Lincoln and the Music of the Civil War

Bernard, Kenneth A. Lincoln and the Music of the Civil War. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1966.

An immensely resourceful book for those interested in music used during the American Civil War and how Lincoln enjoyed it, was feted by it, and how his personal favorites and love of music were enjoyed by composers, publishers, and performers. In 21 chapters, and introduction, and epilogue, the author takes the reader through many examples of tunes that were popular and not popular.

The value of the book for me is in naming specific tunes.  I am tempted to put these in a list here on the blog, YouTube search these tunes and put the URLs after the titles.  But at this point, this is just a few years’ worth of skimming the literature that is out there of music dealing with wars. 

Another value of this book for historians is how the progress of the War was taken in the White House, by Lincoln himself, his wife, his staff, the city populace, and the country.  The response to these in music is discussed with, as I said, specific examples provided.

The book is enhanced by wonderful pictures, daguerreotypes, sketches, title pages of songs, and more.  These come in groups of pages as was popular in books of this era, the latest in photography captured to enhance the narrative of the book.