The  GRAND MILITARY BALL  album in 2007 was the result of fan demand from all across the country to have one Civil War cd featuring the most popular tunes set to the most popular dances of the 1860's.  This album provides just that, combining 27 prominent songs into appropriate dance tunes and medleys, timed to the exact beat and length of each particular period dance.  The 52nd String Band has become known as  The Most Entertaining Dance Band in Civil War reenacting  and this album is highly representative of the Band's live performances for dances that mostly take place at Civil War re-enactments across the country.  The Band has likewise performed for period weddings, birthday parties, Civil War tours, church services, National Parks, and elsewhere.   All of the songs on the Band s albums were written before or during the Civil War that ended in 1865.  Some of these songs are not  politically correct  in the 21st century but they are  historically correct  and that s what matters to the band.  These renditions, played on period-style instruments, hopefully portray the happy enthusiasm as they were written for audiences of the 19th century.  The album contains songs that were popular in both the North and the South, including military songs, minstrel tunes, classic songs, and humor songs.  This CD was released on June 6, 2007, the anniversary date of the 1862 Naval Battle of Memphis, the largest inland naval battle in the world, which pitted the  cottonclads  of the Confederate Navy against the  ironclads  of the U.S. Navy.