Folks Songs about the American Civil War, 1861-1865

Also known as the War Between the States. See also Abraham Lincoln. Here are some key dates:

1861 Confederacy formed - February 8
Lincoln sworn in a US President - March 4
Ft. Sumter attacked - April 12
First Battle of Bull Run - July 21
McClellan organizes Union army - November 1
Union blockade begins - November 7
1862 Grant captures Fts. Henry & Donelson - February 6-16
Battle of Ironclads Monitor & Merrimac - March 9
Capture of New Orleans - May 1
Battle of Shiloh - April 6-7
Lee given command of Army of Northern Virginia - June 1
Second Battle of Bull Run - August 28-30
Battle of Antietam - September 17
Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation - September 22
Battle of Fredricksburg - December 13
1863 Emancipation Proclamation takes effect - January 1
First US Conscription Act passed - March 3
Battle of Chancellorsville - May 1-4
Battle of Gettysburg - July 1-3
Vicksburg surrenders to Grant - July 4
New York City draft riots - July 13-16
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - November 19
Grant routs rebels at Battle of Chattanooga - November 23-24
1864 U.S. Grant given command of all Union forces - March 9
Battle of the Wilderness - May 5-6
Cold Harbor - June 1-3
Siege of Petersburg begins - June 15
Atlanta falls to W.T. Sherman - September 2
Sherman burns Atlanta, begins March to the Sea - November 15
1865 Lee given command of all Confedeate forces - January 31
Richmond falls - April 2
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox - April 9
Lincoln assassinated - April 14
Joe Johnston surrenders to Sherman - April 18
Confederate President Jefferson Davis captured - May 10
Last battle, Palmito Hill, TX - May 12-13
Texas blacks learn they are free - June 19 (Juneteenth)
Thirteenth Amendment passes, abolishing slavery - December 6

Here is a page with a detailed Civil War timeline.

John Doyle \ Clear The Way \ Shadow and Light (Irish Brigade (US), Antietam & Fredericksburg)
Anne Hills  & Cindy Mangsen: Richmond on The James (Never Grow Old), Flying Fish
Larry Kaplan:  The Perfect Fields of Fredericksburg (Worth All the Telling),  Folk-Legacy 
Ben Bedford \ Twenty One \ Land Of The Shadows \ Hopeful Sky (about Vicksburg)
Tony Rice\ John Wilkes Booth\ Night Flyer\ Rounder
Dar Williams \ Holly Tree \ Promised Land \ Razor & Tie
Pat Wictor\ Marching Still\ Sunset Waltz\ Risky Disc
Look Away \ KATE CAMPBELL \ Rosaryville \ Compass
Big Houses \ HOUSE OF FREAKS \ Tantilla \ Rhino
Letter from Lilac Acres \ JED MARUM \ Soul of a Wander \ boston Road
Let the Band Play Dixie \ BOB GIBSON \ Uptown Saturday Night \ Hogeye

For more Civil War stuff, check out Cathy Barton & Dave Para's "Johnny Whistletrigger" and
"Rebel in the Woods", and Sparky & Rhonda Rucker's "The Blue and Gray in Black and White".

Stan Freberg presents The United States of America, Vol. 1 (many tracks)
Alison Krauss & Union Station\ Bright Sunny South\ New Favorite\ Rounder
Wishing Chair\ Sue Mundy\ Underdog\ Self
Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard\ Two Soldiers\ Hazel & Alice\ Rounder
DAVID KINCAID - The Irish Volunteer
  The Irish Volunteer: Songs of the Irish Union Soldier, 1861-1865 - Ryko
(R)
COUNTRY GENTLEMEN - Legend of the Rebel Soldier
  The Early Rebel Recordings, 1962-1971 - Rebel
BOB HEYER - Battle of Shiloh Hill
  Close to the Heart - Table Rock
JAY UNGAR - Ashokan Farewell
  The Civil War Original Soundtrack - Elektra Nonesuch  (M)
JOHN HARTFORD - Lorena
  Songs of the Civil War - Columbia
ACOUSTIC SHADOWS OF THE BLUE & GRAY - Vacant Chair
  Echoes Through Time...A Campfire Review - self
HOYT AXTON - The Yellow Rose of Texas
  Songs of the Civil War - Columbia

