Music of the Late Civil War

As the Civil War progressed to its final stage, so did the music shift its focus. The songs coming from the Union focused more on homecoming and victories. Songs such as "Coming Home from the Old Camp Ground", composed by William Rogers in 1865, and "The Boys in Blue Are Coming Home", composed by Wimmerstedt and Beyer in the same year, and similar songs became some of the most popular songs sang by the Union side. However, among those songs, the most popular song would perhaps be "Marching Through Georgia", composed by Henry Work in 1865. The popularity of the song could be described as known by both sides with perfect opposite feelings towards the song, which the North loved while the South hated.

"Marching Through Georgia" recounts the details of one of the most audacious and destructive campaigns of the war. After the battle of Atlantica, General Sherman send an army of 62,000 men and marched 285 miles to Savannah. Arriving at the destination, the soldier destroyed everything in their sixty-mile-wile path, in hoping that he could break the psychological backbone of the South.
The song, though controversial and error written, remained one of the most popular song in the North for many decades. Its popularity, as described by George Roots, may have been because of its unusual outlook. At the time, most songs were more about going into combat or its bloody sequence, it was retrospective instead.

Original Artist: Henry Work
Represented Artist: Harlan and Stanley
Represented Title: Marching thro' Georgia
Represented Album: Todd collection
Represented Label: Edison Gold Moulded Record
Catalog Number: Not Available

Full Version: http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=21&query=civil%20war&num=1&start=37&sortBy=&sortOrder=id
Alternative Full Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-dzCt2xeSo&fmt=18

The music of the Union also focused on Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate, mostly on insults. "How Do You Like It Jefferson D?" composed by Amos Patton in 1864 had its sheet music front with a African-American Soldier watching a Devil roasting Davis over a fire. The song itself contained many words of dominance over Jefferson Davis, as it laughs at him for taking the position opposite of the North.
The Union's final focus was on President Abraham Lincoln, especially after his assassination by John Wilkins Booth. Songs such as "Farewell Father, Friend and Guardian" composed by L.M. Dawn, "We Mourn Our Chieftain" by M.B. Ladd, and more came to honor the late President.

The music of the Confederates, in contrast, became more subdued as the war was coming to an end. The Confederate songs, however, didn't become more prideless. In "Why Can We Not Be Brothers, or, We Know That We Were Rebels" composed by Ward and Prentice in 1865, the lyrics showed no sense of resignation, and remained proud of being a rebel/traitor of the land.

Lyric "Why Can We Not Be Brothers, or, We Know That We Were Rebels":http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar2/65wcwnbb.txt

The composers of North and South eventually shifted the music away from the war altogether as they don't want to write more songs about suffering and death.

Picture Source: Cover Browser