Hoist Up the Flag

DESCRIPTION: "Away down in Dixie the war first began Way down at Fort Sumter, with Major Anderson." "Then hoist up the flag, long may it wave, Over the Union, our honor to save." The capture of Roanoake and of Norfolk are recalled
AUTHOR: Billy Holmes, arranged by Septimus Winner (source: BillyHolmesComicLocalLyrics and at least one broadside)
EARLIEST DATE: 1866 (BillyHolmesComicLocalLyrics)
KEYWORDS: civilwar patriotic battle navy
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 12, 1861 - Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, opening the Civil War
Nov 8, 1861 - U.S. warship _San Jacinto_ stops the British ship _Trent_ to take off the Confederate diplomats Mason and Slidell, causing talk of war with Great Britain
Feb. 8, 1862 - Battle of Roanoke Island. An expedition led by Ambrose Burnside begins to occupy a portion of the North Carolina coast
March 8, 1862 - Battle of Hampton Roads. U.S. frigates Congress and Cumberland sunk by the CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack). The Minnesota runs aground; had not the Monitor arrived the next day, the Merrimac would have sunk that ship also
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BillyHolmesComicLocalLyrics, pp. 33-35, "Hoist Up the Flag" (1 text)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #888, p. 59, "Hoist Up the Flag" (9 references)
Roud #38066
NOTES [47 words]: The last event mentioned in this song took place in March 1862. Presumably it was written not long after that. Interesting that Billy Holmes, since he claims to have written it, never described any additional events, even when he published the song in 1866 after the war was over! - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: BHHoiFla

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