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Illuminations, Epiphanies, & Reflections
Military Songs
American
Revolution and Before| Laurence
Stalling's, the author of What Price
Glory?, once wrote
that "anything pertaining to the true gusto of the soldier is rarely
saved." That is especially true of early American war
songs. The first colonial soldiers song, Lovewell's Fight, of
which there is a surviving record was composed shortly after Captain
Lovewell's victory over the Indians at Pigwacket on 8 May 1725.
That however is an exception, for while scores of ballads that were
popular with the soldiers and militiamen of the time have survived,
very few are truely soldiers' songs. Even of those that have a
martial tone, the overwhelming majority are tradtional tunes, often
coupled with "new" pre-war, pro-liberty lyrics composed by
civilians. Not surprisingly, the most popular songs in camp and
on the march were those ballads, like the Saratoga Song, that directly
addressed the fighting. |
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Song Links
Lovewell's Fight How Stands the Glass Around? The Liberty Song The Old Woman Taught Wisdom The White Cockcade Yankee Doodle Free America The King's Own Regulars Saratoga Song The World Turned Upside Down |