Song of the Day 12/29: Matthew Sabatella & The Rambling String Band, “The Battle Cry of Freedom”

Nikki Haley’s answer to the trick question “What caused the Civil War?” has caused her no end of grief in much of the country, but should sound familiar to anyone educated in the South. Public schools there might not call it the War of Northern Aggression anymore, but I’ll bet a lot of the home schoolers and white flight academies do.

Books have been written about the different American interpretations of freedom and liberty, and the Southern one boiled down to the freedom not just to exploit other people but to own them outright. That sounds twisted to most people, but they actually believed they were fighting for freedom.

To underscore the point, consider this tune, known as “Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys” when composer George Root wrote it in 1862. The rousing march was an immediate hit – more than 700,000 copies of the sheet music were sold. According to a Union veteran,

[I]t ran through the camp like wildfire. The effect was little short of miraculous. It put as much spirit and cheer into the army as a victory. Day and night one could hear it by every camp fire and in every tent. I never shall forget how the men rolled out the line, “And although he may be poor, he shall never be a slave.” I do not know whether Mr. Root knows what good work his song did for us there, but I hope so.

Lincoln historian Christian McWhirter, writing in the New York Times in 2012, explained that Root’s lyrics managed a difficult trick in yoking together what were at the time understood to be the twin causes of the war:

The song’s definition of the Northern cause is purposely open-ended. Those looking for anti-slavery sentiments could find them, but these elements were not so pronounced as to offend those who were solely unionists. The chorus was the key, for it was there that Root described why Northerners rallied around the flag. The first line boldly endorsed a perpetual Union – “The Union forever” – followed by a strong dismissal of secession: “Down with the traitor, up with the star.” However, the battle cry Root shouted was one of “freedom.” Freedom had many meanings in the Civil War – for instance, freedom from Confederate political tyranny or the oft-perceived “slaveholders’ conspiracy” – but, in the context of Root’s political beliefs and other activities, he clearly meant to suggest some degree of abolitionism.

Matthew Sabatella is a Florida-based musician and historian who specializes in early American music.

I imagine Confederate soldiers got tired of hearing Union troops singing the tune, so if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. A pair of Southerners wrote their own lyrics to the tune, which proved just as rousing with a Dixie accent. But they did not alter the ultimate line, “Shouting the battle cry of ‘Freedom’.”