[about - Confederate]
Richard Shindell\ Arrowhead
Richard Shindell\ Reunion Hill

[about]
Ben Bedford \ Twenty One \ Land Of The Shadows \ Hopeful Sky (Union, Vicksburg)
The Gordons\ Lincoln's Funeral Train\ Our Time\ Inside-Out
Diana Jones\ Cold Grey Ground\ My Remembrance of You\ Newsong
Scott & Michelle Dalziel\ April 9, 1865\ Thinking Out Loud\ Self
Jack Kid - Requiem in Blue and Gray
Jack Kid - Missing
Mary Sue Twohy\ Missionary Ridge\ Songs to Hang On Stars\ Azalea City
Gary Ferguson\ Last Day at Gettysburg\ I'm Really Leaving\ Webco
There is a song - "Last Days at Gettysburg" written by Gary Ferguson.
It is on his 1995 CD, I'm Really Leaving. (Pinecastle/Webco)
Larry Sparks released it twice, Blue Mountain Memories - 1996, and Last Days at Gettysburg; Songs about the American Civil War - 2000. Both are on Rebel Records.

Anne Hills\ Blur in the Photograph\ Bittersweet Street\ Redwing
Bob Gibson\ Let the Band Play Dixie\ Stops ALong the Way\ Folk Era
Rhys Jones & Christina Wheeler\ The Rebel's Raid\ Starry Crown\ Vigortone
Tracy Grammer\ Laughlin Boy\ Flower of Avalon\ Signature
Gibson & Camp\ Civil War Trilogy\ …Revisited\ Folk Era (beware low levels on this CD)
Tony Rice\ John Wilkes Booth\ Native American (LP)\ Rounder
Jed Marum\ Mama's Lily\ Demo\ Self
Fiddle Fever\ Ashokan Farewell\ Best of\ Flying Fish
Original Soundtrack recording: The Civil War - Elektra Nonesuch 79256
(this is the version used in Ken Burns' documentary. Composed by Jay Ungar.)
Joan Baez\ The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down\ Ring Them Bells\ Guardian
(or the original by The Band)
Judy Collins \ In the hills of Shiloh
Guy Clark\ Soldier's Joy, 1864\ The Dark
Josh Williams: Last Widow of the Civil War / Now That You're Gone
Fields of Gettysburg / The Cutters / Sail Away
Larry Sparks/ Last Day At Gettysburg/ Blue Mountain Memories (Rebel)
Gary Ferguson\ Last Day at Gettysburg\ I'm Really Leaving\ Bluegrass
RENO & SMILEY / Appomatox / Folk Songs of the Civil War / King 756
The Road to Appomatox \ ANDREW MCKNIGHT \ Turning Pages \ Falling Mountain
Gray Coat Soldier - Norman Blake - Fields of November (Flying Fish)
ANDREW McKNIGHT - Road to Appomattox
  Turning Pages - Falling Mountain

[from the era]
JED MARUM: fighting tigers of ireland: a us civil war collection
Jed Marum\ Chickahominy River\ Miles From Home\ Boston Road
Ed Littlefield, Jr. / Kingdom Come / Going to the West / Sage Arts
Rhonda and Sparky Rucker / The Blue and Gray
Songs of the Civil War, Various Artists, Columbia
"Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground" done by
Well Tempered String Band, Rhonda & Sparky Rucker, others
Phil Cooper, Margaret Nelson & Kate Early\ Tenting on the Old Campground\ Love & War\ Self
Jim Taylor / The Civil War Collection
Bob Dylan / Dixie / Masked & Anonymous soundtrack
Dixie - Bobby Horton - Homespun songs of the CSA (Homespun)
STEVE VAUS - Dixie
  American History - self

American Songs of the Revoluntionary Times and the Civil War Era (Laserlight 12 180)
"The Riddle Song"
"When This Cruel War is Over"
"Lincoln and Liberty"
"All Quiet Along the Potomac"
"Goober Peas"
"Bonnie Blue Flag"

Battlefields and Campires       Smoothbore Music
97th Regimental String Band
"Battle Cry of Freedom"
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
"The Bonnie Blue Flag"
"Goober Peas"

Folk Music Song Themes Last modified