From the Author
A popular and characteristic feature of every war is its literature - in poetry and song. "The Marseillaise Hymn" stirred the heart of France as never before; Cromwell, with his Puritans, went forth to battle singing their halleluahs of praise; who that lived amid the days of '61 does not remember the little Irishman, Henry McCarty, who sent forth throughout the Southern states singing to the assembled multitudes "The Bonnie Blue Flag" until they went wild with excitement? What soldier in the Southern states has has not had every nerve thrilled as the band would strike up "Dixie"? It is true that we cannot find much evidence of genius at such times, nor the production of nature and thoughtful study. Such poems and songs are sparks and flames from the fires of war, and high literary merit must not be expected. But if you wish to find the hearts of the people you will hear it in their songs. It has been a delightful task to me in the past year to collect from all q! uarters of the South these songs and poems, and so to rescue from oblivion the productions which are dear to every Southern heart and home. Nor is it confined alone to the South, for in the North, and even in some other lands, people listen with glad interest to the war songs of those days.
These songs and poems belong to the Nation. Although our friends in the North will smile at some, wince at others, and even have their blood warmed by one here and there, they must not forget that they were written by their brothers and sisters during a family quarrel when feeling was intense and the fight hot and fast.
It is over now; we are more united than ever and shall never fall out with each other again. No North, no South, no East, no West, but one and inseparable, now and forever.
H.M. Wharton D.D. (former) private in General Lee's Army Philadelphia, 1904
