GWMSCW_190614_275.JPG: War Marches
35. GWMSCW_190614_278.JPG: Major General McClellan's Grand March The most song-inspiring general of the Union, Gen. George B. McClellan, inspired at least 12 pieces of music in the years 1861 and 1862. His popularity amongst his men and the public at home came from turning around the Army of the Potomac after their defeat at the Battle of Bull Run. McClellan would go on the challenge Lincoln for the presidency in 1864, which inspired numerous songs as well.
36. GWMSCW_190614_286.JPG: Zouaves Battle March This march is dedicated to one of the Zouave regiments of the Union Army. Zouave regiments trained and dressed in the style of Algerian troops in the French Army, called Zouaves. The style was first brought to the American public's attention by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who commanded the 11th New York Volunteer Regiment also known as the "First Fire Zouaves."
37. GWMSCW_190614_292.JPG: General Sweeny's Grand March, 1863
38. GWMSCW_190614_298.JPG: Gl. Beauregard's Grand March Likely written after General P.G.T. Beauregard's victory at the First Battle of Bull Run, this march is unique because of its songwriter. Mrs. V.G. Cowdin was a writer known for her 1860 book Ellen or The Fanatic's Daughter, which featured a strong critique of abolitionism. Women writers were not unusual, but women composers who published their real name were.
39. GWMSCW_190614_304.JPG: Confederacy March Featuring a dedication to and image of Jefferson Davis, this march commemorates the Confederacy as a whole and its leader.
40. GWMSCW_190614_314.JPG: The Liberty Bell March, ca 1893
41. GWMSCW_190614_326.JPG: The Stars and Stripes Forever The official march of the United States received only slightly above average reception when it first debuted. It gained real popularity during the next American conflict, the Spanish-American war.
42. GWMSCW_190614_332.JPG: John Philip Sousa: America's March King
43. GWMSCW_190614_336.JPG: Songs of Conscription
44. GWMSCW_190614_340.JPG: Wanted a Substitute This humorous cover depicts stereotypes of draftees and draft dodgers. One man, disheveled in appearance and clearly disgruntled, grumbles "I'm drafted," his more aristocratic-looking counterpart proclaims "I ain't." The song's lyrics, inside the music book, reflect the amusing tone of the cover and highlight the irony of early conscription.
45. GWMSCW_190614_350.JPG: The Conscript's Lay These lyrics were meant to be sung to the tune of Kingdom Coming, a popular contraband song. "Contraband songs" were written in the voice of formerly enslaved people. The tune likens the stories of those unable to avoid conscription to those of the formerly enslaved. The lyrics use the conscript's voice to tell a story of redemptive national belonging.
46. GWMSCW_190614_360.JPG: The Volunteer, 1862
47. GWMSCW_190614_366.JPG: Songs of the Civil War
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2019 photos: Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Trips this year: a four-day jaunt to Massachusetts (Boston, Stockbridge, and Springfield) to experience rain in another state, Asheville, NC to visit Dad and his wife Dixie, four trips to New York City (including the United Nations, Flushing, and the New York Comic-Con), and my 14th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con (including sites in Utah). Number of photos taken this year: about 582,000.
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