The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-03-22
WAR SONGS
Lyrics That We're Born During the
Struggle.

BY THOs. II. MCKEE ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN,
Z. S. SENATE LATE LIEUTENANT, IsT VIVA.
Songs antedate creation. One OF the most
ancient portions of the Holy Scripture declare
that 'When the Almighty laid the founda-
tiOns of the Earth, the morning stars sang to-
gether and all the Sons of God shouted for
joy
The Hebrews were people who understood
the use and power Of song. Moses and all Israel
sang song of deliyerance upon the shores Of
the Red Sea when their enemies were over
thrown this was a song of triumph.
While the children Of Israel wept at the
waters of Babylon, and hanged their harps
upon the willows, those that carried them capt
i've desired them to :" sing one of the Songs of
Zion" The Babylonians had heard these beau
tIful songs no doubt before. / am sorry that
we have not both words and music.
But in this short paper we must pass over all
periods and all lands, and spend the few mo-
ments we have with songs and singers of more
recent periods Of English history; for song is
history in all its completeness. How beautiful
is the sentiment Of those lines by Moore:
You may forget the singer,
But not forget the song"
illustrated in the touching incident of some
white children who, on the Western frontier,
were taken into captivity by some wild band
of Indians and kept for several years. The re-
lease and restoration of these children was
published, and many anxious mothers who had
lost children fastened to the place of their re-
ceptiOn expecting to find their lost ones But
the years of captivity had so changed them in
appearance that recognition was impossible in
some cases. One fond mother, after vainly
trying every art and method known to arouse
some recollection or remembrance of her baby
child, sank down upon the earth III her despair
and began singing one Of her baby lullabys,
when quick as thought one child of this num-
Der quickly ran to her and clasped its arms
about her neck i'll recognition of the song
With these Introductory thoughts we now come
to notice
"WAR SONGS"
War songs, like National songs, are seldom
written to order Some writer has said They
are expressions of National spirit, the product
of some occasion full of inspiration when the
composer Is moved by impulses peculiar to the
great events which are Transporting"
We must pass by the song of the Revolution
and introduce an ode Of the war with Mexico.
Little did Theodore O'Hara dream when at
Frankfort, KY, in f8i9, while unvailing the
monument erected to the memory of Ken
tucky's sons who fell in MoSico, that he was
speaking in song words that would be nodded
IN iron and chseled in granite in every part
of this broad land. Millions have and will
read in our National Cemeteries from tablets
Of iron, as long as the Republic lives;
On Fame's eternal campingground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The biyouac of the dead.
Who Of this company can read All Quiet
Along the Potomac Tonight" without looking
out and wondering what the events must have
been to suggest the theme.
All quiet along the Potomac tonight,
Where the soldiers lie peaccfuiIy dreaming.
Their tents in the rays of the clear Autumn moon
Or the light Of the watchfires are cleaning.
A tremulJus sigh, as the gentle night wind
Through the forest leaves softly IS creeping,
While stars up above, with their glitterng eyes,
Keep guard,-for the army is sleeping
The authorship of this song has been one Of
much discussion but it is now settled that it
was written by Mrs. Ethel Lynn Barns, of New
York, and was first published in Harpers
WeekLy in 1861. The inspiration was found in
the oft repeated phrase of that Summer and
Autumn, when every one was expecting the
army 10 move, and each day the newspapers
brought the same headline: All quiet along
the Potomac"
In August, 1864, the reader was one Of ], 200
Union officers who as prisoners of war, were
placed ia the city Of Charleston S. c., under
the fire Of the batteries on Morris Island. Our
quarters were in the jail-yard the jail being
full Of civil Confederate prisoners also, some
soldiers of the United States army who had
been denied the rights of prisoners of war, but
were held as runaway slaves. 1 shall never
forget the singing of these stout-hearted, hope
full, bronzed patriots, while in this helpless
condition. From their quarters in the tower
of the jail on many an evening they made
the foul air Of that prison resonant with song
They gave us plantation melodies, songs of
sentiment and patriotic airs. These fellows
were noted for their parodies Among others,
l remember one on the song, When the Cruel
War is Over" The chorus ran thus:
Weeping. sad and lonely