The creation of the Confederate States of America and the subsequent Civil War inspired composers, lyricists, and music publishers in Southern and border states, and even in foreign countries, to support the new nation. Confederate-imprint sheet music articulated and encouraged Confederate nationalism, honored soldiers and military leaders, comforted family and friends, and provided diversion from the hardships of war.

This is the first comprehensive history of the sheet music of the Confederacy. It covers works published before the war in Southern states that seceded from the Union, and those published during the war in Union occupied capitals, border and Northern states, and foreign countries. It is also the first work to examine the contribution of postwar Confederate–themed sheet music to the South’s response to its defeat, to the creation and fostering of Lost Cause themes, and to the promotion of national reunion and reconciliation.

Robert I. Curtis, professor emeritus of classics at the University of Georgia, lives in Hayden, Idaho.

Robert I. Curtis
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 522
Bibliographic Info: 150 photos (16 in color), appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9261-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5076-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Abbreviations and Symbols ix
Preface 1
Introduction 7
Part I. Secession and War
One. ­Pre-Secession Sheet Music 20
Two. The Sheet Music Business in the Wartime South 37
Three. Confederate Nationalism: States’ Rights and National Symbols 66
Four. Confederate Nationalism: Confederate Flags 95
Five. Confederate Nationalism: National Anthems 119
Six. War and Its Participants 145
Seven. The Home Front: Living with the War 187
Eight. Home and Family During the War 219
Nine. Border States 246
Ten. ­Federal-Occupied Southern Capitals and Northern Cities 265
Between pages 286 and 287 are 16 color plates containing 16 photographs
Part II. Postwar to 1898 and Foreign Countries
Eleven. Resignation, Resistance, and Remembrance 288
Twelve. The Lost Cause 307
Thirteen. Reunion and Reconciliation 327
Fourteen. Foreign Countries 342
Appendix 1a: The Music Sheet 368
Appendix 1b: ­Confederate-Imprint vs ­Confederate-Related Sheet Music 381
Appendix 1c: Dating Sheet Music 395
Appendix 1d: What Constitutes a Separate Listing? 398
Appendix 2: Nineteenth Century Terminology for Songs and Instrumental Music 403
Appendix 3: Sheet Music Recorded in Confederate Copyright Records 406
Appendix 4: Differing Lyrics for Different Dixies (First Verse and Chorus only) 409
Chapter Notes 413
Bibliography 469
General Index 477
Name Index 483
Titles Index 491