Tenting Tonight Judy Cook

Songs of the Civil War

Order the CD       View or Download in Word the Curriculum Guide

1) FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD (traditional) 2:11  Lyrics 
The song was a code and a memory aid for slaves wishing to escape to the north. Timing, landmarks, and signs are all detailed. The drinking gourd is the big dipper; a constellation that always points north. I introduce the song with a bit of "Say Brothers, Will You Meet Us / John Brown's Body / Battle Hymn of the Republic" on English concertina.

2) HARRIET TUBMAN (Walter Robinson) 1:58  Lyrics
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. After freeing herself, she is believed to have conducted some 300 slaves to freedom along the underground railroad, that vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves.

3) GRAFTED INTO THE ARMY (Henry Clay Work) 2:23  Lyrics  Listen
Both poignant and funny; this song is full of deliberate malapropisms including using grafted instead of drafted. This is an especially clever play on words because of the practice of allowing money to be substituted for service.

4) TENTING TONIGHT (Walter Kittredge) 3:27  Lyrics  Listen
Written just after Kittredge had received his draft notice, "Tenting Tonight" became an instant hit.

5) LORENA (Henry Webster / Joseph Webster) 5:28  Lyrics Listen
Lorena was one of the most popular sentimental songs, especially in the South. In May 1849, Ella Blocksom broke off her engagement to a struggling young preacher named Henry Webster. Still pining after more than eight years, Webster poured out his heart in a poem. The melody was composed by Joseph Webster. The name Lorena was based on "Lost Lenore" which Henry found in the popular writings of Edgar Allen Poe.

6) COUSIN EMMY'S BLUES (Traditional) 1:59  Lyrics 
At the beginning of the Civil War 40 western counties of Virginia opposed secession. They formed their own government, which was granted statehood as West Virginia in 1863. Versions of this song are found all around our nation, always warning the local girls about the boys of a neighboring state.

7) GREENCASTLE JENNY MEDLEY 7:34  Listen
   Bonnie Blue Flag (Tune) (Valentine Vousden)
In the 1850's Valentine Vousden wrote a stage song "The Irish Jaunting Car" with this tune. Harry Macarthy used the tune for his lyrics "The Bonnie Blue Flag" which became a rallying song for the South. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" is mentioned in "Greencastle Jenny" and variants of the tune show up both there and in "Southern Girl's Reply".
   Greencastle Jenny (Helen Cone / Bob Zentz) Lyrics
A true story about an incident that happened June 22, 1863 in the small town of Greencastle, PA, just a few days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Another example of Bob Zentz' wonderful ability to write tunes that bring new life to poems.
   Southern Girl's Reply (Pearl Rivers / Traditional) Lyrics
This song was collected by Anne & Frank Warner from Eleazar Tillett on the Outer Banks of NC. The words are very close to the poem "True To the Gray," written by Pearl Rivers, and published in Allan's Lone Star Ballads in 1874.

8) GOING ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN (Traditional) 2:23  Lyrics  Listen
This is a song of a mountain Unionist saying farewell to his sweetheart. It comes from the singing of both Frank Proffitt and Jim Taylor from the mountains of western NC.

9) RICHMOND IS A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL (John Tompson / Daniel Emmett) 5:46  Lyrics  Listen
When John Thompson published this poem in his magazine "The Southern Literary Messenger" in 1863, the war was still going fairly well for the South; and Dan Emmett's minstrel songs, including "Jordan Am A Hard Road to Travel" were very popular. The song details six failed attempts to take the Southern Capital. Thanks to Andy Wallace for passing this along to me.

10) BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM (TUNE) (George Root) 1:31  Lyrics 

11) MONITOR AND MERRIMAC (Anonymous) 3:35  Lyrics  Listen
Written during the Civil War, this song of the famous battle that began the age of ironclad ships has more Yankee swagger than either truth or art. John Ericsson designed the Monitor and John Worden was her captain. Thanks to George Ward who made the song singable and passed it along to me. The remains of the Monitor are on display at The Maritime Museum in Norfolk, VA.

12) HERE'S YOUR MULE (C.D. Benson) 2:04  Lyrics 
A popular comic song during the Civil War, this song was a favorite with Hood's Texas Brigade. They used it as a marching song, and used the phrase "Here's Your Mule" to taunt cavalry soldiers. .

13) GOOBER PEAS (A.Pindar / Mr. P.Nutt, esq.) 1:52  Lyrics
When food became scarce in the South, soldiers began eating peanuts. Before the war, peanuts were most often eaten by cows & pigs. Pindars and goober peas are both slang terms for peanuts. It seems no one wanted the credit for this good-natured complaint about a staple of camp diet.

14) HARD CRACKERS (First Iowa Regiment / Stephen Foster) 2:06  Lyrics Listen
Another good-natured complaint about a staple of camp diet in the North. This is a fine parody of Stephen Foster's beautiful song "Hard Times Come Again No More".

15) TRAMP! TRAMP! TRAMP! (George Root) 2:25  Lyrics  Listen
This song is also called "The Prisoner's Hope". George Root was a prolific songwriter. His other Civil War songs include "The Battle Cry of Freedom", "The Vacant Chair", and "Just Before the Battle, Mother".

16) BOOTH KILLED LINCOLN (Anonymous) 3:24  Lyrics Listen
Abraham Lincoln died April 15, 1865 after being shot by the actor John Wilkes Booth. Bascomb Lamar Lunsford, "The Minstrel of the Appalachians", learned this moving song from his father, and recorded it in 1949. I learned it from Tom Gibney.

17) BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC (TUNE) (William Steffe) 1:55  Lyrics 
Julia Ward Howe wrote her famous words to the tune of "John Brown's Body" which in turn was a parody of a camp meeting song "Say Brothers, Will You Meet Us" by William Steffe.

How to Order